Start Date
- September 2026, Full Time, Day
What You Will Study
Are you passionate about working with children and supporting them to develop and thrive? Are you a caring and patient person? The T Level qualification in Education and Early Years (Assisting Teaching) will provide you with extensive knowledge of how children learn and develop, and your role in supporting them. You will be able to put theory into practice with your two-day a week work placement.
On the Assisting Teaching pathway, you will be placed in a primary school for your industry placement.
There are seven elements of study in the first year, and these will include topics such as:
- Child development
- Working in partnership with other professionals
- SEND (Special educational needs and disabilities)
- Safeguarding
In the second year of the course, you will focus on your occupational specialism, Assisting Teaching
You will continue in your work placement for two days each week. You will need to achieve a minimum of 315 hours in placement across the two years to pass your T Level, with an expectation to far exceed this.
In college you will focus your studies on supporting the five to 16 age group. Your learning will centre around four performance outcomes and grouped into themes such as:
- Planning and assessment
- Managing behaviour
- Supporting maths and English
- Promoting wellbeing
To excel on the T Level, you will need to be prepared to share your thoughts and ideas in lessons and engage with group and individual presentations and tasks. You can expect your lecturers to support you to gain independent study skills to support your success on the course.
You will benefit from:
- Guest speakers sharing their knowledge and expertise of childcare topics
- Support from a dedicated and enthusiastic team of childcare experts
- Local trips to enrich your learning
If this sounds like the course for you, then we would love to receive your application and meet you at interview!
Entry Requirements
- Five GCSEs at grade 4 or above, including English language and maths.
- Attend an interview with our course team.
- Provide two positive references.
- Successful completion of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
- It is also desirable that you have undertaken some work experience in an education setting.
How You Will Be Assessed
The first-year assessments consist of:
- One written exam assessing you on elements 1-7. There will be multiple choice, short and extended writing questions.
- An employer-set project consisting of a range of tasks including, but not limited to, a presentation, a support plan, activity plan and a reflection.
The second-year assessments for the Assisting Teaching pathway consists of:
- Three structured observations of your practice carried out by an assessor in your placement school. These placement assessments will contribute 50% of your overall mark for the Occupational Specialism year.
- Two written exams applying your knowledge and experience to planning for children’s learning and analysing case studies.
Course Progression
You can progress onto apprenticeships or higher education courses in fields such as: education, psychology, sociology, social sciences, social work or youth work.
Our higher education provider, City College Norwich Higher Education, can also offer the following relevant undergraduate degrees: BA (Hons) Additional Needs and Disabilities (Children And Young People), BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies and BA (Hons) Youth Work.
Where Your Course Can Take You
On successful completion you can move directly into employment as a Teaching Assistant or into other support roles working with children and young people.
Alternatively, following further study, you may enter employment as a:
- Teacher
- Social Worker
- Youth Worker
- Education Welfare Officer
- Special Educational Needs Coordinator or Specialist
Fees
If you are a UK or home fee status student and aged 16 to 18 on 31st August before the start of your course, your tuition fees will be free. If you are aged 19 and over, please contact the Advice Shop for more information by email at information@ccn.ac.uk or by calling 01603 773773.
