Early Childhood BA followed by Speech and Language Therapy MSc

Hi there,

I wonder if anybody could help me, I am looking at studying a BA in Early Childhood on the Open University as of September 2016. I am currently working as a Teaching Assistant in a school so this degree is very relevant to the experience I have already. However, I am having doubts about following the degree with a PGCE, due to the increasingly ridiculous strain and pressure put on teachers currently. My parents are both teachers and I have seen the negative impact that this career can have on quality of life (although I fully appreciate the it's value and importance). Therefore, having worked 1 to 1 with many SEN children with speech problems, I have become very interested in a career in Speech and Language Therapy. For various reasons I am unable to study this at undergraduate level, so I was wondering if I did persue a BA in Early Childhood Studies, what would then be the likelihood of getting onto a post grad course in SLT? I have a wealth of relevant experience (both from working in a school but also at a hospice and for the Stroke Assosiation), however worry that the Early Childhood degree would lack the science foundation needed for a SLT course.
Any advice would be much appreciated! Would love to hear from past and present SLTs too!

Thank you

Reply 1

Runescapian

Hi, I'm in a similar boat I guess. I'm currently studying Childhood & Family studies with Sociology and am looking at becoming an occupational therapist (which would mean doing an MSC in occupational therapy).

My advice is to apply to formal institutions instead of the open university. In terms of applying for masters, many universities will overlook an open university degree. I don't know why either. I understand that you have work, but maybe you could find an agreement with them to work part time while you went to university?

Also, an early childhood degree would only enable you to work with 0-5 year olds, meaning you'd be less likely to be able to apply as an SLT as most places will want someone qualified to work with children of older ages. Though this may not be entirely true as I know I had speech therapy when I was a child, less than five, so I'm imagining it's mostly that age group who need it. But bear this in mind anyway, you may be better off having a degree in childhood studies rather than early childhood.

As for the masters, they like you to have relevant healthcare experience if you don't have the science degree. Working as a TA is relevant childcare experience, I completely agree, but not healthcare experience. At the moment I volunteer at my local children's hospital, for example. I'm not doing anything healthcare related, but later on it will be regarded as healthcare experience. If you end up doing the undergrad degree, would it be possible for you to get some healthcare experience? For example, on placements it may be beneficial to look into SLT. Or, leave your job as a teaching assistant and become an SLT assistant. To be an assistant in SLT you only need the same qualifications as you would for being a TA. This would give you great experience so you'd be very likely to get onto a masters course.

If that isn't possible maybe consider looking into a dual honours degree, or a degree like mine. The "sociology" half of my degree (note mine isn't dual honours it's just one degree) counts as the science part, as it's a social science. Other social sciences that count towards masters for medical degrees include psychology, political science & human geography. These sort of degrees can be hard to find though, and I'm unsure if the open university offers dual honours. It'd have to be something you look into.

Good luck anyway, I hope you find a way of getting there in the end. X note this is all just my advice based off what I know for when I later apply to be an OT. You might want to consider emailing the national careers service. They always give me great advice that is easy to follow. Here is a link to their page on SLTs: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/speechandlanguagetherapist.aspx