We have over 45 years' experience in training people to become social workers in the super-diverse and cosmopolitan city of Birmingham. If you already have a degree and want to become a professional social worker, successful completion of this generic course will enable you work with children and adults in a variety of areas and to apply for registration with the regulator, Social Work England, to obtain the protected title of social worker.

Once you are registered, you will be immediately ready and able to engage in social work with any vulnerable citizen group in any setting. This includes working with children and families, adults, disabled people, older people and/or people with mental health problems in the local authority, health, or private, independent or voluntary sectors. 

WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS COURSE?

You will experience student-centred academic learning on campus and practice-based learning in a service delivery setting, in the community.

Academic learning will include a carefully blended mix of face to face lectures, workshops and seminars, complemented by online resources. In addition to practitioners and academics from other relevant disciplines, teachers include experienced social work academics, practitioners, who are currently in practice and service users and carers who are experts by experience. They will assist you to obtain the knowledge, skills, values and professional capabilities you need for successful social work practice in today’s world. This includes legal, theoretical and research knowledge, the core skills of reflection, assessment, communication, resilience, report writing and leadership, and the values of being empowering, person-centred, strengths-based, results and outcomes focused. 

Half of the programme involves gaining invaluable direct practice experience through placements, provided by our practice partners and overseen by our dedicated practice tutors. You will experience two placements one in year 1 and the second in year 2. Whilst on placement you will be supported by a qualified practice educator who will always be a registered social worker.

Our practice partners include Local Authorities and established private, independent and voluntary sector agencies. There are a number of innovative projects that allow you to experience social work in the growing area of educational settings.

Our experienced academic staff have worked in a variety of social work teams and settings including child and adult safeguarding, foster-care, physical and learning difficulties, sensory impairment, and mental health and hospital social work.

You will be taught at our modern City South Campus and have access to Mary Seacole library, personal development department, careers support, disability services, accommodation services, financial advice, student counselling services, students union, study spaces, laptops, skills rooms, and a variety of shops and cafes. 

Employability

By the end of the course you will have the knowledge, attitudes and skills that employers need and want.   You will also have the skills that will ensure your future and ongoing success as a social work practitioner.

The skills that enhance your employability are developed through our teaching and learning strategy which has a significant focus on embedding core skills whilst at University and developing these further during your practice placements. 

PLACEMENTS

There are two major practice-based placements that ensure, by the end of your course, you are work-ready, employable and prepared for social work practice.

Your First Placement in Year 1 will be for 70 full working days and your Last Placement in Year 2 will be for 100 days. In order to ensure you have a ‘generic’ qualification i.e. you will have gained the experience to apply for and work effectively with either adults or children once you qualify (or during your career), we ensure that, if you are placed in a setting working with adults in your first placement, you will be placed in a setting working with children in your last placement or vice versa.

During each placement you will be given learning opportunities and support from a qualified practice educator to help you to meet the social work professional capabilities framework at first or last placement levels.

In your last placement you will be enabled to take on more complex work, work more independently, exercise more initiative, demonstrate higher levels of judgement and leadership, and collaborate on more equal terms with other professionals.

We will take into account your preferred area of future practice and do our best to ensure that your last placement is within a setting or has learning opportunities that helps with your future career aspirations.