Course summary

This course encompasses contemporary issues in social work practice, and gives you the knowledge, skills and attributes required to be an effective social worker and make a positive difference to children, young people, adults, and their carers. This course is designed to develop your professional knowledge and skills so that you may achieve a recognised social work qualification enabling you to apply for registration with Social Work England. 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.

• 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. 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.

• You will put theory into practice as you undertake a 70-day placement in year two and a 100-day placement in year three. Practice placements are sourced by the university and are in a range of social work and care settings. On placement you will learn from complex situations and be supported by experienced social work practitioners.

• The course has embedded the employability of graduates. We will support you in your final year as you transition to employment through a range of initiatives with local employers.