Social Work

Begin your journey to become a social worker making positive changes in people’s lives on Keele's Social Work BA. Support diverse groups of people of all ages, and promote human rights and social justice in a flexible, varied and challenging career in which you will learn to be autonomous so you can progress in your chosen field.

Why choose this course?

• Social work England approved and all staff are registered social workers.

• Excellent partnerships with placement providers, employers and service users and carers involved in work with students throughout the course

• Develop knowledge and skills for a varied career in local, national and international settings

• Social Work ranked Top 10 in England (NSS 2025, broad-based universities)*

• State-of-the-art facilities including excellent simulation facilities as part of the excellent School of Medicine facilities

Social work focuses on improving the lives and wellbeing of adults, children and families, and helping to protect the most vulnerable in society. You may have to make difficult decisions, sometimes when there are competing 'rights' and needs. You will work with a diverse range of individuals and groups to assist them through difficult circumstances. It could be helping them to address issues currently affecting their lives such as trauma, poverty or social disadvantage, organising specific support or making referrals to other services.

Preparing for a career as a social worker
Study social work at Keele to gain a solid grounding in this professional area of study and be supported in the development of key professional skills and values ready for your future career as a Social Worker. Our social work degree has been carefully designed to allow you to apply the course theory into a range of exciting, varied and specialist social work occupations in the UK and potentially internationally.

You will explore child, adult and family social work, and cover key elements of the profession including law, social policy, ethics and values, and the socio-economic contexts of social work. You will investigate the impact of inequality and the disadvantages in society around age, race and sexuality. You will examine anti-oppressive and non-discriminatory approaches in social work whilst developing your communication, assessment and decision making skills.

Social work at Keele is part of the Keele's highly rated School of Medicine, this provides you with a wealth of interprofessional and skills based learning opportunities. You will benefit from studying in an interdisciplinary environment learning alongside other health specialists such as nurses, occupational therapists, paramedic students GPs, paediatricians and psychiatrists.

*We have compared the positivity ratings of all participating UK institutions using the NSS 2025 sector data to determine Keele's position relative to other broad-based universities (i.e. excluding specialist institutions and further education colleges).

About Keele
Keele University was established in 1949 by the former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Founded to meet the needs of a changing world, Keele has always had a pioneering vision to be a different kind of university.

We excel in both teaching and research, with some of the most satisfied students in England, and research that is changing lives for the better at a regional, national and global level.

Our beautiful 600-acre campus is one of the biggest in Britain – but all the most important services and facilities are on your doorstep, with accommodation, teaching spaces, facilities including a medical centre, sports centre and pharmacy, and a range of shops, eateries and entertainment venues – including the Students’ Union – clustered around the centre.