(MA) Master of Arts
Social Work
Current
University of Essex
University of Essex
Health and Social Care (School of)
Colchester Campus
Masters
Full-time
MA L50021
10/05/2023
Details
Professional accreditation
None
Admission criteria
You should have:
- A 2:1 or above (or international equivalent) in any discipline. Applications from students with a 2:2 or equivalent will also be considered where applicants also have significant vocationally relevant experience.
- Have some paid or voluntary work experience in health or social care in a relevant social care or child care/education setting.
- Successful performance at interview.
You must also have:
- One satisfactory reference (either academic or professional).
Don't worry if you cannot provide your reference when you make your application, as if we make you an offer you will be able to provide this at a later stage. References should be recent and verifiable, on official institution paper, signed and dated by the referee.If a referee wishes to provide an email reference, it must be sent from the referee’s email account.
You must also have a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check (including child and adult barred list check) this is organised by the University.
For this course, you will be required to register for the DBS Update Service (information relating to this service can be found here). You will need to register for this within 30 days of your DBS certificate being issued. The Update Service costs £13 per year, which the University will reimburse. You will need to keep the subscription to this Service active for the duration of your course.
If you do not register for the Update Service within 30 days, or your registration lapses, and you later attend a placement where this is a requirement, you will have to pay for a new DBS check, which will enable you to sign up to the Update Service. Please contact dbs@essex.ac.uk if you have any questions relating to this.”
A satisfactory Overseas Criminal Record Check/Local Police Certificate is also required, in addition to a DBS check, where you have lived outside of the UK in the last 5 years for 6 months or more. Where it is not possible to obtain an Overseas Check a relevant professional reference may be accepted
The following documents must be submitted with your online application:
- A personal statement
- A current CV detailing your work/voluntary work experience
- Academic transcripts
Interviews
Interviews are currently taking place for the October 2023 intake.
Interviews will be via Zoom, details of which will be provided in advance.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) code
If English is not your first language, we require IELTS 7.0 overall, or equivalent, with a minimum of 6.5 in all components.
Course qualifiers
A course qualifier is a bracketed addition to your course title to denote a specialisation or pathway that you have achieved via the completion of specific modules during your course. The
specific module requirements for each qualifier title are noted below. Eligibility for any selected qualifier will be determined by the department and confirmed by the final year Board of
Examiners. If the required modules are not successfully completed, your course title will remain as described above without any bracketed addition. Selection of a course qualifier is
optional and student can register preferences or opt-out via Online Module Enrolment (eNROL).
None
Rules of assessment
Rules of assessment are the rules, principles and frameworks which the University uses to calculate your course progression and final results.
Additional notes
None
External examiners
Dr Panagiotis Pentaris
Programme Leader
Goldsmiths, University of London
External Examiners provide an independent overview of our courses, offering their expertise and help towards our continual improvement of course content, teaching, learning, and assessment.
External Examiners are normally academics from other higher education institutions, but may be from the industry, business or the profession as appropriate for the course.
They comment on how well courses align with national standards, and on how well the teaching, learning and assessment methods allow students to develop and demonstrate the relevant knowledge and skills needed to achieve their awards.
External Examiners who are responsible for awards are key members of Boards of Examiners. These boards make decisions about student progression within their course and about whether students can receive their final award.
Programme aims
The course aims to help students become effective social workers by providing them with a range of learning opportunities. These learning opportunities will equip students with the subject knowledge and understanding and subject specific skills set out in the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Social Work (2016).
Furthermore, the course has been designed to align these skills and underpinning subject knowledge with the HCPC Standards of Professional Practice for Social Work (2017). On successful completion of the course the students will therefore, be equipped with the knowledge, skills and understanding necessary to seek professional registration under the protected professional title of Social Worker.
In order to achieve these aims the course focuses on human rights along with the principles of social justice, collective responsibility and respect for diversity. This approach has been taken in recognition of the importance of explicitly focussing on values in the development of professional practice. Social work practice needs to be clearly rooted in these values if it is to be professionally autonomous and not simply reducible to an instrument in the functional service of state or its subordinate institutions.
Learning outcomes and learning, teaching and assessment methods
On successful completion of the programme a graduate should demonstrate knowledge and skills as follows:
A: Knowledge and understanding
A1: Social Work's rich and contested history and the evolution of its core values as they are informed by national and international definitions, ethical statements and traditions.
A2: A range of sociological and psychological theories, models and perspectives of human behaviour appropriate to the individual, groups and communities.
A3: A range of psychological and physiological theories, models and perspectives of human growth and personal and social development in terms of wellbeing, risk and resilience.
A4: The ethical concepts of rights, justice, responsibility, freedom, authority and power inherent in the legislative/policy frameworks governing social work practice.
A5: The knowledge which underpins skilful and effective social work practice, with a range of service-users in a variety of settings.
A6: The challenges of working with a variety of agencies to provide care, including the complex relationships between agency policies, legal requirements, professional boundaries and service user interests in shaping services provision in integrated and interdisciplinary contexts.
Learning methods
Directed pre-reading and writing tasks on different aspects of social work; lectures;
Discussions with tutors and colleagues and mentors on the values, principles and applications of mentoring and coaching practice as they apply in organisations in the public sectors.
