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National College of Education

Level 6 Youth Worker Apprenticeship

Youth Worker Degree Apprenticeship

The recognised route into JNC-qualified professional youth work, a fully funded degree apprenticeship for practitioners working with young people.

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  • Ofsted Good Provider
  • Cyber Essentials Certified
  • CMI Outstanding Training Provider of the Year
  • Training Qualifications UK

Next cohort deadline

1 September 2026

Applications close, fixed cohort

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Explore this apprenticeship

Jump to what matters most.

OverviewCurriculumBenefitsCost & fundingEligibilityProgressionFAQs

The essentials

The apprenticeship at a glance

Level

6

Duration

36 months + EPA (typically up to 4 months)

Delivery

Blended learning

Assessment

Integrated degree

Funding

£22,000

Next cohort

1 September 2026

What will I learn?

  • Apply youth work values, ethics and theory in professional practice
  • Build purposeful, voluntary relationships with young people
  • Design, deliver and evaluate youth work apprenticeships and projects
  • Safeguard young people and work safely across settings, including detached and digital
  • Work in partnership across multi-agency and community contexts
  • Undertake practitioner research and reflect critically on practice at degree level

How is it delivered?

  • NYA-validated university-delivered academic modules (Level 4 → Level 6)
  • Substantive practice in a paid youth work role, a minimum of 30 hours per week
  • Structured off-the-job hours (minimum 20% of paid contracted time) built around live practice
  • Named university tutor plus workplace mentor across the full 36 months
  • Regular practice observations, tutorials and reflective supervision
  • Cohort learning with peers across schools, councils, charities and faith-based settings

Who is it for?

  • Youth workers in local authority, community and voluntary settings
  • School-based youth workers, pastoral leads and inclusion practitioners
  • Detached, outreach and street-based youth workers
  • Faith-based and uniformed youth work practitioners
  • Community organisers, family workers and early-help practitioners working with young people (typically 11–19, up to 25 with SEND)

What do I need?

  • A paid youth work role for at least 30 hours per week for the full duration
  • Typical degree-entry qualifications (Level 3, e.g. A-levels, Access, Level 3 Youth Work Practice, or equivalent professional experience assessed via RPL)
  • Level 2 English and maths (or achieve prior to EPA gateway)
  • The appropriate DBS clearance for your role and setting
  • Right to work in the UK and meet the eligibility requirements for apprenticeship funding
  • Employer support to provide protected off-the-job learning time and opportunities to gather workplace evidence

The apprenticeship

What is the Youth Worker Degree Apprenticeship Apprenticeship?

Youth work is built on something schools can't get from a policy document: a trusted adult with the time and skill to really listen to a young person. That's what this Level 6 degree apprenticeship trains people to do well.

Youth Worker integrated degree apprenticeship is the government approved, JNC recognised route into professional youth work, combining an NYA validated undergraduate degree with paid practice in a real setting over 36 months. Learners build the rights based, person centred relational skill that underpins voice, participation and wellbeing, alongside safeguarding, multi-agency working and youth work curriculum design, across universal, targeted and specialist contexts.

NCE runs the largest cohorts of Youth Worker degree apprentices in the country, delivered with a university partner and wrapped in dedicated tutors, workplace mentoring and cohort learning. As schools respond to SEND reform and the push for genuine inclusion, this is the piece that speaks to the whole child, not just the classroom: learners graduate with a full degree, JNC qualified status and a portfolio evidencing degree level practice.

Apprenticeship architecture

What will you learn?

01

Foundations of professional youth work

History, purpose, values and ethics of youth work; the NYA National Occupational Standards and the JNC framework.

02

Working with young people

Voluntary engagement, relational practice, adolescent development, and inclusive one-to-one and group work.

03

Apprenticeship design, delivery and evaluation

Planning, delivering and evaluating universal, targeted and specialist youth work apprenticeships with measurable outcomes.

04

Safeguarding, risk and safe practice

Statutory safeguarding, KCSIE, PREVENT, contextual safeguarding, online harm and safe working across detached and digital youth work.

05

Community, partnership and multi-agency working

Working with families, schools, health, police, VCS partners and statutory services within local safeguarding partnerships.

06

Equality, diversity, inclusion and anti-oppressive practice

Anti-oppressive youth work, EDI, faith and identity, and working with marginalised young people.

