Information on this page is for Australian residents
Course not available to international students
ATAR:
Not required*
*Offers made in 2022. More about ATAR
Duration: 
3 years full time
Location: 
St Albans
Delivery mode: 
Hybrid
Start dates:
24 February 2025
28 April 2025
28 July 2025

View all start dates
Application due dates:
Direct applications are due on 16 February 2025 for our next intake which starts on 24 February 2025.
Apply

Overview

Upgrade your early childhood diploma to a bachelor degree in just two years with a Bachelor of Early Childhood Teaching at Victoria University (VU).

If you hold a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, you can finish your bachelor degree sooner with this accelerated early childhood teaching course.

Continue to work in the sector while you study online in the evenings and become an early childhood teacher in just two years.

In your Bachelor of Early Childhood Teaching, you’ll essentially skip the first year of the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education to build on your expertise in nurturing children from birth to five years by learning:

  • teaching methods for early-childhood education settings
  • early-childhood learning theories
  • cultural competency, including Indigenous perspectives.

You’ll draw on your experience working in the sector to complete your assignments, including creating art-based responses, designing learning opportunities and reflecting on workplace documentation.

You may even be eligible for a $25,000 Victorian Government scholarship to study and work in Victoria.

As soon as you graduate from this course, you’ll meet the requirements to register as an early childhood teacher with Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) and Victorian Institute for Teaching (VIT), the Victorian body for Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL).

Enjoy fitting your study around your work in the early childhood industry, with classes delivered online after work.

On one Saturday per month, you’ll also attend a supportive, in-person class at our City Campus, where you can develop networks to support you through your studies and into your first years as an early childhood teacher.

Studying at VU means taking advantage of our strong connections with community centres, local councils, childcare settings and kindergartens.

The 80 days of supervised teaching experience currently includes:

  • 30 days in a government-funded and approved kindergarten program
  • 25 days with 3–5-year-olds
  • 10 days with birth–2-year-olds
  • 10 days in the unique 'VU Play' program 
  • 5 days of leadership placement.

In our ‘VU Play’ pop-up play spaces, you’ll create and maintain play spaces that encourage children to engage in self-directed play, using loose parts and various materials. You’ll work within the concept of ‘playwork’ to observe, reflect and analyse the children playing and intervene or make changes when needed. This program runs permanently at Footscray Nicholson campus and many other suitable locations.

Find out more about our practical programs in early childhood education.

With subsidised three-year-old kinder programs being rolled out in Victoria, more scholarships and other financial incentives for becoming an early childhood teacher are available than ever before.

If you're an eligible Australian citizen, New Zealand citizen, or permanent residency holder, you could apply for:

If you're Aboriginal, you could apply for:

You can use your scholarship towards course fees or study related expenses.

In addition, receive a $9,000 incentive if you take up an early childhood teaching or educator role at any service delivering funded three-year-old kindergarten in 2024. At selected services, receive between $9,000 and $50,000 for taking up a teaching role. Plus, if you relocate more than 100km to take up a teaching or educator role, you can receive a relocation supplement of between $1,000 and $8,000.

Find out more about Victorian Government financial support to study and work in early childhood.

Need some advice?

Request a call back from one of our experienced VUHQ course advisers to get your questions answered.

Request a call back
upgrade your early childhood diplma to a bachelor's degree in just two years

Careers

Take advantage of the high demand for bachelor-qualified early childhood teachers with funded three-year-old kindergarten rolling out across Victoria and an expected 21.6% growth in childcare jobs by 2026.

Thanks to the essential experience you’ll get from reflecting on your practice while working in the early childhood sector, you’ll be ready to register as a teacher as soon as you graduate.

Enjoy the rewards that come with nurturing the next generation as a kindergarten teacher or early childhood teacher and expect to earn above-average wages. 

 

Finding joy outside her comfort zone

Finding joy outside her comfort zone

Drawn back to study by VU's revolutionary Block Model, Melanie enrolled in a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and is now thriving.

assets/arrow-long Created with Sketch.

