Child Development

Our Child Development course covers the biological and psychological changes that occur in human beings between birth and the end of adolescence. The individual progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy and this course explains and explores each stage along the way.

At the end of this course you'll be able to: understand the stages of pregnancy, understand the impact different types of parenting has on a child, understand the different levels of a child's development, understand the importance of diet and exercise for a child's development, identify key areas of support for both children and parents. The course has a mixture of Self-assessment exercises and Tutor–marked assignments, all of which will help you gauge how much you have learned about this important and challenging subject.

At UK Open Learning we pride ourselves on our friendly and supportive tutors. Your tutor support will start as soon as you receive your course and will be valid for 12 months. All our tutors are highly qualified with extensive experience in supporting distance learning students. You contact your tutor via email and they are responsible for marking assignments answering your questions and guiding you through the course to ensure you are ready for your examinations.

None, but since this course is at Level Three, a good level of literacy and an intelligent interest in the subject are desirable.

We recommend you spend approximately 110 hours of your time studying for the NCFE Level 3 Child Development Award. The pace of study is completely up to you. To give an example, if you dedicate 2 hours a week to the course it would take you a year to complete but if you could spare 4 hours a week you could complete it in six months.

Unit 1: Pregnancy Unit 2: Parenthood Unit 3: Development of the Child Unit 4: Diet, Health and Care of the Child Unit 5: Support for the parent and child

This course is marked through a process of continuous assessment guided by your tutor. This means that your qualification will be awarded according to your performance on assessments rather than by taking an exam.

NCFE is recognised as an awarding body by the qualification regulators ('regulators') for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The regulators are the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) in England, the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) in Wales and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in Northern Ireland.

Students are assessed through a series of tutor marked assignments based on their application of the course content there is no final exam.  The assignments take the form of a series of structured questions. There is no word count for these assignments, however you have to prove to your tutor that you have fully understood the questions asked.