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Overview

Qualify as a social worker through this professionally accredited two-year MSc programme by developing the practical skills and knowledge you need to play a crucial role in improving people’s lives.

The programme offers a challenging and stimulating range of learning opportunities that will equip graduates with the key attributes necessary to work effectively in an increasingly globalised and pluralistic working environment.

Under the supervision of a practice teacher you will undertake 85 days of practice placement in year one and 115 days in year 2 of the programme. In year one you will also complete three taught modules. To complete the MSc you will undertake a dissertation.

Please note: placement settings are subject to availability.

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100% of Social Work students would recommend UWS - Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2017

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Practical Focus

Importantly, as part of this degree, under the supervision of a practice teacher, you will undertake 85 days of practice placement in year one and 115 days in the year two of the programme. You will also complete modules focusing upon social work theory and ethics; a module in which you will analyse the key reasons behind service failures and how to make service provision more resilient; a module focusing on applied law. Finally, to complete the MSc you will undertake a research/practice-based dissertation.

Careers

UWS graduates enjoy excellent reputations with employers, working in local authority social services; the voluntary or independent sectors; and in health or education. Careers also involve children and families, community care or criminal justice.

Entry Requirements

What qualifications do you need?

We welcome Scottish, UK and international students and consider all applicants on an individual basis.

If you are applying with an EU or non-EU qualification, please check our Postgraduate Entry Requirements page which gives more information about country-specific entry requirements.

In Scotland, it is a legal requirement that all social work students gain and maintain registration with the Scottish Social Services Council. Successful registration with the Scottish Social Services Council also requires membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG). The University will also require you to undertake the PVG process for its own administrative processes. For further information see:

https://www.uws.ac.uk/media/6550/applying-with-a-criminal-conviction-august-2023.pdf

 

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).

SOCIAL WORK DEGREES

For our BA (Hons) Social Work and MSc Social Work programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

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

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.)

RESEARCH DEGREES

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

HEALTH & MIDWIFERY AWARDS

For Health, Nursing & Midwifery courses that lead to, or require 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).

BIOMEDICAL DEGREES

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

CERTIFICATE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

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 language Courses.

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What students say about this course

The thing I like most about UWS is how dynamic my course is, and how passionate the lecturers are. We constantly have outside speakers in from a huge range of agencies and professions to give us an insight into the job and this has been extremely beneficial to my learning. Each of my placements has been totally different and this has allowed me to observe and participate in different sides to social work and understand the role, task and purpose of social work more clearly. It’s so helpful to put our knowledge and theory into practice and actually use the skills we’ve been learning.

Kiara Mayne, Social Work student

For eligible students, the Scottish government (via the SSSC) make a small number of bursaries available for postgraduate social work students. See Tuition Fees & Living Cost Support section below for more details.

How to apply

Postgraduate courses (MA, MSc, MEd, MBA, DBA, PG Cert, PG Dip, etc.) & some Post-experience courses (CertHE, BA, Grad Cert, Grad Dip, etc.)

All students should apply directly to the University through our online application system. Before you apply, you should check that you meet our entry requirements and you should have all your supporting documents ready.

The first stage of the process is to complete the initial application form. You will then receive a follow-up email with further instructions relating to your application including documents that you will need to forward to support your application, e.g. degree transcripts and certificates etc.

Most courses don't have a formal closing date, but they will close when they are full; apply early to avoid disappointment. There may also be funding deadlines that apply to you.

The Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) applies to all international students and researchers (apart from exempt nationalities) who are subject to UK immigration control and are intending to study or research at postgraduate level in certain sensitive subjects.

Students and researchers who are nationals of EU countries, the European Economic Area (EEA), Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the United States of America do not need an ATAS certificate.

An ATAS certificate may be required for certain taught postgraduate master's degrees for international students at UWS.

For the latest information on ATAS and details of eligibility and how to apply for a certificate check the UK Government's dedicated ATAS web pages.

Get in touch

Do you have a question about applying for this course? Get in touch. We are here to help!

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Tuition Fees 2023-24

Use the Link below to download details of our full-time, part-time tuition fees for Bachelor, Masters, Research, and English Language pre-sessional courses for session 2023-24.

Tuition Fees
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Research at UWS

With cutting edge facilities, specialist knowledge and world-leading and internationally excellent expertise, we aim to develop research outputs that have a tangible, early and positive impact on society across the globe.

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We will always try to make sure that we publish accurate course information but we do not accept responsibility for any mistakes or omissions. We will also try to make sure that we deliver our courses in line with our published information. However, we may not always be able to do so and you can find further information about this in our enrolment terms and conditions.