MA Social Work

Please note: candidates must meet ALL of the following criteria to be considered for the social work master’s degree:

• A relevant undergraduate degree (ideally a 2:1 classification) or other recognised equivalent qualification. A Pass or 3rd will not be considered.
• Applicants are advised to discuss the relevance of their Degree in their personal statement.
• All applicants must have GCSE in Maths and English Language grade C/4, or a certified Level 2 equivalent, regardless of other qualifications.
• You will need to have had experience of working with people who are experiencing challenges. This can be through volunteering or in paid employment. This experience should be over a period of at least six months and have totalled at least 500 hours.

Students yet to graduate should ideally provide an academic reference (although a professional reference would be acceptable).

Students who have already graduated should provide a professional reference.

All offers of a place on our masters in social work are subject to:

• satisfactory Occupational Health Screening (OH),
• satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) report (this does not mean an applicant must have a ‘clear’ DBS. However any DBS issues will need to be discussed prior to your interview (where possible) and full enrolment on to the programme)
• an Overseas Police check for those who have resided outside of the UK at any time in the last five years prior to the course start date. (This is in addition to completing the UK DBS unless you have not lived in the UK during the last five years).  It is recommended that you try to obtain the police check prior to coming to the UK, if you are currently living outside of the UK and;
• successful interview by the University.

Please note, entry requirements must be maintained as the programme is endorsed by Social Work England.

For fees and funding options please visit website to find out more

Employment prospects for graduates with a masters in social work are excellent and you will be able to pursue various social work careers across the country. Successful graduates will need to apply to Social Work England for registration. As Social Worker is a protected title, you need to have this registration before you can practice as a social worker. Only those graduating from a social work course can apply for this.

If you leave the course before completion, you may be able to be awarded an intermediate award, but you will not be able to register as a social worker.

Clearly this masters in social work is designed specifically to prepare and train for the Social Work profession and it can be utilised to develop onward skills in specific/specialist roles that link to the core Social Work qualification.

The MA Social Work degree programme aims to prepare students for professional practice through a 2-year Master’s course that blends key academic modules and rigorous placement experiences which focus on required professional standards appropriate to the delivery of assessment and support for those in need within our communities.

The Social Work MA course has been designed to contribute towards achieving the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goal: SDG3 of Good Health and Wellbeing.

Our MA Social Work programme is a challenging but ultimately rewarding route to professional qualification within a dynamic and multi-faceted career. The Social Work masters program itself is aligned with the education and professional standards of the current professional regulator – Social Work England. Additionally the academic and practice-focused material links with the British Association of Social Workers and Professional Capabilities Framework which starts at entry to the programme and follows professional development through to qualification.

Studying for a Social Work MA degree offers opportunities to develop academic and professional skills, such as: analytical report writing; assessing and managing risk; developing an understanding of the application of legislation in practice; evidence-based and theory linked practice plus direct work with families, children and other professionals. A key focus within the programme is the skills development linked to practice placement experiences which enable students to further, test, analyse and develop their Social Work skills with a range of organisations and individuals.

We have a broad range of placement providers which enables us to match students to suitable placements in the arenas of children in need, adults with mental health needs, youth offending, child protection and adult safeguarding, domestic abuse and education. All placements are quality assured by our dedicated placement team and full support is offered to all students whilst on placement via on-site or long-arm Practice Educators.