BA Social Work

Social work is all about people: it is an extremely rewarding and challenging profession. You’ll need to be hard working, adaptable, honest and, above all, passionate about finding long-term solutions and supporting positive changes for children, adults and families. You develop the skills, knowledge and understanding of how to support people to improve personal, practical, psychological and social aspects of their lives.

As a student of BA Social Work at Essex you experience a lively, informal environment with many possibilities to pursue your own interests whilst being part of a multidisciplinary school. We provide you with an active and stimulating environment for your studies and the chance to really make a difference within an essential profession in today’s society.

A unique feature of our School of Health and Social Care is that many of our staff work with our Local Authorities and other local agencies, which enhances our grasp of the contemporary links between academic research, the major issues of the day and practice.

As a School, we specialise in applied, multidisciplinary research that addresses issues of national and international concern to health and social care policy and practice and related fields. We also host the NIHR Research Design Service for the East of England.

The School of Health and Social Care is proud to work closely with our Service User Reference Group (SURG). SURG is made up of service users, carers, and volunteers who generously share their first-hand experiences of health and social care. We work collaboratively with SURG to design our courses to ensure that we truly are putting the needs of patients and clients at the heart of what we do. SURG are involved as part of our course application processes and often form part of our interview panels. This helps us to be confident that we are selecting the right applicants for the course and their future careers. SURG members also support the delivery of our teaching sessions and research activity, which means you’ll benefit from an insight into their lived experiences of living with a diagnosis, health condition, or circumstance. You’ll find that not only does your clinical knowledge expand, but your empathy, compassion and ability to advocate develops also. You can find out more about SURG by reading their blog here.

Location

Whilst this course is offered at both our Southend and Colchester campuses, we recommend that you consider which location would suit you best and apply for that campus. If you apply to multiple campuses, you will only have one interview and your chances of being offered a place will be the same as if you had only applied to one campus.

If you wish to change campus at any point during the admissions process then please contact your Admissions Adviser who will do their best to accommodate your preference. Changing campus is subject to availability.

Placement Opportunities

Within the School of Health and Social Care, we value the experience and opportunity that a placement can give you. It is an intrinsic part of many of our courses. Within our BA Social Work you will do at least 170 days in practice placement during your time with us - you will even have the opportunity to do an international placement as part of this.

Our partnerships with placement providers ensure you gain effective, high-quality training, allowing you to gain experience working with children, adults, families and communities.

When you are on placement, the placement provider is expected to meet the travel costs incurred as a result of work carried as part of that placement (i.e. travel to meetings, etc). However, you will be expected to meet the costs of travel to and from placement.

Social Work students may be eligible to apply for the NHS Social Work bursary, which can be put towards paying for tuition fees, maintenance costs, or travel to placement. More information is available on the NHS BSA website.

DBS and Occupational Health Checks

This course requires a satisfactory Occupational Health Check and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check (including child and adult barred list check) - both of these are organised by the University. Please contact our DBS team or Occupational Health team if you have any questions in relation to these checks.

You will also be required to register for the DBS Update Service (information relating to this service can be found here). You will need to register for this within 30 days of your DBS certificate being issues. The Update Service costs £13 per year, which the University will reimburse. You will need to keep the subscription to this Service active for the duration of your course. If you do not register for the Update Service within 30 days, or your registration lapses, and you later attend placement where this is a requirement, you will have to pay for a new DBS check, which will enable you to sign up to the Update Service. Please contact our DBS team if you have any questions relating to this.

A satisfactory Overseas Criminal Record Check/Local Police Certificate is also required, in addition to a DBS Check, where you have lived outside of the UK in the last 5 years for 6 months or more. Further information about how to obtain an Overseas Criminal Record check can be found on the Gov.uk website.

Mandatory Vaccinations

As you may be aware, the UK government has now revoked legislation that requires all health and social care staff working in sites regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Whilst vaccination is not essential, we encourage our applicants and students to be fully vaccinated. Find out more about what this means for applicants to this course.

Professional accreditation

Approved by Social Work England for the purpose of providing eligibility to apply for registration as a social worker in England.

Our expert staff

A unique feature of our School of Health and Social Care is that our staff continue to work within social care and other local agencies, which enhances our grasp of the contemporary links between academic research, and the issues of current social work practice.

Gert Scheepers qualified as a social worker in 1990 in South Africa and has worked in both the UK and South Africa. Gert is the programme lead for our BA Social Work, and his field of expertise is Adult Social Care.

Stephen Jordan originally worked as a senior social work practitioner from 1988-2004 then from 2011-2014. He joined the school in 2014 and has recently completed his Professional Doctorate in Social work with the Tavistock and Portman/ UEL doctorate programme. The focus of his doctorate was the relationship between humour, jokes and social work. Stephen also sits on the panel of a local fostering agency. His field of expertise is Children and Families.

Full details of our staff can be found on the HSC Staff Profiles page.

Specialist facilities

The School of Health and Social Care is located at two sites; in the Kimmy Eldridge building at our Colchester Campus and in the Gateway Building at our Southend Campus.

BA Social Work is well established at our Southend campus. There you will find purpose-built accommodation to meet the needs of a growing and lively School. The Forum, our landmark new education facility, houses our student support, finance, registry, IT services, and an integrated library.

