Social Work BA (Hons)
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold award
Our commitment to high quality teaching has been recognised with a TEF Gold rating. The University has received an overall rating of Gold, as well as securing a Gold award in the framework's two new student experience and student outcomes categories.
Why choose this course?
Train to become a social worker with this degree, accredited by Social Work England. This course offers hands-on experience of social work and a foundation in ethics, diversity, psychology, sociology, social policy and law. You'll study mental health, disability, adoption, fostering, substance misuse, youth justice, and domestic violence.
You'll learn directly from people with lived experience and teaching consultants currently in practice. We're part of a teaching partnership network with seven local authorities and two voluntary organisations. This means that you will be taught in the classroom by practising social workers who will bring theory to life with their front-line experiences.
We have a wide range of placement opportunities throughout South West London and Surrey, including child protection, youth justice, mental health, vulnerable adults settings, schools, drugs and substance misuse services. You'll develop your skills in our award-winning Practice Learning Suite through simulated interactions with people with lived experience.
You'll be expertly prepared for social work practice with placements in field, residential, day care, hospital, prison and service user-run settings. Placements will be supported by studies of assessment, intervention, evaluation, safeguarding, evidence-based practice, research and law. Employment skills workshops are provided by the partnership to maximise your chances of securing employment within the partnership at graduation.
| Attendance | UCAS code/apply | Year of entry |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years full time | L501 | 2025 |
| 3 years full time (employment based) | Apply via your employer. | 2025 |
Read more about the employment-based route >
Please note: Teaching on this course may take place on more than one KU campus.
| Main Location | Kingston Hill |
Reasons to choose Kingston University
- This course is accredited by Social Work England. Once you graduate, you must apply to register with Social Work England to work as a qualified social worker.
- Kingston is ranked top in London for Social Work (Guardian University Guide 2025).
- Kingston is part of a sector-leading social work and teaching partnership network with nine local authorities and three voluntary organisations.
Apprenticeship option
If you are already working in the social care sector, speak to your employer about being nominated for the Social Work integrated degree apprenticeship.
What you will study
You will gain a foundation in ethics, diversity, psychology, sociology, social policy and law for social work practice. You will study best practice with adults and children, engaging with areas such as mental health, disability, adoption and fostering, substance misuse, children in conflict with the law, and domestic violence. You will choose a specialist practice area to explore in depth.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 1 develops your skills through the simulation and recording facilities of our Practice Learning Suite. You will also gain a foundation in ethics, diversity, psychology, sociology, social policy and law for social work practice.
Core modules
Readiness for Direct Practice
30 credits
This module runs throughout the first year and focuses on readiness for direct practice. It is an interactive module which includes skills workshops and a high level of involvement from service users, carers and practice educators from partner agencies. Students learn about the role and tasks of social workers and develop professional skills in verbal and written communication. They have the opportunity to receive formative feedback on written work and on their communication skills. Service users and carers provide simulated interviews in the Practice Learning Suite.
Human Development, Relationships and Social Contexts
30 credits
The module provides students with an understanding of human growth and development by reviewing theoretical perspectives and research regarding infant, child, adolescent and adult development across the life course. This module will provide students with an understanding of the concepts of relationships within families, and issues of progression at different stages of life, identity and the life worlds. The module draws on theory and practice from a variety of perspectives including the main schools of thought in psychology and sociology. The module also examines the key research methods employed in the social sciences and encourages students to develop an analytical and critical approach to learning in preparation for professional practice.
Working with Ethics and Diversity in Social Work Practice
30 credits
This module provides an introduction to developing awareness of issues of diversity, values and ethics. There is an emphasis upon participatory learning through class debate, workshop and seminar activities. These experiences are supported by lectures that introduce the main tenets and theories. The module begins by exploring power, inequality and diversity within society, encouraging students to consider their own social location and its different intersections. The initial focus is on the personal. This shifts to exploring personal and professional values and ethics as learning progresses. The focus is on developing a greater awareness of one's values in situations where there are ethical dilemmas to resolve. This module links to the tutorial support programme.
The Practice Context: Law and Social Policy for Social Work
30 credits
This module provides an introduction to law and policy for professional practice. Legal and policy frameworks are central to an understanding of the role of professionals in making judgements and decisions affecting the lives of people who use social work services. The module will introduce students to key concepts for understanding the significance of law and policy for social work, drawing on historical perspectives and highlighting important areas of law and policy for contemporary practice. Students will be encouraged to recognise the links with ethical frameworks studied in other modules on the programme.
In Year 2, you will study models on reflection, assessment, intervention, evaluation, safeguarding, evidence-based practice and law. You will learn about best practice with adults and children and families, while engaging with areas such as mental health, disability, adoption and fostering, substance misuse, young offenders, and domestic violence.
Core modules
First Practice Placement
30 credits
This module is a practice placement of seventy days, undertaken in an agency within the statutory or voluntary sector. Students will be provided with relevant learning opportunities and supported and supervised by practice learning staff. By the end of their placement, students will be expected to evidence their practice against the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) at the standard required for students at the end of their first placement.
