Course in brief

Social work is both a profession and an academic discipline that commits to social justice and human rights by supporting those in need.

It is a vital and rewarding field of work that puts you in direct contact with often vulnerable and marginalised individuals, giving you a chance to make a significant difference to their lives.

The Social Work BSc(Hons) is run in partnership with local agencies including Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council and West Sussex County Council, as well as with carers and service users.

It has been approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) – the regulatory body for social work training.

Completion of the degree programme leads to a generic social work qualification, which then allows you to specialise in a particular area of practice. It also allows you to apply for registration with HCPC, which is essential before practising as a social worker.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Falmer

UCAS code L500

Full-time 3 years

Approved by the Health and Care Professions Council

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Meet our students, see our accommodation and find out more about your course.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course if you wish to begin studying with us in 2017. They should be used as a general guide.

We operate a flexible admissions policy – this means that you could receive a lower conditional offer than the typical offer, informed by our assessment of your complementary non-academic achievements and experiences. For courses that require interview or portfolio review, this may also be considered in the level of any conditional offer that follows if your application is successful.

A-levels
ABB.

BTEC
DDM.

International Baccalaureate
32 points.

Access to HE Diploma
pass with 60 credits overall. Social work courses preferred. At least 45 credits at level 3, with 30 credits at merit or distinction, including level 3 credits in written communication, study skills, and reading and writing skills.

GCSE (minimum grade C)
a good profile including maths and English.

English language requirements
IELTS 7.0 overall, with a minimum of 6.5 in the other elements.

Other
You should have:

  • experience of being in a helping or support role, for example in a social care or education setting (this may be paid or voluntary)
  • understanding of, and preparedness for, social work practice
  • a satisfactory academic reference
  • a satisfactory second (character) reference preferably relating to social care, a helping role you have had outside of your family, or from your most recent employer.

Note that we are unable to accept deferrals of places to the next academic year for this course. 

If we make you an offer

Once you've accepted your offer, to fulfil professional requirements, you will be expected to provide evidence of the following:

  • satisfactory DBS disclosure
  • satisfactory health declaration/clearance.

Course in detail

Course structure

The course reflects the multi-professional nature of social work practice through joint learning sessions with students of nursing, occupational therapy, midwifery, medicine, education and physiotherapy. There is also a focus on the social science knowledge base of social work, with contributions from criminology, psychology, sociology and social policy.

Learning on the course involves the extensive use of actual and simulated case material. You are supported by regular individual and group tutorials, and there are important contributions from carers, service users and practitioners from partner agencies. Teaching is informed by the research of our staff, whose interests include complexity theory, mental health and resilience.

Social Work

Practice learning

Learning about and in practice is a core part of your training. You must spend at least 170 days in practice settings, plus 30 days of skills-based activity.

For the first placement, when the emphasis is on generic skills and learning, you are likely to work in the private, voluntary or independent sector. Second placements take place in settings where there are opportunities for you to engage with:

  • formal assessment processes
  • the application of legal frameworks
  • organisational policies and procedures
  • the demands of a high-pressure environment, and
  • multi-agency working.

Practice will be assessed according to the Social Work’s Professional Capabilities Framework. By the end of the course you also have to demonstrate the HCPC Standards of Proficiency for Social Workers in England. Details can be found on the HCPC website.

Placements vary from year to year, and have to date included:

  • assessment teams
  • long-term teams
  • family centres
  • children’s hospitals, and
  • fostering and adoption services.

Year 1

Year 1 will introduce social work practice and begin your professional training. You will also learn about how the social sciences inform social work and about the role of social policy.

Modules

  • Human Growth and Development
  • Introduction to Social Work Practice
  • Social Policy and Social Welfare
  • Law for Social Workers
  • Preparing for Social Work Practice
  • Service User, Carer Needs and Resources
Social Policy

Year 2

Year 2 will develop your specialist knowledge and practical skills. You will also complete your first professional placement.

Modules

  • Developing Analytic and Reflective Social Work Practice
  • Practice Learning 1
  • Social Work Practice with Adults, Children and Families: Law, Policy and Protection
  • Social Work Practice with Adults, Children and Families: Skills, Theory and Context

Final year

In Year 3, the second placement will enable further development and the consolidation of more complex social work practice. You will also use your research skills to complete a social work project of your choice.

Modules

  • Contemporary Social Work
  • Practice Learning 2
  • Social Work Project
Students in a seminar

Cupp

We strongly believe that it is our duty to use our knowledge and resources for social benefit, which is why we set up the Community University Partnership Programme (Cupp) back in 2003.

Cupp is an award-winning project that aims to tackle disadvantage and promote sustainable development through partnership with local organisations. Our combined efforts have made a tangible difference to the effectiveness of community sectors and the lives of local people.

As a Brighton student, you will have the opportunity to volunteer through Cupp and work in the community yourself, all the while developing your vocational skills and gaining valuable work experience.

