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Social Work

Entry requirements


A level

C,C,C

Access to HE Diploma

D:27

Pass with 45 Level 3 credits including 27 Distinctions and a number of merits/passes in subject specific modules

GCSE/National 4/National 5

In addition to Level 3 qualifications you must also have Grade C/Grade 4 or above in GCSE English or certificated equivalent (eg Level 2 Key or Functional Skills Literacy)

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

27

With three Higher Level subjects at 555

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H3,H3,H3,H3

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

Scottish Advanced Higher

C,C,D

Scottish Higher

C,C,C,C,C

T Level

M

Each application will be considered on its individual merits. Where the T Level subject area does not directly match the degree programme being applied for, the personal statement and reference will be particularly important in demonstrating interest, enthusiasm and suitability for the subject.

UCAS Tariff

96

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Social work

Drawing on current research across the social sciences, government guidance, and legislative frameworks, this degree focuses on the issues that are key in facilitating your professional and academic development as a social worker.

**Why study BA Social Work at Goldsmiths**
- The BA is both an academic and professional qualification, and is therefore ideal if you're interested in pursuing a professional career in social work

- We'll equip you with the knowledge, values and skills you'll need to practise as a reflective and ethical social worker, equipped for the challenges of contemporary social work practice

- Our social work programmes are highly regarded by potential employers within London and further afield, and our graduates have an excellent record of securing employment; they've gone on to work in local authority children's services departments, adult services departments, and independent sector and voluntary sector agencies such as the NSPCC, Family Action and Mind

- The degree includes practice placements in two settings and with different service user groups, so you'll be able to gain invaluable real world experience.

- You will cover areas of human growth and development; community; needs and services; law and organisational contexts of social work; and research methods. Specific learning will include mental health and disability, and social work processes of assessment, planning, intervention and review

- We'll encourage you to think deeply about human rights and social justice, and to embed these values in your practice

- Social work education at Goldsmiths has a long and distinguished record – you'll be taught by established social work academics and associate lecturers who have considerable research and/or practice experience in their fields

- The degree also prepares you according to the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF), the Quality Assurance Agency subject benchmark for social work, and the Department of Health's requirements for social work training

**South East London teaching partnership**
- The Department of Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies at Goldsmiths has entered into a formal Teaching Partnership with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the London Borough of Southwark and the London Borough of Lewisham for the delivery of social work education at Goldsmiths.

- As a result, social work practitioners, from all levels within these three local authorities, are involved in the delivery of the BA in Social Work, delivering or co-delivering lectures, workshops, seminars and group work.

- This means that there is a very close relationship with practice with many opportunities for students to hear directly from social work practitioners about statutory social work. You will be encouraged to make links between anti-oppressive practice, the social work values, the legal framework, theories, methods and skills of intervention and social work practice throughout the course.

**Excellence in practice and teaching**
Goldsmiths has a long tradition of social work education, and our programmes are internationally regarded as excellent in both practice learning and critical studies. They also have a strong focus on anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice.

We have a lively programme of research taking place in diverse areas. Our research informs and underpins our teaching and students are invited to share our interests as well as develop their own through undertaking a small scale research project and developing their research mindedness in a final year extended essay.

Students who successfully complete the degree will have met the standards set out by Social Work England (SWE) and will be eligible to apply to SWE for registration as a social worker.

Please note the BA Social Work only accepts applications for first year entry and does not accept applications for deferred entry.

Modules

The degree aims to provide you with the value, knowledge and skill base for social work practice, and is organised around study units, workshops, lectures/seminar courses, projects and private study. The teaching and learning opportunities centre on the key areas of the social sciences and their application to social work practice, as well developing your intellectual capacity, and the skills necessary to get you ready for practice. There is an expectation that you attend at least 85% of all aspects of the programme.

The structured learning includes specific learning in:
- human growth and development, mental health and disability
- Social work theories and methods; assessment, planning, intervention and review
- communication skills with children, adults and those with particular communication needs
- law, and partnership working across professional disciplines and agencies
- social science research methods, including ethical issues

Practice is central to the degree, and there will be practice placements in two settings and with different service user groups (eg child care and mental health). The learning on the programme builds over the three years and prepares you to apply your knowledge to practice situations. We work closely with a range of practice organisations in the Greater London Area. The placements are allocated by our placement tutor and matched with individual profiles. In some instances you may have to travel long distances to your placement organisation. You will need to cover the cost of travel to your placement. You will be expected to work the core hours of the placement agency.

At Goldsmiths we recognise:
- the unique contribution that all students bring as individuals to the programme in terms of their personal qualities and life experiences
- that professional training builds on the uniqueness of each individual by facilitating the student’s exploration of the values, knowledge base and skills of social work practice
- that it is the student’s responsibility not only to develop a technical acquaintance with the framework of social work practice but also to demonstrate competence through its application in practice
- that social workers are at the interface of society’s attempts to promote welfare

Social workers have a dual responsibility to act within the state’s welfare framework and also to recognise the pervasive influence of oppression and discrimination at an individual and a structural level in most of the situations in which they work. We will prepare you for this professional responsibility.

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

Assessment methods

You’ll be assessed through a combination of presentations, role play, written reflection, portfolio, practice placements, practice placement portfolios, examinations and extended essays.

The Uni


Course location:

Goldsmiths, University of London

Department:

Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies

Read full university profile

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.

93%
Social work

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

81%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
93%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

77%
Library resources
89%
IT resources
100%
Course specific equipment and facilities
41%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
9%
Male students
91%
Female students
88%
2:1 or above
24%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
C

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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
94%
low
Employed or in further education
84%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

63%
Welfare professionals
30%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
4%
Childcare and related personal services

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.

£31k

£31k

£28k

£28k

£29k

£29k

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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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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