MA Social Work

Course description

Our MA Social Work course will help you become a highly effective social worker through a combination of teaching and practice placements.

Our course meets the requirements of the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) for social work practice in England, the Knowledge and Skills Statements for children, adult and mental health social workers, and the regulatory requirements of Social Work England.

You will be eligible to apply to register as a qualified social worker with Social Work England upon completion of the course. Our generic qualification enables you to work in all areas of social work practice.

Aims

The course aims to:

• qualify you as a registered social worker;
• prepare you to work safely and effectively with service users and carers;
• prepare you to promote social justice in your practice and uphold social work values;
• produce social work practitioners who are intellectually inquisitive and motivated to pursue further learning and research and professional development throughout their career.

Coursework and assessment

We use a range of assessment methods to accommodate different learning styles and learning outcomes.

These include using simulated visits and assessments, essays, case studies and group presentations. We may use other formats.

You will be assessed for your readiness for direct practice (ARDP) prior to commencing your first practice placement, and will be assessed at the end of your first and final practice placements.

Career opportunities

Our course offers a professional qualification that is nationally and internationally recognised.

You will gain the skills to take up challenging and stimulating social work posts in a variety of fields within the statutory, voluntary and private sectors.

You will also have opportunities to practice across a range of settings and with different service user groups, including working within children, adult and mental health services.

Your future career prospects may also be enhanced through statutory experience within our Teaching Partnership.

The Greater Manchester Social Work Academy is a government-sponsored Teaching Partnership that ensures close links between local employers and universities across Greater Manchester.

We normally require you to have an Upper Second class degree or above. This can be in any subject area. Relevant employment and/or personal experience within a health or social care setting is highly desirable. If you have a Lower Second classification degree, your application will be considered on a case-by-case basis depending on your experience. Students must also have GCSE English grade C/4 by the start of the course. We do not accept other Level 2 qualifications as equivalent to GCSE English or Maths (eg Functional Skills) and will only consider specific international qualifications as equivalents.