BA Social Work is new to our Colchester campus for October 2022. Colchester is the largest of our three campuses, with 15,000 students and 200 acres of beautiful parkland. On-site, we have shops, restaurants, a theatre, as well as a gym and a cinema.

On both campuses, we offer excellent physical and online resources in terms of libraries, computer labs, datasets, archives and other research materials, and have simulation labs where you can practise developing your skills safely, knowing that you are learning up-to-date and evidenced based practice from experienced registered practitioners.

Your future

With 100% of our School of Health and Social Care students in highly skilled employment or graduate-level further study (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021), we're confident that this course will be just the start of great things for you. As a qualified Social Worker, you'll be able to work with a variety of client groups in various settings, and it's likely that no two days will be the same.

Successful completion of this course leads to eligibility to register with Social Work England as a Social Worker, but please note that other criteria also apply. See their website for further information.

UK entry requirements

UK entry requirements

Our published entry requirements are a guide and we welcome applications from those who have achieved one of the below qualifications with lower grades but meet our GCSE English (or equivalent) requirement.

GCSE: English C/4. Acceptable alternatives to our GCSE English requirement are listed further down this page.

Plus one of the following

• A-levels: BBB
• BTEC: DDM
• Access to HE Diploma: 6 level 3 credits at Distinction and 39 level 3 credits at Merit
• T-levels: Distinction

We also consider a range of relevant vocational level 3 qualifications for entry and welcome applications from applicants who can demonstrate social activity, awareness, lived experience or relevant work experience.

Some paid or voluntary experience in health or social care in a relevant social care or childcare/education setting is also desired.

GCSE/Level 2 requirements

All applicants must have, or be working towards, an acceptable level 2 English qualification such as GCSE grade C/4 or equivalent.

• If you do not require a Student visa and are either a first language English speaker or have a lived in the UK for over three years, we can accept a number of OFQUAL regulated level 2 English qualifications, including Functional Skills level 2, Key Skills level 2 or literacy units taken as part of an Access to HE Diploma, in place of GCSE English C/4.
• If you have not listed a suitable English qualification in your application this may form part of any offer given to you.

Additional requirements

You must also have a satisfactory Occupational Health Check and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check (including child and adult barred list check) - both of these are organised by the University.

You will also be required to register for the DBS Update Service (information relating to this service can be found here). You will need to register for this within 30 days of your DBS certificate being issued. The Update Service costs £13 per year, which the University will reimburse. You will need to keep the subscription to this Service active for the duration of your course.

If you do not register for the Update Service within 30 days, or your registration lapses, and you later attend a Placement where this is a requirement, you will have to pay for a new DBS check, which will enable you to sign up to the Update service. Please contact our DBS team if you have any questions relating to this.

A satisfactory Overseas Criminal Record Check/Local Police Certificate is also required, in addition to a DBS Check, where you have lived outside of the UK in the last 5 years for 6 months or more.

Application process

For 2023 entry, applicants must be aged 18 or over on 20 October 2023.

We welcome applications for Year Two and final year entry, but they must be submitted by 30 June 2023. These applications will need to go through the APEL process, as applicants are required to have studied a comparable first or second year at another institution and to have completed comparable Professional Capabilities through placements. Applicants for Year Two and Final Year also need to meet the GCSE English, or acceptable alternatives, requirements.

If your achieved or pending qualifications meet our requirements, you will be invited to attend a compulsory interview via Zoom.

English language requirements

English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 7.0 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in each component (or equivalent).

Other English language qualifications may be acceptable so please contact us for further details. If we accept the English component of an international qualification then it will be included in the information given about the academic levels listed above. Please note that date restrictions may apply to some English language qualifications

If you are an international student requiring a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.

If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.

Course structure

This course consists of three years, each with a particular emphasis which reflects your development as a trainee social worker and the journey you take into becoming a professional practitioner.

Within the programme the central themes reflecting core values and principles of practice are always present; these include safeguarding and protection; evidence-based relational practice; inter-professional working; impact of practice; professional challenge; empowering service users autonomy; social justice and values; and equality and diversity.

These carefully selected modules will give you the chance to explore, question, and create powerful ideas. Picked to give you an extensive and in-depth education, they’ll equip you with the specialist knowledge, vital transferrable skills, and the confidence to make a genuine difference to the world around you.

Our Programme Specification gives more detail about the structure available to our current first-year students..

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, or in response to COVID-19, we’ll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

Teaching

• First year modules reflect fundamental understanding and skills essential for social work practice
• As required by the Social Work Reform Board you will undertake a minimum of 30 days of development including interpersonal and communication skills
• Gain experience through a 5 day Child Study as part of Lifespan Development
• Second year placement of 70 days in a non-statutory setting
• You will be actively engaged with service users and carers who are experiencing issues related to their emotional and mental health
• Undertake a 100 day assessed placement in a statutory agency
• Explore your own practice and to develop further a specialist area of interest
• This course combines University learning, e-learning and work-based learning to help you enhance your practice skills
• Modules have their own accompanying webpages on Moodle where you can download relevant readings, power-points, podcasts and YouTube clips, and contribute to online discussions
• We also work closely in partnership with the NHS and the independent health sector to provide placement opportunities

Assessment

• You are assessed by a combination of practical examinations, viva voce examinations, essays, reflective writing and poster and seminar presentations, practice-based learning assessment and practical examinations in the academic setting