Social Work
Entry requirements
We welcome applications from students who are completing an Access to Higher Education Diploma. We normally look for applicants to have studied a course that is in a similar subject and offers are usually made in line with our published tariff point range.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE A*-C or 9-4 pass in English Language and Mathematics are required.
T Level
A 'Pass (C or above on the core)' in a T Level is accepted for entry to this course
UCAS Tariff
Social work/social care/youth work experience is required.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
About this course
- Choose a career where you can make a real impact on the lives of vulnerable people
- Gain vital real-world skills on practical work placements in each of the three years
- Learn from staff, service users, carers and practitioners who ensure teaching material is interesting, challenging and up-to-date
- Join a course that is approved by Social Work England
- Top 15 for Social Work in The Guardian's Best Universities UK 2022
Do you want to gain the professional skills to make a difference to people’s lives and society? Through expert teaching and quality placements, our specially-designed Social Work degree will help you achieve this.
Social Work at Winchester aims to ensure you understand the impact of the wider social context in which people live. It seeks to challenge inequality and to intervene, support and empower people to make positive decisions.
The focus of the programme is on working with people of all ages who may be vulnerable and at risk. Fundamental to good social work is your ability to develop critically reflective practice where you are able to deal with complex dilemmas in a confident and competent manner.
The programme works closely with service users, carers and a wide range of professionals to ensure you gain a deep level of understanding of issues across the social care arena. You gain professional knowledge of human behaviour and social processes in a legal context. You critically explore different forms of oppression and inequality in society and develop key skills to challenge disadvantage and marginalisation.
In Year 1, you start to explore key social work concepts and theory, and develop basic professional skills in preparation for your first practice placement at Year 2. By the end of the first year you demonstrate 'readiness for direct practice' evidenced through your progress.
As part of the first year students are required to undertake a number of days shadowing in a social care environment in order to prepare them for their forthcoming practice placements in years 2 and 3.
Year 2 includes a practice experience of 70 days. You are placed in a social care agency which has been screened by members of staff and you are supervised by a qualified social work practice educator. On completion of this practice learning, your performance is assessed.
Year 3 is more complex and prepares you for practice. The final 100-day practice experience is supported by teaching in the University. You continue to work under the supervision of a qualified social work practice assessor but are expected to demonstrate increasing skill in your practice, greater ability to integrate theory and practice, assumption of more responsibility and more initiative in the role of student social worker.
Few careers offer as much opportunity to support people as social work. Graduates go on to careers in social work or related professional roles in the social care, voluntary and independent sector, health and education sectors.
Modules
For detailed information on modules you will be studying please click on the 'View course details' link at the top of this summary box.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Winchester
Department of Health and 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.
£27k
£23k
£32k
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.
Explore these similar courses...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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