Course structure

To attain the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education students will be required to complete:

- 288 credit points of Core studies

Students also undertake practical placements that include 80 days supervised professional experience.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

We are the first Australian university to use a 'block' model of learning, where you study one unit at a time rather than juggling several at once.

Introduced in 2018, the VU Block Model has improved our student results and achievements, and has won awards for innovation and excellence. Initially for first-year students, it now applies to all students studying at our Melbourne campuses.

You'll study in short bursts, called blocks, of three 2-3 hour face-to-face teaching sessions per week.

Each block focuses on one unit (subject) and is only four weeks long, with up to four days between. Our two semesters have four blocks each, and there are optional blocks over winter and summer where you can catch up on a missed unit.

Some courses have labs and pracs too, and these are generally scheduled on the same days as teaching sessions. There are also workshops where you'll develop your study skills and prepare for your future career.

Find out more about the VU Block Model.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Initiate teaching and learning practices that foster learner engagement in complex contexts and foreground Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander standpoints in early childhood education.  
  2. Critically reflect on different ways of knowing, being, and doing founded on the view of children and families as capable contributors to conceptual and pedagogical decision-making in learning and teaching.  
  3. Design teaching practices that reflect an ability to contextualise, question, resist, rethink, and act towards equity and the public good.  
  4. Exhibit a broad and coherent body of knowledge of pedagogy, curriculum and assessment in relation to the changing nature of education in a rapidly-evolving global context.  
  5. Critically review and articulate a range of oral and written communication techniques, including in the use of Information and Communication Technologies, to engage and connect with students, their parents/carers and the wider community,  
  6. Design learning opportunities that embrace a rich and varied curriculum, ensure that learning and teaching approaches are based on sound ethical principles and foster reciprocal relationships in early childhood settings.  

What's a unit?

A unit or 'subject' is the actual class you'll attend in the process of completing a course.

Most courses have a mixture of compulsory 'core' units that you need to take and optional elective units that you can choose to take based on your area of interest, expertise or experience.

Credits

Each unit is worth a set amount of study credits based on the amount of time you study. Generally, 1 credit is equal to 1 hour of study per week.

Fees & scholarships

Fee type for this course: Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)

Fee type definitions

The amount you pay for your course depends on whether you’re offered a Commonwealth supported place (CSP) or a full fee-paying place.

Students who enrol in a:

In addition to your tuition fees, you may also be charged a Student Services & Amenities Fee (SSAF).

Scholarships & assistance

Apply for a scholarship to help with your study costs.

We can help with fee assistance and advice.

Admissions

Victoria University is committed to providing a transparent admissions process. Find out more about how to apply for our courses, and our commitment to admissions transparency.

Applicants for this course will need to have met the academic requirements and prerequisites for this course outlined below.

Meeting the minimum admission criteria does not guarantee entry into this course. Past academic performance may be considered.

Essential requirements for admission

Potential students must live or work in one of the eligible Local Government Areas. They must provide evidence of living and/or working in the LGA (e.g. a letter from their employer, a utility bill with their home address).

Admission criteria

The minimum criteria for admission varies depending on your education background. If you’re not sure which criteria applies to you, use the help tool on this page or make an enquiry and we can assist.

Applicants with recent secondary education (within the last 2 years)

  • Australian Senior Secondary Certificate (e.g. VCE) or
  • an Australian or overseas equivalent or
  • an International Baccalaureate (IB).

Importance of ATAR for this course

ATAR+

We consider both ATAR and other criteria

NA

ATAR is not a consideration. We use other criteria

Admission criteria

Find out if you meet the admission criteria for a bachelor degree at VU.

Why is ATAR not applicable?

You will not need an ATAR score to meet the admission requirements for this course. Only the successful completion of your secondary school studies, and any additional prerequisites. Our courses and support programs are designed to prepare students from diverse cultures for success, regardless of their prior experience, ATAR, age, socioeconomic or educational background.

