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Social Work – (M.Sc.)
University of Portsmouth
Faculty of Science
| Location: | Portsmouth / United Kingdom / View location on map ▾ Hide location on map ▴ | ||
| Duration: | 24 months | Start Date: | September |
| Education Variants: |
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| Languages: | English | ||
Location of University of Portsmouth
This Master's degree is a professional qualification for social work approved by the General Social Care Council (GSCC). It will provide you with the opportunity (at postgraduate level) to acquire the knowledge, theory, values and skills to work with vulnerable individuals and groups in society. It will also enable you to develop the flexibility to work in any sector of social work - children and families, mental health, disabilities, vulnerable adults or in the wide range of voluntary and independent organisations providing services to people who are homeless, who misuse substances, who are in the criminal justice system or who have experience of the care system.
The programme comprises a combination of academic university-based structured learning and 200 days practical placements in two social work/social care agencies (70 days in year one and 130 days in year two).
The key to the programme is our commitment to inclusion, inter-professionalism and internationalism. We place the development of knowledge and the skills necessary to create egalitarian and empowering forms of practice at the centre of the student experience. We emphasise the need to engage in inter-professional practice and seek to ensure that our students are sensitive to the needs of minority groups within the UK and the wider international arena. Our commitment to anti-discriminatory/anti-oppressive practice will be at the centre of all our activities.
We highly value our links with service users and local agencies from both the statutory and voluntary sector. They contribute to curriculum development, admissions, teaching and assessment, helping ensure that our course is up-to-date, relevant to service provision and firmly focused on service user and carer needs.
Contents
Year one
* The Social and Policy Framework for Social Work: this bridging unit of study is designed for those students whose previous degree may not be so closely related to the social sciences and/or who have less recent or extensive social work experience. This will equip all students to engage with the practical and theoretical challenges raised within the course. It will also allow the opportunity for those who are more familiar with social work to develop their knowledge in this area.
* Social Work in Context: this unit will be an exploration of contemporary social work.
* Empowerment, Inclusion and Service Users (One): through a combination of personal reflective journals and creative and performance activities, this unit will enable you to understand the motivations, experiences and actions of service users within a clear ethical framework that recognises and promotes diversity.
* Social Work Methods: this unit will provide you with a grounding in the ways that social work is practised and will enable you to choose an appropriate intervention from among a range of options.
* Research Methods: this unit will develop data retrieval skills gained in earlier units and provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the range of research methods utilised within the social work research community. It will prepare you to undertake your dissertation in year two.
* Theorising International Welfare: enabling you to look at social work and social policy developments internationally, this unit will help you to critically evaluate contemporary social work practice.
* Practice Placement (Year One): all students on courses leading to the GSCC qualification are required to undertake assessed practice in relevant placements and meet the National Occupational Standards for Social Work. You will spend 70 days in the first-year placement. Every student is assigned a Practice Teacher/Assessor who directs, supports and evaluates their practice development and achievement.
Year two
* Policy Analysis: this unit reflects the expectation that students at Master’s level should exhibit higher critical and analytical skills. It provides a framework for the evaluation of policy development and implementation and builds on the Social Work in Context unit.
* Empowerment, Inclusion and Service Users (Two): having maintained an ongoing reflective journal, you will now be able to develop the analysis within it, so that the values and ethical issues explored earlier can now be assessed within the context of inter-professional, international and inclusion strategies. You will undertake creative activities as part of the assessment of this unit.
* Practice Placement (Year Two): you will undertake a second practice placement of 130 days, during which you will be expected to undertake five practice analyses and have your practice observed on five occasions. You will have the option of undertaking up to 60 placement days overseas in a social work teaching institution with which we have links.
* Dissertation: you will write a 10,000-word dissertation, which will be submitted as part of the assessment for this unit. You will also be expected to defend your dissertation before a panel consisting of academic staff, practitioners and service users/carers. Those undertaking an international placement will be expected to produce a comparative analysis.
IELTS
You are normally required to take an English Proficiency Test.
Most European Universities recognise the IELTS test.
Take testRequirements
A 2:2 honours degree in a relevant subject or a degree in an associated discipline. Students are considered on an individual basis, considering relevant experience and academic achievement. Must have GSCE English and Mathematics at grade C or above or equivalent. Applicants must also have relevant work experience, at least 12 weeks in voluntary or paid employment.
English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 7.0 or equivalent.
Language Proficiency
| Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE): | Grade C (Score: 60) |
Accreditation
General Social Care Council (GSCC)
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