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Social Work

Entry requirements


See below for entry requirements.

See below for entry requirements.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE profiles need to include Welsh or English language and Mathematics at Grade C/4 or above

See below for entry requirements.

See below for entry requirements.

See below for entry requirements.

About this course


Course option

2years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Social work

If you want a career where you can make a real, positive difference to the lives of people and communities in vulnerable circumstances, then our Social Work Master's degree is the ideal springboard. Social work is about encouraging change and human growth by supporting the social care and welfare needs of individuals, groups and communities.

This professionally accredited postgraduate course is designed for applicants who have already studied a relevant undergraduate degree and will give you the academic knowledge and practical experience to begin a career as a registered social worker. You will study the ethics and values of social work, critical practice relating to the law around child and adult care, and the key theories and perspectives underpinning social work policy and practice.

You will spend half of your time on placement with social work agencies, learning through observation and practice, and the other half being taught on our Singleton Park campus.

Throughout your studies, you will refine critical research and analytical skills in relation to social work practice and policy, and develop professional reflective practice techniques.

Being based in the School of Health and Social Care, Wales’s largest provider of healthcare education, you will be immersed in a dynamic research and learning environment with many opportunities to build links with students from related disciplines.

You will join a university that is:

15th in the UK for Course Satisfaction - Guardian University Guide 2023
12th in the UK for Student Satisfaction – NSS 2021
UK Top 25 University - Guardian University Guide 2022

Modules

Year 1
• Theories and Perspectives for Informing Social Work
• Critical Practice in Child Care and Law
• Ethics and Values in Social Work
• Undertaking and Using Social Work Research for Practice
• Social Work Skills and Knowledge in Practice
• Preparation for Practice Learning

Year 2
• Social Work Skills, Knowledge and Service Users' Perspectives
• Critical Practice in Adult Care and Law
• Dissertation in Social Work Research and Evidence for Practice

Assessment methods

The course is both academic and practice-based, you will complete a minimum of 200 days practice learning across the two years. Half of the programme is devoted to supervised practice in social service agencies, where you’ll have the opportunity to learn through observation, rehearsal and performance. The social work placements take place in the local authorities of Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion.

Your learning will be assessed through written essays, oral presentations, I.T. based exercises, reflective commentaries and portfolio work across the two years of study.

Practice placements are assessed by a combination of written work, observed practice and personal assessments using the National Occupational Standards for Social Work.

You will also be expected to complete a research dissertation and poster presentation in your second year of study (15,000 words approx.) with support from an assigned supervisor.

The Uni


Course location:

Singleton Park Campus

Department:

Social Work, Social Policy and Social Research

Read full university profile

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.

74%
Social work

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

84%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
100%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
89%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

56%
Library resources
74%
IT resources
47%
Course specific equipment and facilities
63%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

100%
UK students
0%
International students
10%
Male students
90%
Female students
76%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
B

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.

£21,000
med
Average annual salary
100%
med
Employed or in further education
33%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

59%
Welfare professionals
13%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
6%
Public services and other associate professionals

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.

£17k

£17k

£23k

£23k

£32k

£32k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
University of Strathclyde | Glasgow
Social Work
MSc (PG) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 120-128
Same University
Swansea University | Swansea
Social Work
MSc (PG) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 104

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the 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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here