Social Work (Postgraduate Entry)
Entry requirements
Typically students on this course will have an honours degree with a classification of 2.1 or higher. However, you may be considered if you have a classification of 2:2 and significant experience. Social work is both an academic and vocational course so it's important you show success in your previous education and have experience. Students must hold GCSEs in English and Maths at Grade C or above, or equivalent. On the application form you must list all your qualifications.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
About this course
Are you a people person? Do you possess patience and perseverance? As a Social Worker, you’ll work with some of the most marginalised groups in society, supporting them to overcome barriers in order to lead a fulfilled life.
**Why study this subject?**
Knowing how to work with someone to overcome the challenges they face in life isn’t easy, but this course will give you the insight and understanding to do just that.
As a Social Worker you’ll be aware of the impact of social issues including poverty, deprivation and exclusion. Social Workers aim to work in partnership with individuals and families to find solutions to unique problems. They also work towards improving quality of life.
As a Social Worker, you’ll work with complex situations and learn to balance tensions between care and control. You’ll also engage in relationship-based practice whilst fulfilling the expectations of your employer.
The choice to become a Social Worker shouldn’t be taken lightly. We welcome students who are committed to their future career and determined to make a difference to the lives of others.
**Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?**
At BNU you’ll gain experience working with people who might need Social Work support because your study will combine classroom theory with real-life experience, some of which involves working alongside current Social Workers. We also work closely with People with Lived Experience so you can hear first-hand about the impact you could make with individuals and communities.
We work with a broad range of partners to offer interesting Social Work placements including 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.
Our MSc Social Work programme is accredited by Social Work England which means you’ll be eligible to apply for registration as a Social Worker in England as soon as you graduate.
Our lecturers, all of whom are former Social Work practitioners, have rich experience from which to draw on. Our lecturers will help you make sense of the theoretical elements of your studies by introducing their practice wisdom to lectures. Our tutors remain up to date with the latest sector changes and many of them lead and are involved with external forums, discussing and influencing the future of the sector. We also have course lecturers who are published authors in the field of Social Work.
One of the most rewarding elements of studying Social Work is sharing your experience with other students. Some days will be intensely emotional, so it’s important that you have a friendly team around you. We pride ourselves in our ability to get to know all our students, so you’ll be supported by personal tutors in groups of no more than ten. This will help you to get to know us as well as each other.
**What are my career prospects?**
We're proud of our consistently high employability rate for our graduates. We have good relationships with local employers who are always impressed with how prepared our graduates are for the transition from University to work.
We offer a recruitment event in the 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. 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 doesn't simply end with us and we strive to ‘mind the gap’ between your education and new career.
Once qualified, you can work within a range of settings including local authorities, hospitals, and voluntary services for drug and alcohol users or youth justice services.
Modules
**Year one**
Sociology, Psychology and Social Policy
Preparation for Intervention with Service Users
Putting the Law into Practice
Practice Learning 1
Developing Social Work Skills for Practice
**Year two**
Research Methods for Social Work
Practice Learning 2
Inter-Professional Practice
Dissertation
Assessment methods
Modules are taught to encourage independent study and will enable you to develop your own critical thinking, reflection and research skills – all of which will assist you in practice as an autonomous worker.
As well as group workshops, simulations, presentations and tutorials led by industry experts, you’ll also complete two placements where you’ll further develop your learning and understanding. You’ll be required to work the hours of the agency you’re placed with, while receiving on-going support and guidance from your Practice Educator and/or Onsite Supervisor, as well as your personal tutor.
You’ll be assessed through exams, essays, presentations and a personal portfolio, all in order to ensure you’ve grasped the key concepts in this important field. In your final year, you’ll explore a specific subject of interest through your dissertation project, meaning you can focus on an area of social work you’re particularly passionate about.
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 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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