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Social Work MSci

2025-26

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Start date

22 September 2025

Duration

4 years full-time

Entry requirements

A Level - BBB

BTEC - DDM

See full entry requirements

Places available (subject to change)

50

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About the course

Reasons to study

  1. You’ll be taught by experienced staff with a variety of backgrounds in social work and social care. They’ll draw on their experience in your teaching to enhance your learning. 
  2. You’ll gain real-world experience through placements in social work or a related setting, enabling you to put what you’ve learned into practice. 
  3. To enhance your learning, you’ll hear first-hand experiences and viewpoints from service users and carers, who are part of the Public Partnership Group.

Approved by Social Work England, this integrated Master’s degree in Social Work is a professional qualifying course, designed to equip you with the necessary skills, abilities and knowledge to succeed in a future career in social work.

The four-year programme combines undergraduate and postgraduate study into a single degree, helping to prepare you to work in all social care settings – within statutory, voluntary, private sectors, and in multidisciplinary settings and work teams – including residential, field, day care, healthcare, and education.

The course is managed and delivered by long-standing partnerships between the University and local social work agencies, including statutory, voluntary, and service user-led organisations, and aims to produce practitioners who can critically reflect on their practice. Social work can be a challenging but rewarding profession, and we take pride in helping you to develop the thoughtful, considerate, and professional qualities you’ll need to succeed in your chosen career in social work.

Why study Social Work MSci

This course will introduce you to anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice within a complex and multi-cultural society, and within the context of professional and agency standards and requirements.

You’ll be taught by experienced staff with a variety of backgrounds in social work and social care. You can also hear experiences and viewpoints from service users and carers, who are part of the Public Partnership Group.

To enhance your studies, you’ll undertake work placements in your third and fourth year, in a social work or related setting. This will help to increase your future employability prospects and give you the chance to make useful contacts in industry. You may also have the opportunity to work and study abroad via the Turing Scheme

Working closely with local authority partners ensures you’ll be supported to make the transition to social work practice. It will also ensure you’re aware of available employment opportunities and post-qualifying social work progression pathways.

The course is part of the Yorkshire Urban and Rural Teaching Partnership, an accredited Social Work Teaching Partnership between local authority employers and the Universities of Huddersfield and York. The partnership develops and delivers innovative and creative approaches to social work education and training for students, ensuring social workers are confident and creative practitioners with the skills required for working in statutory social work. The Partnership also offers high- quality student placements and a social work curriculum that is co-developed and co-delivered by social workers and service users.

Following the course, you'll be eligible to apply to register with Social Work England, which is the regulatory body for social workers in England. You might go on to work with a range of service user groups, including vulnerable adults, children and families, young people, people with learning disabilities or people with mental health issues, in either statutory or non-statutory settings.

Course detail

Core modules:

Introduction to Law and Social Policy

The module will introduce you to relevant English legislation and social policy underpinning health and social care practice. You'll cover topics including economic and political context of law and social policy, legislation and policy that applies to health and social care practice, the criminal justice system, work with children and families (including risk and safeguarding issues), work with adults (including risk and safeguarding issues), human rights and the political impact and influence upon law and social policy. The application of law and policy to the practice context will also be explored.

Social Science and Professional Practice

This module introduces you to sociological and psychological theories that can help us to understand people’s lives and circumstances. You'll have the opportunity to develop your understanding of these approaches and consider the ways in which they impact upon professional practice in a range of social care settings.

Understanding Social Work

You'll be supported to develop the key skills required for undergraduate study, professional social work development and life-long learning. You'll also have the opportunity to develop autonomy in planning, managing and evaluating your own learning through discussions and debates in seminars. Your tutor will complete a report on your readiness to practice.

Working Together with Service Users and Carers

You’ll have the opportunity to develop an understanding of what it is like to be a service user or a carer in today’s society. Your understanding of particular groups will be supported through a series of sessions delivered by service users, service providers and carers.

Entry requirements

BBBat A Level .

120 UCAS tariff points from a combination of level 3 qualifications.

Merit at T Level.

DDM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.

  • NCFE CACHE Technical Level 3 Extended Diploma / Level 3 Extended Diploma: Grade B.
  • Access to Higher Education Diploma 30 Level 3 Credits at Distinction and 15 Level 3 credits at Merit.
  • 120 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications including a Higher Level at grade 6.

In addition you must have GCSE English Language or English Literature at grade 4 or above or grade C if awarded under previous GCSE grading scheme or equivalent Ofqual regulated qualification (IELTS is accepted in place of English GCSE grade 4). You do not require GCSE/Level 2 Maths for entry onto this course. However, please be aware that some employers may require this in addition to your completed degree.

You will also need satisfactory enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) and occupational health clearances prior to registration on the course and applicants will be required to attend an interview. Read our guidance on what to expect from your interview. We arrange these as part of the application process. You will be required to sign a self-declaration at the start of each year. All police contact during the course must be reported to the course leader as a matter of urgency and may lead to suspension or termination. We will request an Overseas Police Check if you have lived in a country outside of the UK for 6 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years before applying to us and whilst aged 18 or over.

Applicants must possess basic IT skills, including word processing, internet browsing and use of email.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate the potential to become confident, reflective and safe practitioners eligible for registration with Social Work England as a social worker who is able to uphold a positive image of the social work profession.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 7.0 overall with no element lower than 6.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

Placements

During the course you'll undertake two placements (in your third and fourth year) which provide statutory learning opportunities. We work closely with the Local Authorities in the Yorkshire Urban Rural Teaching Partnership, where the majority of placements are provided by Kirklees and Calderdale Council. You'll be given the opportunity to work in statutory social work settings with a wide range of service user groups. You may have the opportunity to work with vulnerable adults, children and families, young people, people with learning disabilities or people with mental health issues. Placements are also available in the voluntary sector, with previous students placed in national charities, drug and alcohol services, hospices and a wide variety of other sectors.

You can find more information on placements here.

"I completed my first placement in an enhanced mental health setting for adults. This was extremely enjoyable and helped me to put the theory I had learnt into practice. I also developed various skills including communication, confidence and time management, which I feel will help benefit my career."

Natalie Stewart current student

Natalie Stuart, current Social Work student

Your career

Previous Huddersfield Social Work graduates have gone on to roles relating to education, healthcare, community and social services in organisations including the NHS, Bradford Council, Calderdale Council, Kirklees Council and Wakefield Council.**

 

*Percentage of graduates from this subject area who were in work and/or further study within fifteen months after graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2020/21, including both UK and non-UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

**LinkedIn.

90% Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Important information

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

Changes to option modules:

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes:

We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment, or pandemics.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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