Assessment methods
Directed self-study, observation and reflection of own and others practice; comparative case studies in workshops and the classroom; consultation with library materials, presentations of findings related to models, strategies and good practice; examination of critical topics
Informal assessment with feedback will be made by mentors, tutors and peers. Feedback, coupled with peer group interaction should enable students to explore and augment their understanding of the topics, and develop their skills and understanding.
B: Intellectual and cognitive skills
B1: Collect, organise and present evidence in a coherent manner.
B2: Critically examine evidence in terms of relevance and/or bias e.g. in terms of currency or the reliability of methods of collection.
B3: Synthesise evidence and ideas from a variety of sources in order to develop balanced and secure conclusions.
B4: Formulate critically evaluative responses to arguments by considering sources of bias, unreliability and invalidity in the evidence they present.
B5: The ability to reflect critically on own practice, understanding, beliefs and values.
Learning methods
Lectures; workshop exercises, preparation of individual and group-based non-assessed assignments, presentations of assignments to academic and practitioner panels; peer group work; final assessments.
Recommended directed reading, networking with external communities of practice, peer groups, practitioners.
Development of reflective journals from the beginning of the course with opportunities to evaluate and apply to their practice
Lectures and directed self-study for the identification of different research paradigms, techniques and methods used to inform and support practical scenarios.
Formative assessment will consist of individual assignments, group work and oral presentations. Related feedback, coupled with peer group interaction, should enable students to explore and augment their understanding of the topics, and develop their presentation skills.
Assessment methods
Within Intellectual/cognitive skills the more significant assessments include presentations, seminars and observation-based assessments. In this area the focus is on the ability of the student to explore and synthesise with a strong focus on the inter-relationship of practice and theory. There is the same need to make connections with people’s needs or concerns as it is a vital element of the programme but there is additional layer of analysis and making the steps to integrate these findings with own practice. In some circumstances such as those where it is critical a student is able to explore in depth and articulate the understanding s/he has gained a seminar can be the most exciting vehicle as it enables other students to learn as well and indeed for many students this is a very positive experience of assessment.
C: Practical skills
C1: Listen to, reflect upon and respond appropriately to the wishes, feelings and interests of service users, carers and colleagues
C2: Seek supervision to support critical reflection on their practice in order to work safely within the limits of their competence.
C3: Challenge unacceptable practices in a responsible manner by providing reasoned, informed arguments to raise concerns about professional and service responses to human rights, collective responsibilities and respect for diversity.
C4: Make assessments of the strengths, needs, risks and resources in the lives of service users and communities on the basis of evidence and in a manner consistent with respect for human rights, ethical principles and the requirements of relevant policy and legislation.
C5: Plan and deliver proportionate and reasonable interventions to support the interests and promote the wellbeing of service users and communities in response to valid assessments.
C6: Build and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues from own and other agencies and related disciplines to support the interests and promote the wellbeing of service users and communities.
C7: Work within the requirements of professional bodies and regulatory authorities.
Learning methods
Directed reading, lectures; networking with peers; on-line discussions; formation of peer-coaching relationships linked to organisations, workshops; discussions with tutors and supervisors; projects; maintenance of reflective journals
Significant learning will be gained through placement opportunities and students will be supported to learn from each other, service users and other professionals as well as from their formal agreed learning situations. There is an emphasis on students recognising that learning comes from many different approaches and a flexible and open attitude is encouraged and supported.
Classwork, management of self-learning, group work and interactions with experts/specialists/colleagues will provide an informal means for assessment and feedback of the practical skills acquired by the students.
Assessment methods
Within Practical Skills the more significant assessments include observation-based assessments both of the student and by the student. Students also undertake activities on placement and within taught sessions that produce direct practice and these are ideal opportunities for direct observations. As with Intellectual/cognitive skills there is an emphasis on the synthesis of practice and theory that is present in all of the assessments. The student undertakes both formative and summative assessments in this area and there is a significant level of informal feedback in initial stages of development as high quality and effective insightful practice is essential and there are additional layers of analysis and critical reflection and making the steps to integrate these findings with own practice.
D: Key skills
D1: Listen to and respond appropriately to service users and colleagues.
D2: Use agency and institutional databases to reliably record, store, retrieve and modify records of observations, assessments, decisions and plans.
D3: Analyse a variety of quantitative data, including financial data, and use such analyses to inform decisions.
D4: Take an impartial and holistic approach when working with service users, carers and colleagues in order to find solutions.
D5: Share information, decisions and plans with service users, carers and colleagues in an effective manner that takes account of individual differences in capacity to access, process, retain and understand
D6: Critically reflect upon own practice to identify strengths, areas for development and opportunities to apply gained knowledge to new situations.
Learning methods
Communication in the classroom, written assignments, group work, interactions with external and internal providers and experts, placements, opportunities for informal learning and from assessments such as the child study and the community study and the use of a variety of materials, resources and information should provide for the means of supporting and assessing the range of key skills.
Assessment methods
Within Key Skills the more significant assessments include the formative tasks for community and child studies, simulated cases and presentations. The assessments frequently involve own development and that of others and support the student to evaluate and learn from their own practice. In this area the focus is on the ability of the student to explore and synthesise with a strong focus on working with others effectively. There is the same need to make connections with people’s needs or concerns, as it is a vital element of the programme but with a focus on insight and understanding of self.