CYP Diploma

The Diploma is offered by 29 partner institutions in 45 countries. Please contact the partner institution in your country, from the list below. If your country is not in the list, please contact your CYP Regional Centre.

The Diploma in Youth Development Work is designed to provide youth workers with an underpinning knowledge on which to base their work with young people; an understanding of the values and ethics of the profession, grounded in the values and principles of the Commonwealth; and the practical skills to undertake the work.

The work is concerned with young people's personal and social development in its broadest sense and uses both formal and informal educational methods. Workers not only plan initiatives but also have the interpersonal skills to work spontaneously, creating learning opportunities.

As such, youth development work is distinctive and different from other professions which engage with young people such as welfare or social work, formal education or teaching and sports coaching, although all such professions are likely to draw on informal educational approaches when appropriate.

The CYP Diploma is made up of 13 “core” modules, in addition to region-specific modules. The modules cover topics such as enterprise and economic development, youth policy, gender, health, project management, the environment and sustainable development. Each module takes approximately 4-6 weeks of full-time study but students are free to arrange a different schedule in their individual “learning agreement” with the University they are registered with.

Each module carries either five or ten credits and to reach Diploma level you must accrue 120 credits, the equivalent of the Foundation level of a degree. One of the major advantages of this approach is that each student can progress at their own pace, taking between a year and eighteen months to complete the course.

The Diploma is offered primarily through distance education, therefore students can enrol on the course from anywhere in the world. Students can apply directly to any one of the 27 universities or training Partner Institutions listed on our website. Each University will have its own entrance criteria and registration procedures, but usually prospective students are required to have at least three years experience in youth work and twelve years of formal education.

Successful students receive their Certificate not only from the University from which they graduate, but they also receive a pan-Commonwealth award which is signed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General and which contains the names and logos of the 27 partner Universities.

Download:

• Commonwealth Diploma in Youth Development - Brochure
• Stimulating Excellence in Youth Work

For further information, please contact:

Mrs Tina Ho
Youth Affairs Division
Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House, Pall Mall
London SW1Y 5HX, UK
t.ho@commonwealth.int