Social Work - BSc(Hons)

The course has been developed to fulfil the aims of national reforms to social work practice and education and builds on the nationally recognised strengths of its teaching to date. This includes a stronger emphasis on skills for practice and on current issues of particular concern in social work such as mental health, domestic violence, drug and alcohol use and work with asylum seekers and refugees.

Year one

These modules will ask you to reflect on what you bring to the course, how this informs the way you engage with others, and the issues you should be alert to when meeting people as a Social Worker; psychological and sociological theories for understanding individuals, families, groups and communities; law and policy; and how the legal, social and organisational context of social work shapes what Social Workers do. There will be opportunities to 'shadow' Social Workers and you will be asked to explore how understanding the communities in which people live can inform effective social work practice.

• Skills for Relationship-Based Practice
• Perspectives on the Life Course
• Social Policy and Law for Social Work
• Developing Professional Social Work Practice

Year two

These modules will start the year and develop your understanding of how psychosocial theory and research can inform your practice, and your knowledge and specialist skills for working in a range of practice settings. Later, there will be 70 days of practice learning in one of the many voluntary and statutory sector agencies with which the course has links. Linked to this you will consider how different professions can work together to provide better services. University teaching will run alongside this placement.

• Theory and Research for Social Work Practice
• Engagement, Empowerment and Intervention
• Law and Knowledge for Social Work
• Service Improvement: A Collaborative Approach
• Reflective Practice in Social Work

Final year

You will firstly undertake a short intensive module to develop your understanding of law, policy and procedure in situations of harm and risk. This is followed by a practice placement of 100 days.

• Protection and Risk in Social Work
• Critical Reflective Practice in Social Work 1
• Critical Reflective Practice in Social Work 2
• Dissertation

Plus one of the following optional modules:

• Social Work with Adults at Risk
• Social Work with Children and Young People
• Working to Strengthen Communities

A key theme in the course's approach is learning about best practice including:

• how to think critically and creatively in complex situations
• understanding how law, policies, theories, research and other evidence inform practice
• exploring value conflicts and dilemmas
• skills development for empowering practice
• inter-professional working

This structure is for the full-time course delivery only. For part-time delivery, the same modules will be studied. However, the structure will differ.

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we will inform you.

All teaching contributes to the development of skilled Social Workers. A range of teaching and learning methods is used including formal lectures, seminars, project work, enquiry-based and online learning, individual self-directed study and assignment preparation. You are encouraged to reflect on your own and other's experiences in and outside the university to assist your learning and development.

Social work teaching staff have a wide range of practice, research and teaching experience in health and social care. The Department has established links with several universities and colleges in Germany, Italy, Norway, Finland and Greece. It is now part of a European thematic network linking 25 countries to further develop the understanding of the social work profession and its commonalities and differences.

For more details see our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.

Online Learning

Online resources are an integral part of what the university offers. As a minimum reading materials and lecture notes are available online, and most modules will require you to use Information Technology (IT) to help you research, undertake and present your work.

IT facilities are available on all campuses and at the main Frenchay Campus there is 24 hour access to computing facilities.

Full-time

The course begins at the end of September. To accommodate teaching alongside a final placement of 100 days students will complete the programme and qualify in July rather than June.

Where placements run over Christmas and Easter periods of leave will be planned, but these may be shorter than the standard university vacations.

Part-time options

You may enrol on the course to study part-time. You will negotiate a pattern of study to suit your circumstances and take modules alongside full-time students. There is no distinct and separate part-time course.

Methods of assessment include written assignments, assessments under controlled conditions, presentations and evidence of competence in practice. Reflective diaries and progress files are likely to be an integral part of the course.

For more details see our full glossary of assessment terms.