To apply for this course, you must:

• be currently working with children within a London borough (you may live outside a London borough but must work in one)
• not have a degree level qualification in any subject or from any country
• have an enhanced DBS clearance certificate (proof will be required)
• have your employer’s permission to attend the course and to carry out nursery observations, and have a reference from your current employer

If you meet the above criteria, your application will be considered for interview. Applications from those who do not meet the criteria will not be considered. Places are limited and we reserve the right to close the application intake once we have received sufficient applications. Interviews only take place once we have received a reference from your employer.

This course is fully funded (free of charge) for students who meet the eligibility criteria. To be eligible you must not have a first degree in any subject, from any country, and you must be working with children in a London borough.

The CPD64 course runs twice per year, taking in two new groups of students in January and September. Students will join either the September or January course for ten weeks on Mondays between 3.00pm and 5.45pm at the Tavistock Centre in London, with the agreement of their employer.

Students need to complete an observation of a young child in a nursery and will attend a young child observation seminar group on Monday afternoons for eight of the ten weeks of the course. You will need to set aside one hour per week to do the observation and allow for travel time and time to write up your notes each week.

Students can start their search for a nursery observation only once they have started the course, with guidance and support from the seminar leaders.  

To receive a CPD certificate for this course, students need to complete an observation assignment and attend a minimum of 70% of the course. Students must attend the first and last days of the course in order to receive the certificate. Students must commit to attending the course in full and must attend the first seminar.

This course offers students new perspectives on child development to bring to their current workplace. It is also an access course for eligible students who would like to go on to do further fully-funded study within the Tavistock and Portman.

Students who complete the CPD64 training and meet the attendance and academic requirements of the course may apply for continued funding and studies. Students can go on to gain funded places on our Emotional care of babies, children, young people and families (EC1) course, and following this may progress towards further studies in the field of child psychotherapy through our Training Skills Escalator programme.