07

Participation, voice and rights of young people

Youth voice, co-production, participation frameworks (Article 12, Hart, Lundy) and advocacy.

08

Leadership, management and organisational practice

Leading teams, sessional workers and volunteers; supervision, quality assurance and funding of youth work.

09

Practitioner research and reflective practice

Research methods, ethics and a Level 6 practitioner research dissertation grounded in your own practice.

10

EPA preparation and portfolio

Gateway readiness, portfolio of practice, evidence mapping to KSBs and preparation for the project, presentation and professional discussion.

Grow your people. Strengthen your organisation.

Book a consultation

Why invest in the Youth Worker Degree? Here's what employers get when they back their team through this programme, no extra budget needed.

Up to 100% Levy-funded. Delivered around the working day. Built for real workplace impact.

A JNC-qualified youth work workforce

Build a team of professionally recognised, degree-qualified youth workers, the gold standard for the sector.

£22,000 fully levy-funded

The full cost of the degree and apprenticeship is covered from the Apprenticeship Levy at £22,000 per learner.

Practice-embedded development

All learning is anchored in your live youth work practice, young people benefit from day one, not on completion.

Retention and career pathway

A funded degree pathway materially improves retention of talented youth workers and gives clear progression into senior practice.

Higher-quality provision and Ofsted evidence

Degree-level, JNC-qualified practitioners deliver measurably higher-quality youth work, powerful evidence for inspection and commissioners.

Practitioner research capacity

Each learner completes a Level 6 practitioner research project on a real challenge in your setting.

£0

cost to employer

=

£22,000

funded via Apprenticeship Levy

Levy transfers depend on partner availability and can't be guaranteed on every enrolment. As your training provider we'll pursue every funding route available, co-investment, transfer partnerships and incentive payments, so your workforce journey is as cost-effective as possible.

Cost & funding

How much does the Youth Worker Degree Apprenticeship apprenticeship cost?

£22,000 fully funded through the Apprenticeship Levy, £0 to the learner, and no student loan.

For employers with a levy: the full £22,000 is drawn from the Digital Apprenticeship Service account across the 36 months.

For non-levy employers: 95% government co-investment (a 5% employer contribution of £1,100 spread across the apprenticeship) or funded in full via levy transfer from a partner organisation.

Backfill and travel are not eligible costs; NCE will help you plan the 20% off-the-job entitlement so it works alongside your youth work rota.

Need help understanding the Levy? Book a call

Am I in?

Am I eligible?

Not sure? Ask our team

Where it fits

How does this compare, and where does it lead?

Side-by-side against other NCE apprenticeships, plus the progression ladder from starting point to next step.

ApprenticeshipLevelDurationWho it's forQualificationFunding
Youth Worker Degree ApprenticeshipThis pageLevel 636m + EPAYouth workers in schools, councils and community settingsYouth Worker (JNC-qualified, integrated degree)£22,000
School Improvement ApprenticeshipLevel 618m + EPAImprovement leads, SENCOs, ops, trust teamsSchool Improvement (ST0930)£15,000
Employability PractitionerLevel 415m + EPACareers, IAG and employment support staffEmployability Practitioner (ST0663)£6,000
Safeguarding SupportLevel 318m + EPADSL/DDSL, pastoral and safeguarding staffSafeguarding Support (ST1030)£5,000

Progression ladder

Your journey through the Youth Worker Degree Apprenticeship

  1. 1

    Step 1

    During the apprenticeship

    Build a portfolio of practice, lead youth work apprenticeships, deliver a Level 6 practitioner research project and complete the integrated degree.

  2. 2

    Step 2

    Immediately after

    Achieve JNC-qualified professional youth worker status alongside your honours degree, the recognised professional standard for youth work in the UK.

  3. 3

    Step 3

    Long-term

    Progress into senior youth worker, team leader, service manager or specialist roles (detached, targeted, faith-based, offending, mental health), or into a Level 7 Master's in youth and community work.

Still wondering?

Frequently asked questions about the Youth Worker Degree Apprenticeship.

Learners

Ready to apply?

Register your interest and we'll be in touch with cohort dates and next steps.

Employers

Want to talk it through?

Speak to a real person, register your interest and our employer team will work through fit, funding and cohort planning with you.

0333 123 4567 hello@nationaleducation.collegeMon–Fri, 9am–5pm