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Social Work

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

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

DDM

UCAS Tariff

120

For entry to this course you will be assessed by a written test and interview.

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Social work

Are you interested in how people develop and what influences their behaviour? Do you want to help people at risk of harm? Are you interested in legislation and social policy?

This hugely popular course, one of UEL's flagship degrees, will give you a rewarding insight into contemporary social work and train you to become a reflective, capable and effective practitioner. You’ll learn how to support, protect and speak up for people in significant personal difficulty.

We'll give you the theory and information you need through lectures and seminars, but this course is all about hands-on experience - or 'learning by doing', as we call it.

You'll undertake supervised placements in your second and third years, applying your learning by working on real-life projects. By doing this, you'll be able to narrow down your areas of interest for your post-university career.

The accreditation agreement between the University of East London and Social Work England means that your degree will make you eligible to register as a social worker.

Modules

Year 1: Mental Wealth and Professional Fitness: Readiness for Social Work Practice (Core), Communication skills (Core), Introduction to theory (Core), Human Growth and Development (Core), Social Contexts and Social Policy (Core)

Year 2: Professional Practice Placement: I (70 Days) (Core), Contemporary Issues for Social Work Practice: I (Core), Social Policy, Welfare, and Law I (Core), Contemporary Issues for Social Work Practice: II (Core), Social Policy, Welfare, and Law II (Core)

Year 3: Professional Practice Placement: II (100 Days) (Core), Advanced Social Work Theory: Applying Critical Thinking and Analysis to Practice (Core), Social Work Practice with Children and Families: Knowledge and Skills Integration (Core), Research Minded Practice for Social Work (Core), Social Work Practice with Adults: Knowledge and Skills Integration (Core)

For more information about individual modules, please visit our course pages via the link below.

Assessment methods

The approximate percentages for this course are:

Year 1: 90% coursework, 10% Practical
Year 2: 75% coursework, 25% Practical
Year 3: 75% coursework, 25% Practical
We assess all modules through different forms of coursework. Assessment methods include group works, exams and individual work including essays

In addition to writing traditional essays, you'll be required to write reports, policy reviews and give presentations. This is to ensure you gain skills that are relevant to and can be transferred to the workplace. In your final year, you'll write a research dissertation.

All grades count towards your module mark.

More details will be included in the student handbook and module guides.

Feedback is provided within 15 working days in line with UEL's assessment and feedback policy.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£14,820
per year
International
£14,820
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Stratford Campus

Department:

School of Education and Communities (EDUCOM)

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.

55%
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

68%
Staff make the subject interesting
66%
Staff are good at explaining things
75%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
75%
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

66%
Library resources
75%
IT resources
65%
Course specific equipment and facilities
34%
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
13%
Male students
87%
Female students
76%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
D
B

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.

£20,475
med
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education
85%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

79%
Welfare professionals
10%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
3%
Secretarial and related occupations

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

£32k

£32k

£28k

£28k

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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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here