Childhood & Youth and Drama

Childhood and youth studies combined with drama is a degree that connects two fields with deep and productive affinities. Understanding children and young people is a genuinely multidisciplinary enterprise, drawing on sociology, psychology, social policy, history, politics, and cultural studies to examine the diverse experiences, challenges, and social contexts that shape life in childhood and adolescence. Drama, for its part, is both a critical discipline and a creative practice that has a particularly strong tradition of working with and for young people, from theatre in education and applied drama to youth theatre and storytelling.

At Liverpool Hope University, this four-year full-time degree explores the issues and challenges facing children and young people in the UK and around the world, examining questions of rights, wellbeing, inequality, culture, and social policy alongside the creative and performative dimensions of dramatic practice. You will develop critical thinking and research skills rooted in the social sciences alongside practical experience and theoretical understanding in drama. The programme includes a foundation year, giving you a solid interdisciplinary base before you move into the main degree, as well as a sandwich year, a year abroad option, and work placements.

The typical entry tariff is 104 UCAS points.

Graduates of childhood and youth and drama combined degrees pursue careers in teaching, youth work, community arts, social work, theatre in education, arts therapy, educational drama, the voluntary sector, and child and family services. The combination of social scientific understanding and creative practice is particularly valuable in applied drama and educational theatre roles, as well as in any profession that combines working with young people and using creative methods. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate study in education, social work, applied drama, or childhood and youth studies, deepening their specialist knowledge and professional credentials.