Introduction to the Award

The detailed framework and content of the Award is provided elsewhere in this handbook ( click on 'Module Outlines' ). At this point we are going to discuss the overall philosophy and rationale of the degree programme. The Award enables students to gain a relevant qualification in Advice Work at three separate but interlinked levels. These are The Certificate in Advice Studies The Diploma in Advice Studies The B.A. Degree in Advice Studies.

Each level of study attracts 120 academic credits, and student may choose the level at which they wish to conclude their studies. One full-time year of study successfully completed will achieve the Certificate of Advice Studies with 120 academic credits and a Certificate in Higher education. We believe that this will be of wide interest to many volunteers and other workers in the advice 'industry' who wish to gain a basic qualification.

When you look at the detailed framework of the award ( click on 'Module Outlines') you will notice that the modules are clustered together, and that these correspond to the traditional two semester framework of university education. Unlike some distance learning awards where you can pick and choose which modules to study to suit your interests and inclinations, you will find this Award far more structured. We have done this for the following reasons :-

• Each level of the Award is a professional education and training in advice work. The placement experience at each level is the culmination of the academic study at that level, and can only fully assess your ability, skills, knowledge and competence if you have first completed the academic modules which precede it; your learning is a shared experience as well as an individual discipline, and we want to be able to group you into learning teams in which you can debate and explore issues together using the electronic support systems we have put in place. If students were to choose their modules at random this important aspect of a learning community would be lost.

• There are some modules which will only be available at certain times in the year. We would not wish to run a Benefits Advice module for example at the very same time as major changes in benefit rates are being announced or implemented.
• If students are studying common modules together it focuses interest and helps students encourage each other more easily. Informal discussions via the Cafe Bar, or suggestions of new useful websites, will all help to enrich the student learning experience. It also enables the tutors to provide their support in a more focused way.
• Finally, it ensures that all the students in one cohort complete their studies at the same time, and can come to the University's Awards Ceremony to celebrate their achievements together, alongside students who have completed other awards on a more traditional route.

From these points you will have gained some impression of the cohesiveness of the award at each level which we believe is of crucial importance. Advice work is not a 'pick-and-choose' activity: it demands a rigorous systematic and professional approach from the advice givers. We believe, therefore, that this Award must also demonstrate clearly the same high standards of both academic and professional practice standards.

The BA in Advice Studies seeks to provide therefore at each level of study,

• a creative, imaginative and professionally relevant range of assessed learning opportunities which combine to provide a rigorous education for advice workers;
• opportunities to combine study and practice in relation to knowledge, skills and values pertinent to advice work;
• a firm grasp of the essential legal elements underpinning advice work;
• opportunities to study important core elements of advice work - benefits advice; debt advice and housing advice - and also some additional specialist areas of advice (at levels 2 & 3 );

• an understanding of the social construction of problems which advisers frequently encounter in their work;
• a critical awareness of law making within a context of general social policy issues;
• opportunities to develop and practise advice- giving skills, based on a sound theoretical underpinning;
• a strong commitment to anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive theory and practice;
• a commitment to the development of competent and comprehensive advice services harnessed in particular to the interest of groups experiencing discrimination in society.