Special admission programs

Our special admission programs cover a range of access and equity schemes that allow applicants from participating schools or disadvantaged social, economic or cultural environments to receive additional consideration. These include:

Applicants with vocational education and training (VET/TAFE) study

This information is for people who have completed an accredited award at an Australian Registered Training Organisation.

Admission criteria

Find out if you meet the admission criteria for a bachelor degree at VU.

Special admission programs

Our special admission programs cover a range of access and equity schemes that allow applicants from participating schools or disadvantaged social, economic or cultural environments to receive additional consideration. These include:

Applicants with higher education study

This information is for people whose highest level of study since leaving secondary education is a higher education course.

Admission criteria

Completion of a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, or equivalent.
If the Diploma is more than ten years old, applicants for the course must also submit a CV indicating their work experience in the Early Childhood education and care sector.

Special admission programs

Our special admission programs cover a range of access and equity schemes that allow applicants from participating schools or disadvantaged social, economic or cultural environments to receive additional consideration. These include:

Applicants with work & life experience

This information is for applicants who left secondary school more than two years ago and who have not undertaken VET or higher education study since then.

Admission criteria

Find out if you meet the admission criteria for a bachelor degree at VU.

Special admission programs

Our special admission programs cover a range of access and equity schemes that allow applicants from participating schools or disadvantaged social, economic or cultural environments to receive additional consideration. These include:

Additional information

Students will require a Working with Children Check to be eligible to undertake and participate in workplace visits, placements or projects. Use the following site link to obtain additional information:
http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/

Students will receive advanced standing of 96 credit points for their Diploma qualification equivalent to first year units.

Students will study in hybrid form, using Online Real Time (ORT) evening classes and in person classes on some weekends. As far as possible students will be grouped according to the local government area.

Selection criteria assistance

Let us know which qualifications you have studied and we will help you find the admission information that most applies to you.

Which of the following qualifications have you studied, or are currently studying?

Still not sure? Make an enquiry and one of our advisors can assist.

Student profile

Take a look at a student profile to get an overview of students who have previously enrolled in this course.

Pathways & credits

There are many ways you can start your education journey at VU. Pathways offer an easy transition between courses at different levels, so that you can start with a certificate and progress right through to postgraduate study.

Use our credit calculator to find out how much credit you could get towards your course, based on your previous study.

If you have completed study with another university or institution and believe you are eligible to receive credit for skills and past study, you can apply for advanced standing.

Applications for advanced standing can be made after a discussion with your course chair or academic adviser.

Credit Calculator

Find out how much credit you could get towards your course, based on your previous study.

CALCULATE YOUR CREDIT

How to apply

Available start dates:
  • 24 February 2025
  • 28 April 2025
  • 28 July 2025
  • 29 September 2025

Before you apply

Before applying, you should consider whether you also want to apply for:

  • Special admission programs: Depending on your life circumstances you may be eligible for special consideration of your application.
  • Advanced standing: If you have significant experience or studies elsewhere you may be eligible for credit for some units of your course and not have to undertake them.

Find out more about applying for our courses.

Apply direct to VU

Direct applications are due on 16 February 2025 for our next intake which starts on 24 February 2025.

Apply direct to VU

Already a VU student?

If you are already a VU student, apply direct to VU using our Admissions centre to transfer into this course. Remember it’s best to be accepted into your new course before withdrawing from your current one.

After you apply

  • It’s important to check for emails from us (which may go to your spam/junk folder).
  • Complete any requests for information by the given dates, otherwise your application may not be considered

Enquire now

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Get help

At Victoria University, we aim to display accurate and complete course information online. However, we are unable to guarantee that every course change is currently displayed. You may contact the University directly on +61 3 9919 6100 to confirm the most up-to-date course fees, pathways and credit transfer, recognition of prior learning, admission and enrolment procedures, examinations and services available to our students.