Social Work

Applicants will normally have an existing Honours degree at 2:1 or above in a relevant social science discipline.

In exceptional circumstances consideration will be given to applicants who do not meet this criteria; this will be based on experience and individual merit. No applicant will be admitted with less than a 2:2 in a cognate academic discipline. 

The course is professionally recognised by the Scottish Social Service Council (SSSC), core to this recognition is that all applicants can demonstrate that they have literacy and numeracy skills equivalent to Scottish National Five in both English and Mathematics; this must be demonstrated at the point of entry to the postgraduate social work programme.

In addition, you are strongly advised to provide information about modules studied at Undergraduate level in your application.

International qualifications will be accepted providing that they provide equivalent credits to that specified within the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework; a satisfactory academic reference will be required in all cases. International students must also have attained IELTS 7, as a minimum across all aspects. 

You must demonstrate that you have an understanding of the social work role and that you have the potential to become a social worker.

All applicants will be interviewed before being offered a place on this MSc.

offers of study

Offers are made after all elements of the application process have been considered and will be conditional on a further review of application to the register for social work students (SSSC).

English language requirements for most courses

For applicants whose first language is not English, the University sets a minimum English Language proficiency level. The qualifications below must have been gained within two years of the start of your course.

General English language requirements at UWS: International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training)

• overall score 6.0
• no sub-test less than 5.5

Exceptions to this level of IELTS scoring exist for some accredited or professionally-recognised courses (see section below for more details).

Common equivalent English language qualifications

All stated English tests are acceptable for admission for both home/EU and international students for this programme:

• CAE (Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English): 176 overall; no sub-test less than 169
• CPE (Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English): 176 overall; no sub-test less than 169
• Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English: ISEII with the minimum of a Pass in all sub-tests
• PTE Pearson Academic English: An overall score of 59 to 64 with no element below 59 (for programmes that require IELTS 6.0 with no element below 5.5). An overall score 65 to 75 with no element below 65 (for programmes that require IELTS 6.5 with no element below 6.0)

IELTS Score Exceptions (Research degrees, Biomedical Science degrees, Nursing & Midwifery degrees with NMC registration, Certificate of Higher Education, etc.)

For our research degrees (MRes, MPhil, PhD, DBA, DProf) applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

• overall score of 6.5
• no sub-test less than 6.0

For Health, Nursing & Midwifery courses that lead to professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council, applicants are required to have an IELTS or Occupational English Test (OET)*.

For such courses, the IELTS score is as follows:

• overall score of 7.0
• score of at least 7.0 in reading, listening and speaking and no less than 6.5 in writing

* Note that the Occupational English Test (OET) will now be accepted in addition to IELTS as proof of a Nurse's English Language Competence (Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2019).

For our BSc (Hons) Applied Biomedical Science, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science and MSc Advanced Biomedical Science programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

• overall score of 7.0
• no sub-test less than 6.5

For our Certificate of Higher Education courses, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

• overall score of 5.0
• no sub-test less than 4.5

TOEFL IBT

TOEFL IBT*: 78; no sub-test less than:

• Reading: 17;
• Listening: 17;
• Speaking: 17;
• Writing: 17

* Please note that TOEFL is still acceptable for admission to this programme for both home/EU and international students.
For international students, the Home Office has confirmed that the University can choose to use TOEFL to make its own assessment of English language ability for visa applications to degree level courses. We therefore still accept TOEFL tests taken in the last two years for admission to this programme.

West African Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE)

West African Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE) including acceptance of WAEC Scratchcard*

• C6 or above in English

*UWS will accept a WAEC scratchcard confirming that an applicant has achieved C6 or above as evidence of meeting English language requirement from Nigeria if the student graduated within the last 5 years. After 5 years applicants would be required to provide the WAEC Certificate.

Pre-sessional courses

Applicants who do not meet the minimum English language requirements have the option to study one of our preparatory and pre-sessional English courses. The UWS courses available are:

• 10 week pre-sessional - entry criteria UKVI IELTS 5.0 with no element below 4.5.
• 5 week pre-sessional - entry criteria UKVI IELTS 5.5 with no element below 5.5.
• English Language for University Study - entry criteria UKVI IELTS with score of 4.0 in all elements (10 month course), or 4.5 with no score below 4.0 (7 month course).

Find out more about our English lanaguage Courses.