Undergraduate · Education
Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Care (Birth-5 years)
TAFE NSW, Multi-campus, NSW, Australia
About this program
This ACECQA-approved degree qualifies graduates as early childhood teachers, not just educators, which puts it in the same regulatory category as equivalent university early childhood teaching degrees despite being delivered by TAFE NSW. The four-year structure carries 805 hours (115 days) of work placement, a substantial practicum load that's woven through the degree rather than concentrated in a single final-year block, giving students repeated, staged exposure to real early learning settings as their coursework deepens.
Curriculum content runs across children's development, language and literacies, STEM, Indigenous education, leadership, inclusive and gifted education, health and wellbeing, and the arts in the early years: a broader spread than a narrower early childhood care qualification, reflecting the birth-to-five age range the degree is built to cover rather than splitting infant/toddler care from preschool teaching into separate credentials.
Because it's delivered through TAFE NSW's applied learning model, students combine contemporary early-childhood research with heavily practice-oriented coursework, which the university positions as a direct pathway into preschool and long day care teaching roles as well as broader children's and family services positions.
Cost & duration
English test scores
Verified tafensw.edu.au ↗
Course structure
5 terms of coursework
- Core units across children's development and learning theory, language and literacies, STEM in the early years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, inclusive and gifted education, leadership and service management, health, safety and wellbeing, creative arts pedagogy
- 805 hours (115 days) of supervised work placement, staged progressively across the four years
- ACECQA-approved sequence, required for recognition as a qualified early childhood teacher
- Final-year capstone integrating leadership and service management with an extended placement block
- Total: four-year bachelor's degree
Admissions
Completion of Year 12 or a relevant Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, plus a Working with Children Check
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