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Social Work (Postgraduate Entry)

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About this course


Course option

2years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Social work

**Overview**
This two-year Master’s degree in Social Work will equip you with the skills and experience you need to become a professional social worker and make a real difference in the lives of children and families, mental health patients, people with disabilities or vulnerable adults.

The course combines theory and practice, and you’ll be supported by passionate industry experts with many years of social work experience. You’ll learn about the latest legislation, planning and policy, and put it all into practice in professional settings, with real people.

You’ll undertake two separate work placements – one in your first year and one in your second year.

The NHS bursary for postgraduate social work students can help with the cost of your fees, your living costs, and includes a contribution towards your placement travel expenses.

When you successfully complete the course, you'll have the skills and knowledge you need to apply to register as a social worker with the professional regulatory body, Social Work England.

**What you'll experience**

- Our staff are current and recent social work professionals

- Take part in skills days – full-day workshops with professional social workers to help prepare you for your placements

- Practise your skills in our Simulation Centre which features a realistic flat, bedroom and hospital ward where you'll prepare for home visits and care-giving in hospital and care home settings

- Work closely with our Social Work Inclusion Group – local social services users from a variety of backgrounds that help our students understand the needs of different individuals and communities

- Develop your critical and analytical skills with a dissertation project on a subject in your own area of interest

- Undertake two placements in professional practice settings which could be schools, supported living facilites, hospitals or health centres

**Careers and opportunities**
When you graduate from the MSc Social Work degree course, you'll have the knowledge and practical skills to work in any branch of social work.

**What jobs can you do with a Social Work degree?**
Career opportunities include:
- social worker

- practice teacher

- care manager

- persistent offender coordinator

- family support worker

- housing adviser

- homelessness/substance abuse charities

- PhD study

We'll provide you with as much support as possible in finding employment through close industrial contacts, careers events, recruitment fairs and individual advice.

**Approved by:**
This Master's course is a professional qualification for social work approved by Social Work England. Once you've graduated, you'll be eligible to apply for registration with Social Work England, which means you can work as a professional Social Worker in statutory, voluntary and independent sector agencies.

Modules

Year 1: - Empowerment and Discrimination Skills for Practice - 15 credits Legal and Policy Frameworks for Social Work - 30 credits MSc Social Work Practice Placement 1 - 30 credits Social Work Theory and Evidence - 15 credits Year 2: - Dissertation - 30 credits MSc Social Work Practice Placement 2 - 30 credits Safeguarding Analysis and Professional Decision Making - 15 credits Transition to Employment - 15 credits All modules on this MSc Social Work course are core.

Assessment methods

We're part of a network of Local Authority and NHS social work service providers, local and national third sector and charitable organisations. As such, we’re able to support students in a variety of placement settings. We provide skills days which are Government directed and funded by the NHS. They’re delivered by social workers, managers, senior managers and principal social workers from our network. Skills days are themed around specific topics such as mental health or safeguarding, and are designed to help prepare you for your placement experience. As a MSc Social Work student, you'll undertake two separate professional placements – one in your first year and one in your second year. Most travel costs are covered by placement providers or employment agencies. The NHS bursary for postgraduate social work students includes a contribution towards your placement travel costs. Each placements is: 16 weeks (Year 1), 25 weeks (Year 2) 28 hours per week Placements are assessed by: Oral assessment and presentation Coursework portfolio.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£12,000
per year
England
£12,000
per year
EU
£12,000
per year
International
£17,200
per year
Northern Ireland
£12,000
per year
Republic of Ireland
£12,000
per year
Scotland
£12,000
per year
Wales
£12,000
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Portsmouth

Department:

Faculty of Science and Health

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.

66%
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

67%
Staff make the subject interesting
94%
Staff are good at explaining things
79%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
81%
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

79%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
80%
Course specific equipment and facilities
57%
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
17%
Male students
83%
Female students
67%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

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.

£27,500
high
Average annual salary
98%
med
Employed or in further education
81%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

68%
Welfare professionals
16%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
5%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

£30k

£30k

£32k

£32k

£34k

£34k

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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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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