Youthwork has always been a fast moving world with the profession having to respond to both changes in the world of young people and also the social policy context within the UK. A significant policy move over the last few years has been the reduction in generic youth work (local authority youth workers meeting young people in a youth centre or on the street), and the growth of multi-disciplinary services - i.e. youth workers working as part of a team that engages with young people - perhaps working with a social worker, educational psychologist or probabtion officer. As a result of this change, the government has raised the status of JNC 'professional youth work qualification' from diploma to honours degree level. This has significantly impacted the courses at Moorlands where for many years students could get their JNC as part of the applied theology degree. Students can still get their JNC whilst studying theology but we have had to increase the emphasis on youth work within the context of theology. This has meant that students need to decide to do the youth work option at the start of their course and cannot 'opt in' at a later stage. It also means that placements have to be carefully chosen right from the start to reflect the requirement to do many hours of face-to-face youth work.

None of this has impacted Moorlands foundational commitment to theology and the Christian context of youth work, but it does just mean that students need to make a decision about their direction earlier than possible in the past.