In-Service Training Bursaries

In-Service training courses generally fall into 3 broad categories:

• Short courses designed to cater for immediate needs and provided at local level
• Courses linking theory to practice and meeting the criteria for national validation
• Courses with a more academic emphasis leading to degrees or postgraduate qualifications.

Your training needs should be jointly identified by you and your employer and should enhance your performance in specific areas of your practice and should contribute to your personal and career development.

To ensure a programme which is both comprehensive and flexible consideration may also be given to in-service training modes other than traditional course-based learning. The Youth Council plans to encourage an innovative and experimental approach to in-service training and will regularly review the feasibility and appropriateness of different approaches.

Eligibility (currently under review)

To be eligible for consideration for a bursary you must:

• Be currently employed in a full-time capacity in a recognised permanent post which has been established by or approved by Education and Library Boards or by DENI
• Have successfully completed your probation period; and
• Be making application for a course which is approved by the Youth Council. (Please note that assistance with courses outside Northern Ireland will only be considered where similar courses are not available in Northern Ireland.)

How to apply

Application for support may be made in respect of one course and one venue only. You must apply:

• To your employer for release
• To DENI through the Youth Council to ensure leave of absence with pay; and
• To the course providing institution for admission

While most applications for In-Service Bursaries are for attendance at part-time courses, support is also available for a limited number of full-time youth workers who wish to follow a year of full-time in-service training.

Examples of the types of courses for which In-Service Bursaries have been granted are as follows. This list is not exhaustive.

MSc Addiction Studies in Health Sciences, Queen’s University
MPhil by thesis, University of Ulster
MSc Health Promotion, University of Ulster
MSc Guidance & Counselling, University of Ulster
MEd Guidance & Counselling, Queen’s University
MEd Professional Development, University of Ulster
MA Youth & Community Studies, Brunel University
MSc Criminology, Queen’s University
MSc/Dip Rural Development, Queen’s University/Rural College
MSc Education and Contemporary Society, University of Ulster

Enquiries or an application form for In-Service Training Bursaries should be addressed to:

John McCormick
Professional Adviser (Training)
Youth Council for Northern Ireland
Forestview, Purdys Lane
BELFAST, BT8 7AR.

Tel: 028.9064.3882
Fax: 028.9064.3874
E-mail: jmccormick@youthcouncil-ni.org.uk

An application form can also be downloaded from this site.