5th March 2025

The UK Government’s mission to ‘take back our streets’ is being supported by University Centre South Devon, so during this Association of Colleges’ annual Colleges Week, we want to take this opportunity to showcase how we are providing training and skills in order to make our area a safer place. 

According to UK Government statistics, the number of proven offences committed by children (aged 10-17) in the year ending March 2024 saw a year-on-year increase for the second consecutive year, rising by 4% to around 35,600 (data from the Accredited official statistics Youth Justice Statistics 2023 to 2024). 

And with the number of custodial sentences increasing by 21% from the previous year to 660, this is a strong indication that youth justice work is required more than ever, and the need for qualified youth workers will only increase. 

University Centre South Devon, part of South Devon College, offers an updated and relevant youth justice course, starting in September 2025, delivered by highly-qualified experts across the sector. Seeking to explore the current debates around the changing world of youth and youth crime, students are equipped with the necessary skills to work with young people who are at risk of offending and supporting those already offending through the criminal justice system. 

Taking the lead on course delivery is Caroline Knight, Programme Lead for the Foundation Degree in Youth Justice and Youth Studies. With a previous 30-year career as a police detective, plus a Masters in Criminal Psychology, she is well placed to provide expert teaching on the subject and is adept at understanding why the issue is such a vital one socially. 

^{Lecturer Caroline Knight}

She said: “The way we’ve written the course is that you can have no knowledge of youth justice at all, or you can already be working in that field.  

“Broader than just youth justice, the programme explores an extensive range of factors surrounding the child (parents/family, child development, safeguarding, social disadvantage, mental health, trauma, prior victimisation) and youth offending.  

“On the course at the moment we have police officers from Devon and Cornwall Police, and youth officers with the local authority, plus direct entry students who want to work with youth in some capacity but are unsure where they are going yet.” 

The University Centre works in close collaboration with employers to design curriculum and course content around the expertise that businesses are looking for from a workforce, so students are equipped with employability skills to enter their chosen sector on graduation. 

“Because the course has such varied content, there are a number of ways in which you can go at the end of the course in terms of careers. It would be a route into working with a charity or as a support worker,” said Caroline. 

“We look at the psychology and criminology of why people, including children, commit crime, and what society should do about it. We cover so many areas, including child development and youth justice practices, challenging the system and undertaking critical thinking.” 

As well as Caroline Knight, other highly-qualified teaching team members include former police detectives, criminology lecturers with current experience on Youth Panels, and lecturers with specialisms in social policy, child development and research methods, bringing a broad range of specialisms together within this challenging field.  

“This makes for an exciting course and there is the opportunity to continue on to a year’s top-up course to achieve a BA Honours Degree in Childhood Studies.” 

There is also the option to study the Higher Level Youth Justice Practitioner apprenticeship. Caroline said: “Our current police officer students are completing the Higher Level Apprenticeship – we wrote the course in collaboration with the local police force, so we could assist in upskilling their staff, as well as any organisation that works with youths and youth justice. 

“It’s quite a unique provision in that we’re embedded everything from the apprenticeship within the foundation degree course, so you graduate with an apprenticeship as well as a Level 5 Youth Justice Practitioner academic qualification. It’s a win win.” 

For more information on the course and to enroll, please visit Youth Justice and Youth Studies – University Centre South Devon