MA Social Work

• You should have at least an upper second class honours degree (2.1) in any subject (or equivalent). We may consider applicants with a lower second class honours degree (2.2) in certain circumstances.
• You should also have GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent) in English Language.
• While you don’t need to have prior experience, some experience of working in a helping capacity would be an advantage.
• For guidance regarding acceptable alternative qualifications, please contact admissions@bolton.ac.uk. Qualifications gained outside England and Wales will be assessed on an individual basis according to guidance by Social Work England.
• We are happy to consider alternative qualifications and relevant work experience. The Recognition of Prior Certificated Learning (RPCL) or Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) route may be used for entry. Please contact the programme leader for details.
• If your application is successfully shortlisted, you’ll be invited to a selection day where you’ll be expected to complete a number of assessments, including an interview, written test and group activity. The interview panel will include academic staff, practice staff and service users. The written test will assess your comprehension and written communication skills. The group activity will assess your values, behaviours, communication and problem-solving skills. We’re seeking students who can demonstrate commitment to a social work career, have excellent communication skills, and are empathic, caring, and courageous.
• If you’re successful at the interview stage, you’ll be asked to undergo occupational health screening and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
• You'll be required to pass occupational health screening satisfactorily.
• You’ll need to demonstrate that you are of good health and good character prior to enrolment and on an on-going basis throughout your studies and career. You’ll be required to complete a confidential self-declaration form outlining any medical or health conditions that may affect your ability to undertake academic or social work practice tasks.
• We'll consider applications where appropriate work experience can be demonstrated in lieu of, or in addition to, the published academic qualifications in line with the University’s Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) procedures.
• This course involves working unsupervised with children and/or vulnerable young people and adults and you must gain an Enhanced Disclosure certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before starting your studies. Charges are payable to cover the cost of the DBS Enhanced Disclosure application and annual registration with the online Update Service.
• If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 7.0 with normally no less than 6.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
• Please note that this course is subject to the University of Bolton's Fitness to Practise procedure.

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

The field of social work spans multiple career options, and many graduates choose their career path based on the types of people they want to help. Social workers provide help and support directly to individuals, couples, families and groups, often supporting people who face a range of challenges such as poverty, mental health issues, addiction and family problems. As a social worker, you may provide one-to-one support such as therapy and counselling or connect people with resources in their community to help them to overcome their problems.

As a graduate of this degree, you’ll be able to demonstrate a wide range of transferable skills such as resilience, advanced communication and negotiation skills. You’ll also possess the ability to manage conflict and exercise authority in complex situations, manage risk to self, service users and colleagues, and enable others to achieve their goals.

What can I do with this qualification?

Successful completion of the MA in Social Work will demonstrate that you have the skills and knowledge to become a leading member of the field. The programme will allow you to develop your expertise and provide you with a competitive advantage to take on more management/senior leadership roles.

As well as equipping you with a professional qualification, gaining the MA will allow you to progress on to post-qualifying courses or apply to continue with your academic studies at PhD level.

Alternative career options

Graduates can also use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and postgraduate study may be required. Potential careers include:

• Adult guidance
• Community development
• Counselling
• Mediator
• Probation
• Youth work
• Mental health
• Teaching
• Journalism
• Volunteer management
• Substance misuse
• Social housing
• Public policy development
• Research
• Human resource management
• Consultancy
• Public health

Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £4,248 for the academic year 2024/25.

Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £15,950 for the academic year 2024/25.

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2023-2024 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

Bursaries

Click here for more information on our Master's Bursaries.

Bursaries

The UK government has previously provided student bursaries for pre-qualifying social work students resident in England. These bursaries provided a contribution towards tuition fees, nominal living expenses and transport costs for placements. Please contact the programme leader for the latest information.

Modern social work professionals require a range of skills and values. Our practice placement partners and tutors will help you gain experience in a range of social work scenarios designed to develop your skills in a safe and supportive environment. The course involves a wealth of workplace learning opportunities. You’ll undertake a first-year placement of 70 days and a final year placement of 100 days. Your placements will be organised and monitored by the University (please note that considerable travelling may be required and that you’ll be responsible for travel and parking costs).

As you progress through the course, we’ll guide and encourage you to draw on your practice placement experience while studying theory, and apply the theory learned to your practice while on placement, so that you can understand how the two complement each other. Your practice placements will contribute to your overall degree outcome alongside your academic work.

We’ll use a blended-learning approach, combining face-to-face sessions with online and practical work. You can expect lectures, presentations, simulations delivered by tutors, seminar discussions, small group workshops, group and individual tutorials. Inter-professional practitioners from the field of health and social care will contribute as guest speakers so that you can learn from their first-hand live examples of current practice. We’ll use a virtual learning environment (VLE) as an accessible repository for online resources and learning packages. Online content will form a normal part of the learning experience (for instance, podcasts, blogs, and audiovisual media), as well as interactive learning packages. You’ll also need to undertake a significant amount of personal study, including general background reading, preparing for seminar activities, working on assignments and revising for examinations.

To help support your learning, the University also offers additional study skills sessions, such as essay writing, library skills and electronic searching, and numeracy. You can also find support through our social learning community that includes a peer-support programme and enhanced personal tutoring. You’ll also be expected to develop your own E-portfolio, where you’ll catalogue evidence of your learning through a variety of media. To enhance your individual journey to becoming an effective practitioner, you’ll be encouraged to develop reflective practice through personal development planning.

Assessment tasks are designed to ensure you achieve the learning outcomes for each module and develop the necessary skills, knowledge and behaviours required to practise as a social worker. While assessment serves to evaluate your achievement, it also helps you organise and develop your learning by revealing your strengths and weaknesses. A variety of assessment methods will be used, including essays, reports, presentations, portfolios and set exercises. We’ll provide feedback on your assessments to help you improve in the future.

PLEASE NOTE: 100% attendance for practice-based learning is required, and absences or missed components of practice-based learning will have to be completed at a later date.

A minimum of 80% attendance is required for programme modules to progress and achieve the award for which you are registered. You must attend scheduled sessions. Please note that attendance is taken into account when making Assessment Board decisions. You may be withdrawn due to poor attendance.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

• Law for Social Work Practice
• Social Work with Children, Families and Adults
• Readiness for Social Work Practice
• Practice Placement 1
• Employability
• Dissertation
• Practice Placement 2

Assessment methods

Learning activities

Disclaimer

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.