Social Work Practice Education PG Award

Teaching

Recognising that you are likely to be studying alongside social work practice you will engage in blended learning methods. You will be taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars and online sessions. Throughout the programme, you will benefit from an integration of both innovative and traditional teaching methods. Your learning will be supported by the University’s virtual learning environment. You will have individual access to electronic journals, content-rich study guides, and interactive online learning materials formative online assessments and group discussion forums. 

For the Practice Educator modules you will be working alongside social work students and you will be assessed by an experienced Practice Educator qualified at Stage 2 of the Practice Educator Professional Standards for Social Work, Practice Educator mentor or assessor.

Pebblepad online portfolios are used to give you the opportunity to evidence your competencies. You will complete reflective essays, allowing you to evaluate and analysis your social work practice.

For further information and resources on Practice Education please see here 

Contact time

Typically, class contact time will be structured around:

• 4 full day classroom-based sessions per module
• 12 x 1-hour online seminars where students will have an opportunity to gain peer and tutor support in relation to placement issues, apply theory to practice and gain support with assignments

Independent study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 6 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve completing online activities, reading journal articles and books.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including The Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources. 

Duration

This is a part time programme. To complete the full PG Award we anticipate completion taking 2 years.

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the course. Our Social Work team is made up of senior academics, professional practitioners with extensive experience. The team includes staff who are internationally recognised. Teaching is informed by research and consultancy, and 100% per cent of University lecturers have a higher education teaching qualification or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy. You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles. 5 members of the social work team are Practice Educators at Stage 2 of the Practice Educator Professional Standards for Social Work.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. 

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.  Assessment methods include essays, reports, presentations and portfolios.

Pebblepad online portfolios are used to give you the opportunity to evidence your competencies. You will complete reflective essays, allowing you to evaluate and analysis your social work practice.

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback on examination performance is available upon request from the module leader. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate. 

We aim to provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.  

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.