Youth and Community Work BA (Hons)
The Programme interview in the afternoon will
be in three parts:
- Short introduction by the Head of
Programme.
- A group work activity with a
member of the academic teaching staff from the programme.
This is designed to be fun, indoor activity and you do not need to
prepare for this or bring any special clothing. It will
include talking and discussing a contemporary youth issue with
other students and is not a written activity or a test of
everything you know about young people! The reason we include
a group activity is that Youth and Community Workers often work
with groups of people and because of this, a core part of the
teaching and learning on the BA (Hons) Youth and Community Work
takes place within a group context. We are looking for people
who are willing to participate, who can work collaboratively and
who are able to reflect on issues and are open to considering other
peoples points of view or new ideas.
- Individual interview with
the Head of Programme or a Senior Lecturer from the academic
teaching staff plus a representative from the wider programme
partnership.
In the interview we will
discuss your application along with your prior experience and what
you have gained from this. We are interested in your views,
for example of an equalities issue concerning young people and your
views on working professionally with young people, children and
communities. As fieldwork placements form a major part of the
programme in each year we will ask if you have any particular
interests or focus and consider how these might relate to future
placements or study.
To prepare, we suggest that
prospective applicants read
‘Ethical Conduct in Youth Work’ (pdf) and reflect
on what they have learned from their prior experience/s.
Interest in the development and learning of young people or
communities
We are interested in what you
been involved in, what you have learned from your experience/s e.g.
about the interests and needs of the group/s or individuals you
have been involved with. Youth and Community work in
concerned with development and growth: young people’s personal and
social development, community development and informal
learning. It is helpful to include in your personal statement
how you have contributed to others development and learning.
If you have any practical skills or interests e.g. youth arts,
detached youth work, youth activity programmes, peer mentoring;
sport, working with young men or young women, do include these in
your personal statement
Awareness of equality and oppression
Youth and Community work in concerned with enabling people to
develop and therefore concerned with barriers to this, striving to
work in anti-oppressive ways. This is explored at interview
and where you have experience of this, please include in your
supporting statement. We recognise that not everyone has
worked explicitly in this area and we are looking for awareness and
openness to learning about diversity.
Commitment to working in a team and to professional
standards
We are looking for evidence of working alongside other leaders /
staff as part of team over a period of time. Enthusiasm,
commitment; reliability, initiative and integrity are all important
professional qualities for being part of team as are awareness of
professional matters such as safety. It is helpful to mention
the kinds of roles or responsibilities you have undertaken.
Evidence of direct work with young people or in a community
setting
We are looking for evidence of working directly (or face to
face) with children, young people or in a community context.
We explore this with you at interview, because working with people
forms part of the formal degree assessment in each el of the
programme and 50% of this assessment is of your work with young
people aged 13 - 19.
Prior experience
We are not looking for a particular setting
for your experience/s and you can include a voluntary organisation,
large or small charity, afterschool club, youth project or faith
based organisation. You may have worked in a more formal
context such as a school, housing organisation, health project,
targeted service or youth offending team.
Both paid and voluntary experience is taken into account.
Your experience may be in one setting e.g. and
if so, please include the range of tasks you have been involved
in. Your experience may be across 2 or 3 different settings
e.g. work experience, volunteering and as a senior member of an
organisation / group.
Please show prior experience of least 26 days
/ equivalent to one day a week. We would like to see at
least 6 months between the start of your first work based
experience and later experience and this can be over a longer, more
intermittent period or continuously for 6 months.
For further information on Youth and
Community Work and interviews please see: