Youth worker
Youth workers support young people aged 11 to 25 to help them with their personal, social and educational development.
- Starter salary£24,000 a year
- Experienced£37,000 a year
- Typical hours37 to 42 a week
What you'll do
As a youth worker, you could:
- support young people, including carers and people at risk of offending
- run projects that focus on issues like health, bullying, crime or drugs
- design and organise activity programmes for young people
- keep confidential records, manage budgets and apply for funding
- work with other professionals, like social workers, teachers, probation officers and the police
Working environment
You could work in the community, at an outreach centre, at a college, in an office or at a school.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding and outdoors some of the time.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- excellent verbal communication skills
- sensitivity and understanding
- the ability to work well with others
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
- knowledge of psychology
- the ability to understand people's reactions
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become a youth worker
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- applying directly
University
You could do a professional youth work qualification, which is a degree recognised by the National Youth Agency.
Degree courses include:
- youth work
- youth work and communities
- youth work and theology
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
- a degree in any subject for a postgraduate course
College
You'll need a minimum of a level 2 youth work practice qualification to work with young people aged 11 and over.
This may help you to find a job as a youth support worker. It can also act as a stepping stone to higher-level courses to train to become a professional youth worker.
Entry requirements
There are no set entry requirements for this route.
Apprenticeship
You could apply to do an apprenticeship, such as:
- Youth Support Worker Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
- Youth Worker Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship
These can take between 2 and 3 years to complete.
Entry requirements
Employers will set their own entry requirements.
Work
You could start as a part-time youth support worker and complete training on the job. You could then use this to join a youth work degree course.
Volunteering
Employers value work experience with young people so it's important to get as much as you can. You'll often need at least one year of experience to apply for a job or youth work course.
You can find voluntary or part-time youth work opportunities through the National Council for Voluntary Organisations . You can also contact your local council for details of youth services in your area.
Direct application
You could apply to become a youth worker if you've got experience and qualifications in teaching, careers guidance, probation or community development.
You'll be expected to complete a postgraduate qualification while you're working to give you professional youth worker status.
Restrictions and requirements
You'll need to:
- pass enhanced background checks
Career path and progression
With experience and further training, you could:
- become a team leader, project co-ordinator or service manager
- specialise in an area like young people's mental health
- work in youth policy and development of best practice
- move into a related career and become a social worker , community development worker or counsellor
Guides for this industry
Related roles
- Job roleCommunity development worker
- Job roleSocial work assistant
- Job roleCareers adviser
- Job roleEducation welfare officer
- Job roleYouth offending team officer
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0