Course Overview
Social workers work with a wide cross-section of society, including some of the most disadvantaged and excluded people. Our MA in Social Work provides a variety of opportunities for you to develop the knowledge, skills and appropriate values to work positively with people who have lived experience of social work practice.
Why study with us
Values for ethical and effective social work practice are at the heart of the MA in Social Work course, underpinned by connection to people with lived experience of social work, research and the professional evidence base.
You’ll spend at least 200 days (including 30 skills days) gaining different experiences and learning in practice settings. This enables you to build on your academic learning, developing a critical professional skills. You will demonstrate values-based practice to professional standards.
Teaching takes a blended approach of lectures, seminars and in-person learning opportunities.
What you'll do
In Year 1 the focus is understanding of the contexts for social work practice; self-awareness and self-development for resilience and effective practice; developing skills for working with others (communication, observation, assessment, intervention, criticality, writing, relationship building and digital professional skills); and developing and applying this knowledge with, and learning from people with lived experience of social work practice.
In Year 2 you’ll have the opportunity to build on your skills and knowledge from the first year to consider and work with key complexities and challenges in social work practice, be supported to reflect on your developing professional capabilities, and plan for your intended social work career.
The experiences, messages and views of social work practitioners, service users and carers underpin the course and are drawn upon to support your development as an effective social work practitioner in response.
Future Careers
Recent graduates of the MA in Social Work have gained jobs in social work teams in safeguarding/support roles, in children’s, young people and adult’s services, and with local authority, third sector and private organisations.
Please visit The University of Lancashire’s website for the latest information about our modules.
This course is available in Clearing. If you have submitted an application, you can add this course. If you haven’t sent us an application yet, you can do this until 24th September 2026.
This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.
University of Lancashire has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?
The following entry points are available for this course:
2:1 (Hons) degree required, and GCSE Grade C/4 or above in English or equivalent. Equivalent qualifications are Functional Skills Level 2 in English or Level 3 Key Skills in Communication.
Applicants with a 2:2 (Hons) degree with substantial relevant experience and a thorough understanding of Social Work will be considered for shortlisting.
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 7 | with no component score less than 7.0 (to have been taken within 2 years before the course commencement date) |
Our Fair Access Scheme recognises barriers into education and allows us to make an offer with lower entry requirements. At the University of Lancashire, we are proud to help people seize every opportunity to flourish in education, at work and for life. We recognise that students from disadvantaged backgrounds often face significant challenges to access and succeed in higher education. Our Fair Access Scheme ensures that students aren’t limited by circumstances and can achieve their potential.
This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).
It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.
Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
This report uses your grades to show how students with similar results have done when applying to this course in the past. Sometimes, there isn’t data for every possible set of grades. When that happens, universities and colleges occasionally fill in the gaps for sets of grades that are typically accepted.
| Location | Fee | Year |
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Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
*subject only to annual increase in line with UK Retail Price Index Inflation rate and increases permitted by the Government
Email:CEnquiries@lancashire.ac.uk
Phone:01772830777
Monday-Thursday 09:00-17:00hrs
Friday 09:00-16:00hrs
Email:cenquiries@lancashire.ac.uk
Phone:01772 892400
Preston
PR1 2HE
At University of Lancashire
