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Advanced Residential Childcare (Taught)
- MS
- 24 Months
- Part-time
- 09/2025
- Postgraduate
- University of Strathclyde
Course summary
The MSc in Advanced Residential Child Care has been developed within the Department of Social Work and Social Policy alongside the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care & Protection to support the development of direct practice and leadership in the residential child care sector in Scotland and beyond.
The course is unique in the UK in offering a Masters-level award specifically in residential child care. It has been developed to support the development of direct practice and leadership in the residential child care sector in Scotland and beyond.
Consensus is growing that residential child care practice is complex, challenging and requires requisite knowledge, skills and capacities of the workforce. If children and young people are to have positive care experiences which improve their life chances, then those who care for them, and those who support those who care for them, must be supported in developing and maintaining that knowledge.
By taking this course, you can expect to experience development in your knowledge, skills and relational capacities in practice. You can also expect to contribute to professional leadership, practice development and research and evaluation in your own agency and possibly beyond.
Modules
Modules: Critical perspectives on residential child care; understanding and assessing in children's life-spaces; ethical leadership and management in residential child care; skilled and reflective use of self in residential child care; intervening effectively in residential child care; methods: ethical and effective research in residential child care; professional enquiry in residential child care: dissertation.
Assessment method
Assessment is made up of group or individual presentations and essays, both of which apply research, theory and social policy to your practice and the practices in your place of work.
In one module, assessment will involve your reflections on a video you’ve made of your communication in practice. You need sufficient access to practice in residential child care settings through which you’ll evidence practice requirements. However, these requirements are broad enough to allow those in external management, training or other relevant positions to meet the requirements of the assessments.
Professional bodies
Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.
- Scottish Social Services Council
Entry requirements
Degree (minimum 360 SCQF credit points) or equivalent qualifications and experience.
Applicants with HNC/SVQ3/SVQ4 qualifications will be asked to provide a supporting written assignment.
Those with professional or academic qualifications other than social work will be considered.
Applicants must be working full time in residential child care or a closely related area, as all of the coursework requires students to apply their learning to their practice and the practices in their employing organisation.
For some years now, there have been considerably more suitably qualified applicants than there are places on the course. Our decisions about who to offer places to are based on all the information in your application, including your current and previous work experience and your educational and training qualifications, but also the content of your personal statement and your attention to detail in the application overall.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| Location | Fee | Year |
|---|---|---|
| International | £3050 | Year 1 |
| England | £3050 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £3050 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £3050 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £3050 | Year 1 |
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.
Additional fee information
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Sponsorship information
Fees for this programme are paid through a Scottish Government grant award (subject to continued funding) to the Centre for Looked After Children (CELCIS). No charges apply to students employed in residential child care settings in Scotland.
University of Strathclyde
McCance Building
16 Richmond Street
Glasgow
G1 1XQ
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Course contact details
Prospective Student Enquiries - Postgraduate HASS
Email:studywithus-hass@strath.ac.uk
Phone:0141 444 8600
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