Youth Work and Communities

Youth work is a profession built on relationships: the sustained, informal, and voluntary relationships between practitioners and young people that create the conditions for personal development, learning, and social change. It operates in youth clubs, community centres, schools, outdoor settings, and online spaces, and it is concerned with the whole young person rather than with any single issue or outcome. Youth workers support young people to develop confidence, make positive choices, and navigate the challenges of adolescence and early adulthood, working particularly with those who are marginalised or at risk of being left behind by more formal services.

Birmingham City University offers this programme part-time, which reflects the reality that many people drawn to youth work are already working in community settings and want to professionalise and deepen their practice while continuing to do it. The programme covers youth work theory and practice, community development, group work, safeguarding, social policy, and the history of youth work as a profession. You will develop your skills in building trusting relationships with young people, facilitating group activities, engaging communities, and recording and evaluating your work in ways that meet professional standards.

Birmingham's diverse urban context provides a rich environment for community practice.

Graduates of youth work and community programmes are qualified to practise as professional youth workers, typically leading to roles in local authority youth services, voluntary sector organisations, schools, and faith communities. With experience, progression into management of youth services, community development leadership, or policy roles is available. The qualification also provides a foundation for postgraduate study in youth work, social work, community development, or education, for those who want to move into research or senior leadership within the sector.