Careers Brief - Advanced Practice in Work with Children and Families HNC
Overview
Your HNC will have given you both a nationally recognised qualification at higher education level and evidence of your ability in your field. You will also have the opportunity for progression onto the HND and/or an honours degree programme within a related area.
Social care and education are among the largest employment sectors in the UK and opportunities are buoyant. However, to progress your career, you will need to be prepared to do further training and preferably be mobile.
Before deciding whether and where to continue studying, take time to review your career plans, as there are a variety of specialist courses and you might be required to do very specific training to attain your career goal.
Apart from the knowledge and experience of work with children and families gained from your employment and training, you will also have developed additional effective transferable skills, such as writing skills, group working, leadership, communicating, giving presentations and IT.
Use the website links below to find out more.
For a wider choice of careers, matched to your interests, use Prospects Planner and other tools listed in the Career Planning section of this Careers Guide.
Further Study
You could transfer into a relevant Honours degree course. To search for Honours degree courses go to www.ucas.com/ . Use the university/college links for course details. Year entry point would depend on the overlap between courses, your grades and experience but could be into the final year.
Shortened Top-up degrees are specifically designed as a progression from HND and Foundation degrees , usually within one year full-time (or two years part-time).
Degrees can be studied at Ordinary and Honours levels.
Courses which could be of interest:
Bournemouth University ‘Early Years Care and Education’ ‘Health and Social Care’; Doncaster College ‘Early Childhood Studies’; East Lancashire Institute of Higher Education at Blackburn ‘Care Practice’; University of Greenwich ‘Social Care’; Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education ‘Social Care’; Kingston University ‘Early Years: Education and Child Care’; Newcastle College ‘Children and Young Persons’; Somerset College of Arts and Technology ‘Health and Social Care Management’.
You will need to use UCAS to apply for courses. Contact the Course Tutor of your chosen course to find out your position, before you make your formal application.
Find out how much this will cost you. Where is the funding coming from? Go to the university/college site for information on costs and finance and to www.direct.gov.uk/uni for additional help with student support.
If you aim to become a teacher and were born after September 1st 1979, you will need maths and English (at grade C or above) at GCSE or equivalent and science at GCSE or equivalent. Go to the Training and development agency for schools careers site below for more information.
Resources
http://nextstep.direct.gov.uk/
Next Step government careers advice helping adults
www.prospects.ac.uk/starting_out.htm
Graduate Prospects - national careers website for HE students studying in the UK:
Drop down 'Job sectors' and click on 'Teaching & education' + 'Charities & voluntary work' + 'Health & social care'
Drop down 'Jobs' and click on 'What jobs would suit me?' to use Prospects Planner.
http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk/
Government Careers database and links to jobs nationally. Search by clicking on side-heading 'Careers' and choose a category or type in job title.
GTI Media publication - click on sub-heading 'careers advice'
Department of Health's Social Work website - Information and advice service. Click on the 'Social Care' box for jobs that do not require the degree in social work.
Local government jobs site
NHS information service for careers in the NHS in England
Training and Development Agency for Schools - go to side-heading 'Get into teaching'
University of Brighton Careers Service - click on 'Looking for work' go to 'Researching careers' - go to 'Teaching in schools & colleges' for the guide 'What else can a Teacher do except Teach?'
Communitycare.co.uk - magazine for those working in social care, including jobs and employer directory
Community Service Volunteers is the UK's leading volunteering and training charity
The British Association of Social Workers is the leading professional body representing social work and social workers in the UK
Go to the Job Applications section of this Careers Guide for advice and help with making applications.
