FdA Public & Community Services

This two year foundation degree will equip you with the skills and knowledge that are in demand by public service employers such as the Police, the Armed Forces, fire and ambulance services, the prison service or the volunteer or community sectors.

You will develop your academic knowledge, alongside gaining first-hand experience of the public service and volunteer and community sector, to help you to pursue a rewarding and fulfilling career.

Study Aims

The aims are to:

• Provide a foundation degree that will incorporate all aspects of public and community services as well as other areas of business that impact on the public sector, such as managing teams, health & safety, equality, community awareness, sociology, lifestyle management, psychology, activity management.
• Develop and challenge you across a range of transferable, intellectual and cognitive skills that are essential for a career in public or community services, or one of the multi-agency bodies associated with them.

The objectives of the qualification are to:

• Provide a flexible programme of study that will enable you to identify, acquire and develop transferable skills and knowledge which will enable you to contribute and develop your full potential in the labour market and public and community employment sector
• To enable you to develop your skills and knowledge through work based learning which is integrated with work-based study, underpinned by knowledge and skills
• Provide a challenging, employability led curriculum relevant to the current and projected needs of regional business and corporate clients in areas of public and community services.

Modules Studied

Level 4:

• Principles of Managing Teams
• Introduction to Social Sciences
• Equality & Diversity
• Lifestyle Management in the Public & Community Services
• Personal & Professional Development
• Work Related Learning.

Level 5:

• Innovation, Idea Generation and Enterprise
• Health & Safety and Operational Response in the Services~ Applied Psychology in the Public & Community Services~ Activity Management
• Personal & Professional Development
• Work Related Learning.

Times of Delivery

• Monday - 9am - 5pm
• Tuesday - 9am - 4pm
• Wednesday - 9am - 5pm
• Friday - 9am - 4pm

Any times indicated are based on current courses and may be subject to change in future years. Full timetables will be confirmed at the start of each course.

Teaching and Assessment

Formal lecture based delivery will be used to establish the concepts of organisational structure, culture, function, environmental analysis and stakeholder theory with which students need to familiarise themselves with.

To reinforce the above concepts, further emphasis will be placed upon group activity, to give you the opportunity to apply theory to industry/sector practice via group exercises, and case studies. Relevant guest speakers and activities will be utilised to aid the acquisition of theory through practice. Workshops will involve you carrying out research to review their chosen sector/industry and take the opportunity to share your findings amongst fellow students within the class about the potential career prospects within the industry/sector.

You will be expected to arrange and attend an agreed work placement and draw experience and knowledge to meet assignment criteria. You will be expected to support your contributions by researching reports, textbooks, journals and web based materials.

Individual and group tutorial activities will be used to assist you in your reading and interpretation of theoretical concepts and to provide feedback on your performance. Throughout the programme, assessed work is predominantly coursework based. There is one exam within Equality and Diversity.

Industry Links

We have strong links with industry and have regular employer forums, guest speakers and visits. We also support a range of public service employers with training days e.g. Police CID role plays.

Placement

You will be expected to attend a work placement of 50 hours each year. This is a mandatory element of the modules. You will be expected to arrange and attend an agreed work placement and draw experience and knowledge to meet assignment criteria.

Entry Criteria

• Minimum of 18 years of age
• Three GCSEs grade C or above, usually including English Language and maths (or appropriate Key Skills qualification)
• A-Level, AS Level, BTEC National qualifications at Level 3, or equivalent, in a relevant subject or a total of at least 80 UCAS tariff points.

The College also welcomes applications from those individuals possessing non-standard entry qualifications, and mature students (without the required entry qualifications). Such applications will be dealt with on an individual basis by the course leader.

You may be asked to apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in relation to your work placement activity. There may be a cost to applying for this, which you will be expected to cover. The DBS helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children.

Additional Costs

The programme includes an overnight residential exercise during each level of academic study, a reasonable contribution (approximately £60) may be required to support such activity. No other additional costs are required for the programme.

What are the next steps?

At interview, you will undertake a written test which will assess ability to answer a question in a balanced way, and will assess your understanding of public service and community sector issues. Literacy and coherence of the work will be assessed.

The interview will explore:

• Prior experience, whether this is professional, personal or voluntary work.
• Motivation for undertaking the course and areas of interest within the programme.
• Your ability to cope academically and transition into higher education.
• Your perception of key qualities and attributes to work in the sector in line with Values Based Recruitment (VBR).