Cupp team

Careers and employability

This is an important time to enter the social work profession and there continues to be a need for social workers nationally. Employment opportunities arise in local authorities and voluntary agencies for practice with children, older and disabled people and those using mental health services.

localcommunity

Fees and funding

Your fees

UK/EU (full-time) 9,000 GBP

International (full-time) 13,800 GBP

Social work bursary information
Universities in England have not yet been advised of NHS social work bursary allocations for the 2016 academic year. We will update this web page with information as we receive it, and will be in touch directly if we have made you an offer.

In recent years there has been no bursary for first year undergraduates, but we have received a number of bursaries (albeit not enough for the whole year group) for the two final years of the degree. If bursaries continue to be available, we will work with students to make sure that all are aware of the criteria that is applied to bursary nominations. Last year, national criteria for priority focused on information given in your application (prior educational achievement etc) plus attendance and achievement during the first year of the degree. 

Students are usually also able to apply for a student loan in the same way as other undergraduate students, regardless of their NHS bursary status.

 

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2016–17. Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee. Further details regarding tuition fees are available from the university’s student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full- or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, field trips or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.

 

 

Location and living here

Location

About Brighton

Brighton has been called the happiest place in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. With five miles of pebble beach, more than 300 pubs and a packed festival calendar, Brighton is the ideal place to spend your student years.

Arts and culture: The Royal Pavilion is the most famous landmark in Brighton, opening its doors to around 400,000 tourists every year. Right next door is the Brighton Dome, the south coast’s premier multi-arts venue, and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which holds a diverse collection of decorative arts, textiles and archaeological artefacts.

Festivals: The Brighton Festival is now the largest arts festival in England and a major milestone in the international cultural calendar. Meanwhile, The Great Escape has been established as the UK’s leading event for new music, with over 300 bands playing 30 venues across the city over three days.

Nightlife: Aside from the many nightclubs that line the city’s seafront, student favourites include The Haunt, Concorde 2 and Patterns, which attract leading bands and DJs from around the world. If you don’t feel like dancing, you can take your pick from the many hundreds of pubs and bars that dot the city centre.

Shopping: The quirky North Laine district houses Brighton’s finest collection of boutique shops and independent cafes, while the narrow, winding streets of the South Lanes house collections of jewellery and antiques. Churchill Square is the city’s main shopping centre and serves all of your high street needs.

Sports: Brighton’s seaside location offers the perfect opportunity to try paddle boarding, kayaking and windsurfing. Further into the city, The Level has a skate park for skateboarders and BMX riders to practise their skills.

Brighton Wheel   What to expect enriching experiences

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Surrounded by the South Downs National Park and just five miles from the centre of Brighton, our Falmer campus has benefited from over £60million of investment over the past 10 years. 7,000 students are based here, studying subjects including English, education, social science, nursing and medicine.

Recent developments include the Falmer Sports Centre – with its fitness suites and sports hall – and the innovative Checkland Building, which has natural ventilation systems and an insulating green roof.

Falmer has also recently installed more than 600 solar panels, which reduce the campus’s carbon emissions by more than 80 tonnes. The renovation has made us one of the top universities in the UK for on-site renewable energy production.

Accommodation

Brighton

Our Brighton halls of residence are located across the city in Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

Our Grand Parade campus is in central Brighton and has one hall of residence, Phoenix Brewery, within walking distance. We have around 300 rooms available in Phoenix Brewery, which are all ensuite and self-catered.

Moulsecoomb is two miles from the city centre and also has one hall of residence, Moulsecoomb Place, on campus. All accommodation in Moulsecoomb Place is catered, offering breakfast and an evening meal during term time. There are more than 150 rooms available here, with six to eight rooms per flat.

Varley Park offers the biggest choice of student accommodation with ten halls of residence. The site is four miles from Brighton centre but within walking distance of Falmer train station. You can also catch a free bus service to Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb and Falmer campuses, which is operated by local bus service The Big Lemon.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence: Great Wilkins and Paddock Field. Great Wilkins offers 150+ self-catered single rooms and one-bed couples flats, while Paddock Field offers 450+ catered and self-catered single rooms only. All rooms in Falmer are en-suite.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. The rent covers all utilities and includes £5,000 of contents insurance for your personal belongings.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

If you have any questions about accommodation in Brighton, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accommodation@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 644100.

Paddock Field

Moulsecoomb Place


  

Maps

house Accommodation
campus University building

Falmer campus and Brighton and Sussex Medical School map

 

Unistats

Unistats and key information sets

Unistats is an organisation that collects specific data about university courses in the UK which enables you to compare information that is important in your decision-making when choosing a university. All universities publish Unistats data on their online course pages.

Wherever we can we have provided extra information here to help put the data into context so that it is as useful as possible when you are making decisions.

Programme specification

Programme specifications are the official university documents that describe each course in detail. They reflect the course as it is being taught to students who started their course in this academic year. They are updated every summer, and give a very detailed breakdown of what your course might look like.

Programme specification

Find out more

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644
enquiries@brighton.ac.uk

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Meet our students, see our accommodation and find out more about your course.

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