Social Welfare BA (Hons) Top-up Degree

Social Welfare BA (Hons) Top-up Degree

If you are currently working in a social welfare related environment or have completed a Foundation degree or a diploma level qualification in this or a related subject area, this course will not only add to your professional knowledge and understanding but will also provide you with the opportunity to achieve an Honours level qualification.

You can either study a generic Social Welfare course or a named award in Child & Adolescent Mental Health, Learning Disability or Health & Social Care (see tabs below for more information on the named awards).

This flexible course offers both full and part-time routes and a wide range of modules to enable you to study aspects of work with a range of service users. In addition, you will gain an appreciation of service provision and delivery across the three sectors within its social, political and legal context. The range of modules allows you to develop an understanding of a professional interest (e.g. families and children or mental health) or to maintain a generic base. You will also undertake an Independent Study, giving you the opportunity for a more detailed analysis of a service user group or alternatively the concepts, practices and politics of social welfare.

A student-focused approach promotes the development of essential sector skills such as communication, reflection, research, professional reflexivity, and further engagement with the value base of social work and social care.

UCAS code

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry onto full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK.

Social Welfare BA (Hons) Top-up Degree L540 BA/SocW

For the latest information, check the UCAS website at www.ucas.com

Study options

Single Honours
One-year Top-up degree for Foundation degrees, HNDs or Diploma in Social Work
Flexible study options with full and part-time routes available
Continuous assessment
Option of building on knowledge and skills within a particular area of practice or remaining generic
Three named awards available

Get in touch

Admissions Office
01905 855111
admissions@worc.ac.uk

Miriam Isaac
Field Leader
01905 855472
m.isaac@worc.ac.uk

Either

An FdSc or HND in Health and Social Care and other diploma-level qualifications
or
Accredited Prior Learning/ Experiential Learning (APL/ APEL) considered

Applicants for a named award should have either a Foundation degree or Accredited Prior Learning commensurate with that award

Modules

Politics, Policy & Welfare
Professional Judgement & Decision-Making
Applied Research
Interventions in Social Welfare
Substance Use & Misuse
Families, Myths, the State & Welfare
Children’s Rights
Criminal Justice & Social Welfare
User Involvement in Health & Welfare
Citizenship & Personalisation
Housing & Homelessness
Counselling Theory & Practice
Leading & Managing in Health & Social Care
Independent Study

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods are used to ensure that your final grade is an accurate reflection of your performance during the course. Knowledge, reflection, communication, research and presentation skills are assessed using essays, reports, presentations and seminars.

Sean Halliday

Sean Halliday

Student, Social Welfare BA (Hons) Top-up Degree

“After I was made redundant, I decided to go back to school. I started right from the beginning, doing an open access course, then GCSEs, then an HND in Social Welfare, now I’m at University of Worcester topping my HND up to a full degree! I never thought I’d be here a few years ago, but it’s not going to stop here- I intend to go on to further study or a career in housing or the voluntary sector.”

Academic department

Institute of Health & Society

“The University is a leading innovator in the fields of health and social care. Unique appointments such as the UK’s first professors of perinatal education and tissue viability demonstrate our commitment to research excellence.”
Louise Jones, Head of Institute

Employability

This course will prepare you for work across the broad field of social welfare in statutory, voluntary and private services in areas such as: the personal social services, residential work, children and families, older people, housing, and disability services.

Graduate destinations include family workers, drug and alcohol support workers, social work (adult and children), management of services in the care sector, housing and homelessness, children’s centres, advisory services, and therapeutic work.

Postgraduate study is a further option with popular choices such as MA Social Work (qualifying award), MA Social Policy, and MA The Dynamics of Domestic Violence, offering appropriate professional development.

Named awards

• Social Welfare (Child & Adolescent Mental Health) BA (Hons)
• Social Welfare (Learning Disability) BA (Hons)
• Social Welfare (Health & Social Care) BA (Hons)

If you have completed a Foundation degree or a diploma level qualification in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS), Learning Disability, or Health and Social Care, then one of these named awards will not only add to your professional knowledge and understanding but will also provide you with the opportunity to achieve an Honours level qualification with a specific named pathway.

Career opportunities

This course will prepare you for work in either: child and adolescent mental health, the learning disability field, or health and social care, depending on your chosen pathway.

Apart from the vocational focus, the skills and knowledge gained are transferable into associated fields. Career paths include statutory, voluntary and private services in areas such as:

For the CAMHS award:
The personal social services, residential work, children and families, learning support services, children’s centres and therapeutic interventions.

For the Learning Disability award:
Learning disability services, key worker roles, family and residential work, and management of care services.

For the Health & Social Care award:
Service management in the care sector, housing, health support services and related fields.

Postgraduate study is a further option with popular choices such as MA Social Work (qualifying award), MA Social Policy, and MA Dynamics of Domestic Violence, offering appropriate professional development.

Examples of course content

Inter-professional modules:
Politics, Policy & Welfare
Professional Judgement & Decision Making
Applied Research
Interventions in Social Welfare
Criminal Justice & Social Welfare
Substance Use & Misuse
Housing & Homelessness
Leading & Managing in Health & Social Care
Counselling Theory & Practice

CAMHS award:
Independent Study in Child & Adolescent Mental Health
Ways of Working & Promoting Child & Adolescent Mental Health
Families, Myths, the State & Welfare
Children’s Rights

Learning Disability award:
Independent Study in Learning Disability
Personalisation & Citizenship
Service User Involvement in Health & Welfare

Health & Social Care award:
Independent Study in Health & Social Care
Service User Involvement in Health & Welfare
Leading & Managing in Health & Social Care

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