Annual Salary
£22,000 to £35,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
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Youth workers support young people aged 11 to 25 to help them with their personal, social and educational development.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends; on a rota
There will be
4% more Youth worker jobs in 2027.
As a youth worker, you could:
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.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a professional youth work qualification, which is a degree recognised by the National Youth Agency.
Degree courses include:
Postgraduate courses
You can do a postgraduate qualification to give you professional youth worker status if you have a degree in another subject and relevant experience.
You'll usually need:
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.
You could apply to do an apprenticeship, such as:
These can take between 2 and 3 years to complete.
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.
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.
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.
More information
You can find out more about careers in youth work from the National Youth Agency.
You'll need to:
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
You'll need: