Options with youth and community work
Many youth and community work graduates go on to work in related areas such as social and welfare jobs. Find out what else you could do with your degree…
Jobs directly related to your degree include:
Jobs where your degree would be useful include:
Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here. To find out what jobs would suit you, log in to My Prospects.
Work experience, whether paid or voluntary, will increase your skills and make you more attractive to employers. It is particularly important if you want to work in an advisory or social care role, or if you are considering teaching. Try to get involved in your local community and build up some experience.
Contact your local youth service (local authority in Scotland) or voluntary bodies to arrange voluntary or part-time sessional work. For details of volunteer bureaux in your area, see:
Valuable experience can also be gained by working or volunteering at summer play schemes, youth clubs, summer camps or through tutoring or mentoring.
For classroom experience, contact local schools to arrange visits to observe teachers or help with non-teaching duties.
Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.
Employers of graduates in youth and community work include local authority youth services, education departments, voluntary organisations, churches and other community-based groups.
Professions include youth work, community work, youth justice, drugs services, education, welfare rights, housing, health and trainee probation.
Many jobs are project based, such as anti-poverty initiatives, education, homelessness, drugs projects, sexual health initiatives, advisory work, community arts, and community regeneration projects.
Find information on employers in teaching and education, the public sector, charities and voluntary work, and other job sectors.
Many courses combine practical and theoretical skills where your knowledge will be tested in real youth and community situations. A youth and community work degree develops transferable skills that you can apply in a range of positions and sectors, such as:
Some new graduates choose to study a specialist subject they would like to develop or that is relevant to the area in which they want to work. Examples are the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), or Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in Scotland, which qualify you to work as a teacher, a research-based Masters degree or a PhD in education or community/youth studies.
If your degree does not include recognised qualifications and you want to go into youth or community work, you will need to study towards the qualification on a part-time basis while you are working. This is especially true if you want to progress to senior levels.
For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see postgraduate study in the UK and search courses and research.
After graduating, more than half of youth and community work graduates gain employment as social and welfare professionals. Around 6% work in commercial, industrial or public sector management.
A small number of youth and community work graduates go on to further study; some combine work and study, while some graduates pursue full-time postgraduate study. Most degrees include recognised community/youth qualifications, so further courses, such as management training courses, would usually be taken part time as part of your continuing professional development (CPD) whilst working.
Find out what other graduates are doing six months after finishing their degrees in What Do Graduates Do?
Graduate destinations data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
