Course summary

Social Work research at Edinburgh has a permanent legacy across the world and has had significant influence in legislation and policy-making. The University of Edinburgh started providing training for social workers in 1918 and today our social work department is ranked as 1st in Scotland and 4th in the UK (Complete University Guide 2025). Social Work is based at the prestigious School of Social and Political Science. The School brings together scholars from seven academic subject areas and 11 research centres, with subjects ranging from Politics and International Relations to Science, Technology and Innovation Studies. The Dean and Head of the School of Social and Political Science, Professor John Devaney, is Centenary Chair of Social Work. The Master of Social Work (MSW)/Diploma in Social Work is a postgraduate qualification for anyone wishing to practise as a qualified social worker. Students come from all over the world to this programme, and go on to practise in diverse settings in social work practice, training, research, as well as in the government, public, private and voluntary sectors. You’ll gain a fundamental understanding of the theory and practice that underpins all work in the field, splitting your time between theoretical learning on campus and practical work in various learning environments. Our research Our approach to social work is a critical one. Social work has always, as its name suggests, been concerned with ‘the social’ and with social explanations for problems faced by individuals, families, communities and society as a whole. C. Wright Mills, writing in 1959, made an important distinction between ‘personal troubles’ and ‘public issues’, arguing that problems we often think of as personal (for example, unemployment or criminalisation) are actually public issues which are encountered in the private sphere. Social work should be about understanding individual problems in their wider social context. Our research areas include:

• Refugees and asylum seekers

• Social security and social work

• Children’s rights

• Violence against children

• Violence against women

• Friendship and social support

• Mental health and social work

• Innovation in restorative justice systems