Social Work BA Honours

In your first year, you will undertake a child observation task, undertake a research project in your community and develop the communication skills required for your first placement in year two.

In this interesting module, you will learn about the important relationship between sociological theories, social policy, community action and their influence on social work practice. 

You will undertake an observation of a young child in this module and will develop observation, reflection and analysis skills by making links to human development theories, diversity and social work practice. 

This module has a focus on developing your communication skills for social work practice, introducing professional standards and other foundational skills for your social work education.

This module will enable you to gain a wide range of knowledge and skills to prepare you for professional practice in year two, including how social work organisations work, introducing theory and law, and service users and carers’ perspectives. 

In your second year, you will learn new research skills, understand the law that underpins social work, consider how theory applies to social work practice, and undertake your first, 70-day practice placement.

This module enables you to become research and evidence-minded, so you learn how to underpin your practice with the best available knowledge.

This is your first, 70-day professional placement module, where you will be supported to learn how to put key knowledge and skills into practice, in line with professional standards.  

In this module, you will acquire essential knowledge of social work legislation and how to apply this in your practice with adults and with children and their families.  

Here, you will deepen your knowledge of social work theories and the skills involved in applying these in practice in a thoughtful and ethical way. 

In your final year, you will complete your final, 100-day placement, undertake a research project in your chosen area of practice and further enhance your skills in applying theory to practice. By the end of year 3 you will be ready to graduate and qualify as a Social Worker.

This is the second placement module, supporting you to undertake 100-days of practice learning in statutory social work. During this placement you will gain the experience and knowledge required to consolidate your learning throughout the degree, making you ready to enter qualified practice following graduation.  

This is a more advanced module to facilitate your learning about how to lead social work interventions in a range of contexts, vital for qualified practice.

This module enables you to acquire more advanced knowledge and skills in child and family social work and you will undertake a dissertation on a topic which is relevant to your practice.  

This module enables you to acquire more advanced knowledge and skills in adult social work and you will undertake a dissertation on a topic which is relevant to your practice. 

You will be studying at our leafy north London campus in Hendon.

Outside of teaching hours, you’ll learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, and preparing for assessments including coursework, presentations and exams.

Here is an indication of how you will split your time.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Your course timetable will balance your study commitments on campus with time for work, life commitments and independent study.

We aim to make timetables available to students at least 2 weeks before the start of term. Some weeks are different due to how we schedule classes and arrange on-campus sessions.

Our excellent teaching and support teams will help you develop the skills relevant to your degree from research and practical skills to critical thinking. Our Sheppard Library is open from 7am to 11pm Monday to Sunday during term time. And we offer free 24-hour laptop loans with full desktop software, free printing and Wi-Fi to use on or off campus, even over the weekend.

This course is mainly assessed through coursework including exams, tests, written assignments, presentations and group exercises. The exact balance will depend on the modules you are taking. The table below is a good approximate guide.

Your knowledge and understanding will be assessed by research-based exercises in practitioner enquiry, particularly in the final year project. You will take part in peer and individual presentations which demonstrate synthesis and interrogation of different sources of knowledge, and debates and discussions in small and larger groups.  

You will be assessed by research-based exercises in practice learning portfolios bringing together knowledge and practice in your analysis of case studies, web-based inquiry to collect demographic information about community populations and observational of professional social work practice. 

Your skills will be assessed by tutor-based exercises through debates and discussion, research evaluation activities and drawing out implications for practice, and written assignments demonstrating understanding of theories and their application. 

To help you achieve the best results, we will provide regular feedback.

Practice opportunities are a core element of the BA Social Work course and these are offered within two specific modules of study. 

In year two, you will undertake a 70-day professional practice placement and in year three, a 100-day placement in North London. You will receive support from a university placement tutor who will offer classroom-based teaching in tutor groups and one to one, to plan and review progress.  

Practice Educators will support your learning in quality assured organisations and settings centred on the provision of social work and social care and they are offered training prior to and during their work with students.  

Placements will be provided in contrasting settings, so that you can learn across a breadth of practice contexts. These may be in local authority or NHS settings, or in the private and voluntary sector.