Social Work : BA Hons : L500

Lancaster is 1st in the UK for Social Work in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide (2017). You will be taught by the best academics in the field and our course is accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). You will gain the skills and experience you need to be effective and successful in your chosen career.

Social workers face complex and challenging situations and need to be committed to the principles of social justice. At Lancaster, you will learn with enthusiastic lecturers, practitioners, service users and carers. We emphasise research and cutting-edge knowledge to enable you to develop a critical but reflective approach to understanding social work in contemporary society.

Two practice placements form an important and integral part of this vocational degree. These are an excellent way of getting to know the role of a social worker and give you hands-on experience to back up your academic learning. This ensures that when you graduate you are prepared for work in the rapidly changing environments of social care.

The two first-year modules, Social Work Practice and Contemporary Social Problems, will give you an introduction to the nature, origins and values of social work and to the economic, organisational policy and social circumstances in which it is practised. You will set issues in the context of class, gender, race and ethnicity, and disability to start developing a critical understanding of social work.

Your first placement starts at the beginning of the September before your second year and runs through to mid-December. You then complete a series of modules that include Social Work with Children and Families, Social Work in Adult Social Care and The Research-minded Practitioner.

Your third-year modules include Mental Distress and Health and, uniquely to Lancaster, Social Work and Drug Use. In addition, all social work students write a dissertation.