News
Youth Work Revealed as Youth Career Choice
07 September 2010
Over 51 per cent of entrants to higher education programmes for Youth and Community Work are aged between 21 and 24, an increase of 20 per cent since 2002. Conversely, only 27 per cent of new students were aged 30 to 34 or above - a shift of 15 per cent since 2002, when this age range made up 42 per cent of applicants. The findings are part of annual monitoring of the 2008/09 Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) professionally qualifying higher education programmes, which is undertaken by the National Youth Agency to ensure quality of courses and gain an insight into sector workforce trends. Amanda Fearn, National Youth Agency workforce development officer, said: "Each year our monitoring provides an interesting insight into the youth sector and how the sector’s workforce is evolving. "We feel that the change in the age profile of students entering JNC validated courses can be explained by young people having positive experiences of youth work and wanting to join the profession." The change of the minimum qualification for youth work courses from Diploma to BA (Hons) has also had a significant impact. Although the number of students has fallen slightly, from 1,470 in 2007/08 to 1,277 in 2008/09, the BA pathway is seen as more appealing to young people moving to higher education from A-Levels. A total of 45 higher education providers offer JNC programmes in England. The study also found that the percentage of male new recruits to the industry has remained the same, at 37 per cent. There has also been a positive shift in representation from those with a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, with an increase this year in the number of students identifying themselves as Asian. "The quality of courses has also improved," adds Amanda. "Last year 90 per cent of courses were judged as satisfactory or above, however this year it is at 96 per cent, showing there continues to be excellent examples of contemporary programmes offering innovative and high quality learning." The National Youth Agency, working with colleagues in the youth sector, has recently revised the requirements that underpin the validation of new degree programmes. From September 2010, any university or college applying to the NYA for professional validation of its youth work courses will have to meet the new criteria. It will prove to prospective students that the course for which they are applying will provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable them to work effectively with young people and within organisations across the statutory, voluntary and community sector. For further information or to download a copy of the Annual Monitoring Report for 2008/09 visit: http://www.nya.org.uk/
About the National Youth Agency The National Youth Agency (NYA) works in partnership with a wide range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations to support and improve services for young people. Our particular focus is on youth work and we believe strongly that by investing in young people’s personal and social development, young people are better able to live more active and fulfilling lives. Working with young people, we advocate for more youth-friendly services and policies. We have four themes: Developing quality standards in work with young people Supporting services for young people Developing the youth workforce Promoting positive public perceptions of young people. We deliver our work through training and consultancy, campaigning, publishing and on-line communications. Through our activities we want to ensure that young people have a strong voice and positive influence in our society.Notes for Editors: