Social Work

Social work is a rewarding and impactful profession focused on social justice and human rights. It provides the opportunity to work closely with vulnerable individuals, helping to improve their lives and create positive change in society.

Our Social Work degree offers a comprehensive, hands-on learning experience, preparing you for diverse practice areas. With strong links to local agencies and a curriculum aligned with professional standards, you'll gain the skills and knowledge needed to become a qualified social worker and make a real difference in the community.

Top reasons to choose this course

• Accredited by Social Work England (SWE), the regulatory body for the social work profession, ensuring your qualification is recognised by an industry leading authority.

• 200 days on placement across your second and final years, ensuring you graduate with varied real-world experience.

• 100% of graduates are employed or engaged in further study 15 months after completing the course – Discover Uni.

• Social work empowers you to transform lives and create lasting social change.

• We have excellent links with local and regional organisations and agencies including Brighton and Hove City Council and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

• Learn from our expert team of qualified and registered social work practitioners. You will also have a Personal Academic Tutor who will support you throughout your student journey.

• The curriculum prepares you to work in various practice areas, opening up diverse career paths.

• Social work is a high-demand profession and is sought after in both public and private sectors.

Course Modules

Year 1
Introduction to Social Work Practice
Contemporary Social Inequalities
Human Growth and Development
Preparing for Social Work Practice
Law for Social Workers
Experts by Experience: Lived Experience, Needs and Resources

Year 2
Social Work Practice with Adults
Social Work Practice with Children and Families
Practice Learning 1
Critical Social Work Practice

Final year
Social Work Dissertation
Contemporary Social Work
Practice Learning 2

The course consists of university-based teaching and 200 days of practice learning. In your first year you’ll be introduced to foundational social work knowledge – including contributions from the social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, social policy and politics – something which develops in greater depth as you progress through the course. During your second and third years, you’ll complete two placements lasting 70 and 100 days respectively. Practice learning placements are a core part of your training. Of the 200 days allocated for this, 30 take the form of skills for practice days delivered within the university. The focus of these, as their name suggests, is on skills development as set against specific social work tasks and interventions (like assessment and decision-making) and/or different areas of practice. These take place at intervals throughout the course. For both of your placements, your practice will be assessed according to the Professional Capabilities Framework and you’ll be assigned a Practice Educator who’ll oversee your assessment. Supervisory and case management support for your work with service users will also be provided by the placement.

The first placement, which runs in parallel for second-year undergraduates and first-year postgraduates, lasts for 70 days. Within this placement, the emphasis will be on developing generic skills and is underpinned by relevant theories and research. This setting is predominantly based in the private, voluntary or independent sector. In your final year you’ll spend 100 days on placement. This placement will take place in a statutory setting, usually a local authority or an organisation fulfilling statutory functions, such as a private fostering agency. During this placement you’ll have opportunities to:

• undertake formal assessment processes

• apply legal frameworks in practice

• make decisions (with guidance) in relation to situations involving risk and complexity

• experience the demands of a high-pressure environment

• work with other professions as part of a multi-agency team.

Knowledge from professional areas such as counselling, education and health is also incorporated into teaching and learning across the three-year programme and as part of this there are opportunities to work in larger interprofessional groups during your time on with us. In previous years this has included working with students from other vocational courses, such as medicine, midwifery, occupational therapy and education.

Teaching typically takes the form of workshop style lectures, offering you opportunities to work closely with other students, qualified social workers and other professionals who may work closely with them. In this sense, the course benefits from contributions from a number of external partners and you’ll also get to meet different people who’ve either been in contact with services themselves or care for someone who has. Use of actual and simulated case material is widely used within these sessions, helping you to apply your learning to real-world scenarios when on placement.

We’re especially keen to enable you to become a curious, critical and compassionate practitioner, and across the three years of study you will be supported by regular tutorials to help meet your developmental needs. These will be facilitated by your personal academic tutor, who is social work qualified and registered with Social Work England.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up-to-date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you will be told about any new developments through Student View.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Social Work England