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Would you love a career surrounded by the boundless energy, enthusiasm, and optimism that comes from working with children?
With a range of early years qualifications, child psychology courses, and child behaviour courses, the opportunities for rewarding careers in childcare are endless. Many of our childcare courses are accredited by CACHE and TQUK.
We offer a huge range of childcare courses and qualifications all designed to be studied online or with a study pack from home. Leading a busy life shouldn’t mean you miss out on the opportunity to learn, develop your career, and achieve your goals. Whether you’re juggling a job, looking after a family, or have other life commitments, with our range of distance learning courses you can study at your own pace, in your own time. Including courses in early years, child psychology, and teaching, here you’ll find out everything you need to know.
The majority of the courses we offer within the childcare and education sector are CACHE qualifications.
The Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education (CACHE) are the UK’s leading provider of vocational qualifications for those working within care and education. CACHE qualifications are recognised across the education and care industries and they are amongst the most well-known and respected
qualifications.
Our range of CACHE vocational qualifications are suitable for individuals involved in early years, education, childcare, and health and social care. All courses lead to a nationally recognised Ofqual regulated qualification and are accredited on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). CACHE work closely with employers and learners to ensure that students have a progression route whether it’s into further study, a career, or university.
These qualifications have helped millions of people obtain the skills and knowledge they need to meet the professional standards required in the care, education, and health industries.
Certain CACHE qualifications are available as either an award, certificate, or diploma. These are known as nested qualifications. Nested qualifications allow learners to top up their previous studies in a subject to achieve the next qualification in the group. This allows learners to progress from the award to the certificate and then the diploma.
Once you have enrolled on your CACHE course, you will have access to the CACHE Alumni Membership for two years. CACHE Alumni is a professional membership network for those who work in the care, health and education industries, providing valuable resources and advice for your studies when working towards/with a CACHE qualification.
Training Qualifications UK (TQUK) are another awarding body who endorses a number of our childcare and education-related courses. TQUK are an Ofqual regulated awarding body. They cover courses in first aid, health and safety, food safety, education and training.
TQUK courses are not official qualifications, but they are recognised by industry employers. Their courses are an ideal way to boost your knowledge in a specific subject and progress with your professional development. At the end of your TQUK course you will receive a certificate of achievement to demonstrate that you have completed a course which has provided you with knowledge relevant to your career.
Our early years courses are ideal for those wanting to work with children from birth up to the age of five. These courses cover all you need to know about the development and care of younger children and are ideal for those wanting to work in early years settings such as nurseries and preschools, as well as those looking to become a childminder or nanny.
Anyone who looks after one or more children under the age of 8 years in England or under the age of 12 years in Wales, to whom they are not related, on domestic premises, for reward, and for a total of more than two hours in any day must register as a childminder.
You will need to register with Ofsted and to do this you must have a home-based childcare course approved by your local council that covers the Early Years Foundation Stage framework.
You may have to do a basic skills test to show that you have the minimum standard of English and Maths needed to support the educational development of children in your care. You’ll also need to pass an assessment of your home and any equipment you will use.
Read our full guide on how to become a childminder.
Unlike studying at a regular college or institution, Open Study College has no term dates, so you can start studying your course at any time.
You will receive contact details for your tutor when you enrol, and you are free to contact them for any study-related questions at any time. We also have a learner services team dedicated to helping students with all administrative matters.
No time at all. If you choose to study an online course you’ll get your log ins within 24 hours. If you choose a study pack, with standard delivery your course pack will be with you within 10 working days, or with express delivery just 3-5 working days.
The short answer, is yes! Our courses are designed for adults and many adults choose this way of learning so they can juggle their life commitments, whether that be looking after family or a job.
Our study packs contain all of your study materials in printed format which are posted out to you with an OSC pen, study guide, planner and notebook. If you’d prefer to study online you’ll receive access to our e-learning portal and your study materials will be housed electronically, which you can access on a computer, laptop or tablet.
Unlimited support from our expert tutors, a FREE XO Student Discounts membership, and a free CV review are just a handful of the many benefits we offer here at Open Study College. We also genuinely care about you and your future which is why we offer a range of recruitment support too, including free ‘how to become’ guides, an employability skills download and job hunting help. We want to help you achieve your goals in whichever way we can!
At least some basic form of training and experience is needed to become a nursery nurse. The more experience you have the better, as you will have more exposure to the setting and work involved in the role. It’s always a good idea to try and secure a work placement, but if you struggle you could also offer to work voluntarily to gain that invaluable experience to put on your CV.
The more experience you have working within a nursery setting, the more of a chance you’ll have when it comes to getting a job a nursery nurse.
Read our full guide on how to become a nursery nurse.
If you enrol on a CACHE qualification, you will receive access to the CACHE Alumni membership for two years. CACHE Alumni is a Professional Membership Network for those who work in the CACHE industries, providing valuable resources and advice for professionals studying towards an NCFE CACHE qualification.
We are delighted that you are considering joining us to study and take pleasure in welcoming you to our family.
Open Study College is one of the UK’s leading distance-learning colleges. We provide professionally-recognised childcare courses that enable you to study at your own pace, in your own environment either online or via printed materials sent to your home.
We understand that choosing a course is a big decision. That’s why we have a team of friendly, knowledgeable education specialists who can help you choose the right childcare qualifications for you.
Over the past 15 years, we’ve enrolled over 120,000 people on courses that have improved their education and their career prospects!
Our education specialists can answer any questions you may have, talk you through our finance options and get you enrolled over the telephone.
As a family-founded college, we think of our learners as extended members of our family. We’re all here to help you achieve your goals in life, whatever they may be.
If you’d like to speak to an education specialist about our online childcare courses, simply complete the form here and you’ll get a call back at the requested time.