Course summary

This course encompasses contemporary issues in social work practice, and it aims to give you the knowledge, skills and attributes required to be an effective social worker and make a positive difference to service users. This course is designed to develop your professional knowledge and skills so that you may achieve a recognised social work qualification with eligibility to apply for registration with Social Work England1. Upon successful completion of this course, you will:

• Have developed the knowledge, cognitive skills, ethical understanding and interpersonal skills necessary for qualified social work practice.

• Be able to recognise and work with people from a diverse range of backgrounds in ways that balances the need to be sensitive to difference, cultural and otherwise, whilst remaining committed to upholding universal social work values.

• Have developed the self-efficacy, autonomy, self-awareness, reflective ability, emotional intelligence and the organisational skills to work as an effective and empathic social worker.

• There aren’t many careers that make you feel like you are giving back to society in the way that social work can. Social work is much more than ‘helping people’. At its best, it helps save lives, protect vulnerable people from harm and enhances the life chances of those in social need. Approved by Social Work England, on successful completion of this course you will be eligible to apply to Social Work England to register as a social worker (additional costs apply).

• The course facilitates transformative learning through practice-led and research-inspired teaching. You will be taught by a dedicated team of experienced social work academics which currently includes academics with substantial practice and research experience across a range of social work practice settings, including children and families and adult practice (staff subject to change). The course is designed around the applicability of learning to practice through the use of real-life case studies, serious case review findings, and the involvement of social work practitioners and experts by experience, to enhance the student learning experience.

• The teaching curriculum reflects the changing demographics of society and emerging social issues. The decolonisation of the curriculum is integrated so that graduates have the required skills and capabilities to practice with diverse groups of people presenting with the complexities of modern-day social problems. Social work by nature is embedded in making a contribution to the betterment of communities and promoting social justice, responsibility, sustainability and social responsibility. Many of the modules throughout the course are aimed at equipping you with the awareness of the nature, causation and impact on people of current social problems and how you may constructively and creatively respond to these.

• You will be provided with a comprehensive induction programme to support the transition into a new learning environment. This induction is student-centred and aims to promote good communication and working relationships between staff and students. You will be supported through a range of university support services including welfare service, student success coaches and student mentors. You will also be allocated a personal tutor who can help provide academic, personal, pastoral and welfare support. The course also emphasises the development of your emotional literacy and intelligence capacity in order to promote resilience and psychological wellbeing to practice effectively as a social worker.

• The course has embedded the employability of graduates and a major stem throughout the degree programme by ensuring is ensuring currency in the curriculum. We will support you in your final year as you transition to employment through a range of initiatives with local employers.