Interested? See

BA (Hons)

Social Work

Attendance

Campus

Start

Book an Undergraduate Open Day

Duration

3 Years

Start

September 2023

UCAS Code

L500

Delivery

Campus Taught

Are you passionate about helping those in need? Our Social Work degree aligns with Social Work England's professional standards and prepares you to work with some of our society's most marginalised and disadvantaged people.

This course is being reapproved under the University’s normal cycle of review. As such, the course structure and content may be changed to enable the University to deliver a better quality of educational experience to students.

We have developed our Social Work course in partnership with key stakeholders. Including social work service users, carers, and representatives from social work agencies. So you’ll be well prepared for the fast-changing and challenging world of social work.

You can choose to study this course at either our Preston Campus or at our Burnley Campus. What's more, the course aligns with Social Work England's professional standards, which means when you graduate, you will be eligible to apply for professional registration with Social Work England.

As part of the BA Social Work course, students are required to complete 170 days in practice. This consists of a 35 hour per week, 70 day first placement starting in the September of the second year of study. And a 35 hour per week, 100 day final placement starting in the September of the third year of study.

A specialist team arranges all student placements: students do not find their own placements. All placements are based in the North-West of England, primarily across Lancashire. A small number of placements are in Greater Manchester, Wigan and South Cumbria. First placements normally take place in private, voluntary, independent or charitable (PVI) organisations. Final placements take place either in PVI organisations, NHS teams, or local authority teams.

Our NHS partner is Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust. Our local authority partners are Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council and Blackpool Council. All placements are audited according to Social Work England’s professional standards and the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF).

Why study with us

On completion of this degree, you’ll be eligible to apply to Social Work England for registration as a social worker.
Our Social Work degrees are ranked 10th in The Times' university league table 2023.
Gain international experience. Students have visited Amsterdam, Cyprus, Toronto and Krakow to learn about social work organisations.

Interested?

Download

A day on campus

Interested in working with children and young people?

Our Children, Schools & Families (Graduate Practitioner) BA Hons Undergraduate degree offers the perfect route by blending a range of subject areas including education, sociology, psychology, social policy and social work into a unique degree.

Discover more and apply

Saresh Mohammad, Usman Ahmed, Nicola Harris, & Saana Mohammed - MA Social Work

Gallery01 / 01

Study Social Work

You will benefit from 170 days of practice placements and 30 skills delivery days.
Our diverse intake adds a valuable mix of ages, perspectives and previous experience to your learning.
A member of our academic staff will visit you on your placement to support you.

Module overview

Course delivery

Following the pandemic, we have found that some courses benefit from a blended learning and teaching approach. Therefore, the majority of your teaching will be face-to-face on campus aside from a small amount of online teaching where we have learnt it works best.

90%Face-to-face

10%Online

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our published course information. However, our programmes are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may cause alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses. Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of accrediting bodies or revisions to subject benchmarks statements. As well as to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.

Join us on campus

Book a place at our Undergraduate Open Day on Saturday 17 June. Here you'll be able to explore our campus and facilities, meet academic staff & chat to students.

Book your place

Social Work course facilities

Accreditations

This course was approved by the Health and Care Professions Council and is now approved by Social Work England, the specialist body who regulates social workers in their vital roles.

How to become a social worker

To become a social worker, you’ll need to be qualified at degree level. You should have excellent listening and communication skills, resilience, and creativity.

On completion of the three year undergraduate social work course, you’ll need to register with Social Work England, or the regulator relevant to where you live and work. After doing this you will be able to apply for jobs.

You can also become a social worker by completing a degree apprenticeship.

Careers in Social Work

After graduating you could become a social worker in a range of areas, such as:

children and families
youth justice
older adults
mental health
community care
children and adults with disabilities
education welfare
substance misuse

Depending on your interests, you may work in the public or private sectors or in a variety of voluntary and independent agencies.

Students who recently graduated from our social work course are employed as social workers in a variety of settings. Such as parenting and family support teams, juvenile justice, community drug treatment teams, and community mental health clinics.

There is also the option to continue your studies by completing a post-qualifying course.

Academic Expertise

There are two Foundation routes available for entry onto this course:

Visit the course pages to decide which route would be best for you.

Fees and funding

2022/23

Full-time£9250 per year

International

Full-time£14250 per year

2023/24

Full-time£9,250 per year

International

Full-time£17,000 per year

Scholarships and bursaries

We have a wide range of scholarships, bursaries and funds available to help support you whilst studying with us.

Select your country and see eligibility information and how to apply by selecting more info on the cards below.

Select your country/region

A three-year degree qualification typically comprises 360 credits and each 20 credits (a standard module) equates to 200 hours of study, including lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical sessions and independent study.

Independent study is an important aspect of your degree course. The exact combination of study time is detailed within module descriptors, and will depend on your chosen options.

Teaching and learning opportunities include lectures, seminars, student-led projects, presentations, e-learning, discussion groups, workshops, self-directed study, and work-based learning. Social work practitioners and service users and carers contribute to course delivery.

Academic assessments include; essays, exams, presentations, case studies, oral interviews, practice placements and portfolios.

The School has long-standing relationships with a wide range of agencies across the North West. You will be supported in gaining practical experience through placements, work experience and volunteering.

As part of the course you will have the opportunity to hear about the experiences of service users, carers, patients and public members via our community engagement and service user support groups (Comensus).

We have lots of extra-curricular activities including a dedicated social work film club offering monthly screenings around relevant films, book clubs and course outings.

In recent years the School’s research seminar series has provided a forum for new and early career researchers, and for established researchers and academics, to present their research and encourage debate about a range of topics, research methods and approaches. The series brings together students, researchers, practitioners, academics, stakeholders and service user and carer groups.

Recent seminar topics have included: Peer Support in the Transition from Hospital to Home for People with Mental Health Problems; Drug and Alcohol dependency amongst LGB people; and Adolescent Sexual Coercion.

This programme has also been endorsed by The College of Social Work (TCSW) as having met the social work professional quality criteria.