Social Work
Entry requirements
A level
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
A typical offer will require a UCAS Tariff score between 104 - 128. A minimum of two full A-levels (or equivalent) is required. Every application is considered on an individual basis.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Perform an audition
About this course
**Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?**
You can benefit from our strong reputation within the world of Social Work, with high-quality placements, locally and in the London area, to enhance your skillset as well as gain valuable work experience throughout your degree. Many of our graduates have gone on to become employed with their degree placements due to the highly desirable skillset and the relationships built while studying at BNU. You can work closely with people with lived experience, so you can hear first-hand about the impact you could make on individuals and communities.
We collaborate with a broad range of partners to offer placements within local authorities, healthcare trusts, and organisations from the voluntary and independent sectors, all of which are within a 25-mile radius of our High Wycombe Campus. We understand employers want to see experience and skills with a proactive attitude to learning. BNU offers you the opportunity to not only demonstrate those traits to a potential future employer but see the benefits of BNU first hand in both your professional skills and personal life and goals.
**What facilities can I use?**
With fantastic facilities in the Buckinghamshire area, we are the only institution that can offer our equipment in High Wycombe and the immediate surrounding area. Our High Wycombe campus is located only 35 minutes from central London which makes commuting super easy and stress free. At our High Wycombe Campus, we have purpose-built facilities, including well-equipped simulation clinics and rehabilitation teaching rooms.
**What will I study?**
Our social work course develops you into a future proof social worker who has the knowledge, skills and values required to practice in a challenging environment. At the end of your course you will be able to demonstrate knowledge about the nature of social work practice across a range of settings, with the ability to apply your understanding of social sciences, law, research and social work theory.
Developed in consultation with employers and local social work organisations, we will provide you with the skills, knowledge and ability to fulfil demand both locally, nationally and abroad. You’ll graduate with a highly specialised skillset and a deep theoretical knowledge backed up with your working experience. You are required to undertake placement at year two and three where your knowledge, skills and values are further developed to help you become adequately prepared to enter the world of social work.
Our course is designed to help you develop both personally and professionally and has been developed to meet the standards for education and training of Social Work England (SWE), Social Work England Professional Standards, the QAA Benchmarking Statements for Social Work, the Professional Capabilities Framework and the Knowledge and Skills Statements.
**Career Prospects**
We’re proud of our consistently high employability rate for our social work graduates. We have close relationships with a range of Local Authority employers, and many of our graduates work with them now. We offer a recruitment event in your final year where you’re able to meet with employers to explore the next steps in terms of your first year of newly qualified status. Our employer partners are very keen to ensure that they provide opportunities for our successful graduates every year.
We also encourage you to start networking in your final year placement, which is often a springboard to future employment. We recognise that your journey to becoming a Social Worker does not simply end with graduation and we strive to provide a clear path from your education to your new career. When you graduate, you’ll be eligible to apply for professional registration with Social Work England (SWE) and your degree can also be recognised and accepted in other countries around the world.
Modules
**Year one**
**Core**
Lifespan Development
Society and Social Work
The Context of Social Work
Preparation for Practice
Ethics and Values
Social Policy and Social Work
Developing Social Work Skills for Practice
Advanced Skills for Professional Development
**Year two**
**Core**
Social Work Law
Social Work Theory and Processes
Practice Learning 1
Practitioner Researcher
Service User Groups
Advanced Skills for Professional Development
**Year three**
**Core**
Practice Learning 2
Organisations, Management and Change
Inter Professional Practice
Dissertation
Advanced Skills for Professional Development
Assessment methods
A variety of strategies ensure that theoretical concepts are understood and can be related to practice. Students will be required to research and evidence topics before applying it to practice. Assessments are to see if your learning outcomes have been achieved.
Skills learning will occur throughout the course in the dedicated skills development sessions and while on placement. This is supported by presentations, courtroom skills, and simulations where service users and carers work with the university to design and present realistic practice scenarios and the development of practice learning portfolios.
Students must also have undergone an Occupational Health Assessment and achieved clearance, alongside satisfying DBS checks (an admissions requirement).
Assessments are usually carried out through:
practice portfolio
essays
exams
presentations
There are several formative assessment opportunities for learners to receive feed-back on their development before submitting summative work.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/financial-support-bursaries-and-scholarships
The Uni
Buckinghamshire New University
School of Health and Social Care Professions
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Social work
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Social work
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
We're short of social workers - so if you want a degree that is in demand, then this could be the one for you! There's a shortage of social workers all over the UK, and graduates can specialise in specific fields such as mental health or children's social work. If you decide social work is not for you, then social work graduates also often go into management, education, youth and community work and even nursing. Starting salaries for this degree can reflect the high proportion of graduates who choose a social work career - social work graduates get paid, on average, more than graduates overall, but not all options pay as well as social work. This is also an unusual subject in that London isn't one of the more common places to find jobs - so if you want to get a job near to your home or your university this might be worth thinking about.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Social work
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£30k
£30k
£34k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
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Course location and department:
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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