Social Work
Entry requirements
A level
a minimum of grades BBB in A levels (or a minimum of 120 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg Extended Diploma)
Access to HE Diploma
Access to HE Diploma in a relevant subject is acceptable for entry. You will need 60 credits overall with 6 credits with Distinction and 24 at Merit and level 2 passes in Maths and Communication units. QAA accredited course required.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
A minimum of 15 points at the higher level and a minimum of 4 points in English and Maths at standard level.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
A minimum of 114 UCAS points, including four passes at Higher level at grade C (or above).
UCAS Tariff
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Attend an interview
About this course
**Why study this course?**
Social work is a profession that has its history rooted in the principles of equality and social justice. Accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), this course enables you to practise as a social worker. You'll benefit from our extensive links with statutory organisations, local authorities and the voluntary sector, and from the experience our lecturers bring to their teaching.
In the most recent Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, 100% of all 2017 graduates from this course were in work or further study within six months.
**More about this course**
The Social Work BSc (Hons) is a professionally accredited course providing the knowledge, skills and values required by social workers which enables successful students to register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). It’s been designed to meet the Standards of Proficiency (SOPs) as defined by the HCPC and the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) requirements (originally set out by The College of Social Work).
We’ve integrated the nine areas of the PCF for social workers into our modules. The nine areas are:
- professionalism
- values and ethics
- diversity
- rights, both justice and economic
- knowledge
- judgement
- critical reflection and analysis
- contexts and organisations
- professional leadership
Knowledge, skills and values in these core areas will help you develop a professional identity as a social worker, enabling you to become a reflective, resilient and effective social work practitioner.
This course is informed by research, evidence, current policy, practice and theoretical perspectives. You'll learn in a structured and dynamic environment, with considerable interaction with experienced academic staff, service users, other professional students as well key social work partners and practitioners.
This three-year course includes two placements, with at least one of the placements giving you experience of statutory social work tasks, involving legal interventions.
Modules
Year 1 modules include: Assessing, Planning and Professional Ethics (core, 30 credits); Communication, Skills and Values in Social Work (core, 30 credits); Human Growth and Development: A Life Course Perspective (core, 30 credits); Social Context for Social Work (core, 30 credits).
Year 2 modules include: Professional Law for Social Work (core, 15 credits); Inter-professional Practice (core, 15 credits); Safeguarding Children and Adults (core, 15 credits); Social Work Practice Learning 1 (core, 60 credits); Theoretical Perspectives in Social Work (core, 15 credits).
Year 3 modules include: Effective Social Work Practice with Children and Adults (core, 15 credits); Research Project (core, 30 credits); Social Work Practice Learning 2 (core, 75 credits).
Assessment methods
You'll be assessed through essays, exams, oral presentations, group work, a portfolio and two periods of assessed practice placements.
You'll also undertake supervised social work practice within at least two different practice settings over a minimum of 170 days during the course, as well as undertaking 30 skills days.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Holloway
School of Social Sciences and Professions
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Social work
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Social work
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
We're short of social workers - so if you want a degree that is in demand, then this could be the one for you! There's a shortage of social workers all over the UK, and graduates can specialise in specific fields such as mental health or children's social work. If you decide social work is not for you, then social work graduates also often go into management, education, youth and community work and even nursing. Starting salaries for this degree can reflect the high proportion of graduates who choose a social work career - social work graduates get paid, on average, more than graduates overall, but not all options pay as well as social work. This is also an unusual subject in that London isn't one of the more common places to find jobs - so if you want to get a job near to your home or your university this might be worth thinking about.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Social work
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£24k
£29k
£30k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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