Social Work

If you want a career where you can make a real, positive difference to the lives of people and communities in vulnerable circumstances, then our Social Work Master's degree is the ideal springboard. Social work is about encouraging change and human growth by supporting the social care and welfare needs of individuals, groups and communities.

This professionally accredited postgraduate course is designed for applicants who have already studied a relevant undergraduate degree and will give you the academic knowledge and practical experience to begin a career as a registered social worker. You will study the ethics and values of social work, critical practice relating to the law around child and adult care, and the key theories and perspectives underpinning social work policy and practice.

You will spend half of your time on placement with social work agencies, learning through observation and practice, and the other half being taught on our Singleton Park campus.

Throughout your studies, you will refine critical research and analytical skills in relation to social work practice and policy, and develop professional reflective practice techniques.

Being based in the School of Health and Social Care, Wales’s largest provider of healthcare education, you will be immersed in a dynamic research and learning environment with many opportunities to build links with students from related disciplines.

You will join a university that is:

15th in the UK for Course Satisfaction - Guardian University Guide 2023
12th in the UK for Student Satisfaction – NSS 2021
UK Top 25 University - Guardian University Guide 2022

Year 1
• Theories and Perspectives for Informing Social Work
• Critical Practice in Child Care and Law
• Ethics and Values in Social Work
• Undertaking and Using Social Work Research for Practice
• Social Work Skills and Knowledge in Practice
• Preparation for Practice Learning

Year 2
• Social Work Skills, Knowledge and Service Users' Perspectives
• Critical Practice in Adult Care and Law
• Dissertation in Social Work Research and Evidence for Practice

The course is both academic and practice-based, you will complete a minimum of 200 days practice learning across the two years. Half of the programme is devoted to supervised practice in social service agencies, where you’ll have the opportunity to learn through observation, rehearsal and performance. The social work placements take place in the local authorities of Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion.

Your learning will be assessed through written essays, oral presentations, I.T. based exercises, reflective commentaries and portfolio work across the two years of study.

Practice placements are assessed by a combination of written work, observed practice and personal assessments using the National Occupational Standards for Social Work.

You will also be expected to complete a research dissertation and poster presentation in your second year of study (15,000 words approx.) with support from an assigned supervisor.