Practice Skills and Methods: Assessment and Intervention
30 credits
This module builds upon level 4 studies of human growth and development; sociology, psychology and law. In this module students will develop a holistic approach to assessment, planning and intervention that is critically reflective, analytic and is informed by a clear value-base that reflects an awareness of diversity and rights, and includes individual and team approaches to risk and encourages service user self-assessment. It will further enable students to develop skills in working with people, within policy, legal and ethical frameworks, and core skills in communicating and engaging with people, recognising some of the tensions that may arise from a risk-focus, including working against the wishes of service users and positive risk-taking. It will draw upon students' own experiences on placement, promoting the integration of academic and practice learning and enhancing the development of reflection and self awareness. Learning will include applying concepts from theory and research in lectures, interactive workshops, try-outs in the practice learning suite and case studies drawn from students' own practice.
Knowledge for Social Work Practice 1
30 credits
This module will develop students' knowledge for practice as they prepare to undertake their first placement. In concentrating on knowledge, it complements SW5002, the module studied during this year which focuses on skills, methods and reflective practice. In this module, students will examine social work practice and law relating to work with a range of children and families, adults and older people whilst also considering the legal framework relating to cross cutting provisions particularly looked after children, fostering and adoption, mental health and youth justice. Secondly, they will be introduced to the knowledge-base for safeguarding with reference to a range of service user groups whilst also learning specifically about mental health, relationships under stress, domestic abuse and substance misuse. In thinking about evidence-based practices, students will study research methods and develop skills in evaluating the quality of research findings. Thirdly, they will develop knowledge of ethical principles and the theory underpinning anti-oppressive practices.
Knowledge for Social Work Practice 2
30 credits
This module enables students to reflect critically on practice experience and to analyse their application and use of social work knowledge in work with individuals, families and communities in the light of their first placement experience. In this way, it allows them to develop and extend their knowledge in preparation for the second practice placement taken in the third year of study. Drawing on practice placement experience, students will examine how social work knowledge, ethics and values are used in practice to inform assessments and interventions, including how legal and policy frameworks and guidance inform and mandate social work practice. Students will debate how the implementation of social welfare policy impacts on people, social work, other professions, and inter-agency and inter-professional working, and evaluate the extent to which the expertise and voice of service users and carers is taken into account in shaping service delivery. The use of research to inform practice is developed in this module and understanding of research methods in order rigorously to question and evaluate the reliability and validity of information from different sources is developed. Students will also analyse how organisations are structured and the extent which support anti-oppressive practice, examining lines of accountability and the limitations and boundaries of professional autonomy and discretion. Learning on this module will inform their personal and professional development plan for the final year of the programme.
In Year 3, you will learn about recent developments in law, research and practice. Studies culminate in a capstone project on a specialist practice area of your choice.
Core modules
Contemporary Social Work Practice
30 credits
In this module you will be looking forward to qualified social work practice with the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) in mind. It offers an opportunity to make sure that you are up to date with new legislation, the latest relevant policy and current practice initiatives. You will also explore new developments in anti-oppressive practice, rights, justice and wellbeing. Taking forward your knowledge relating to ethics and diversity and in line with the forward-looking quality of the module, you will study key practice-related capabilities such as personal resilience, the ability to manage stress, the ability to engage effectively with others in inter-professional work and the practice of leadership. The module offers an opportunity to consciously prepare for competitive interview when seeking employment.
Research in Practice Study
30 credits
This module is a core requirement for students on the programme. It draws on a specific area of social work practice. It is a capstone project designed to enable students to utilise their learning throughout the programme and demonstrate that they can make critical application of the theoretical and research evidence base underpinning social work practice.
Critical Analysis of Practice
30 credits
The module is undertaken alongside a practice placement of one hundred days. Students will be reflecting on and analysing their learning on placement. Students will be expected to evidence how their practice has met the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) at the standard required for students at the end of their final placement and how their knowledge base has informed practice.
Final Practice Placement
30 credits
The module is a practice placement of one hundred days, undertaken in an agency which offers statutory interventions. Students will be provided with relevant learning opportunities and supported and supervised by practice learning staff. By the end of their placement, students will be expected to evidence their practice against the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) at the standard required for students at qualifying level.
Future Skills
Knowledge to give you the edge
Embedded within every course curriculum and throughout the whole Kingston experience, Future Skills will play a role in shaping you to become a future-proof graduate, providing you with the skills most valued by employers such as problem-solving, digital competency, and adaptability.
As you progress through your degree, you'll learn to navigate, explore and apply these graduate skills, learning to demonstrate and articulate to employers how future skills give you the edge.
At Kingston University, we're not just keeping up with change, we're creating it.
What our students say
Entry requirements
Teaching and assessment
Scheduled learning and teaching on this course includes timetabled activities including lectures, seminars and small group tutorials.
It may also include placements, project work, practical sessions, workshops, conferences and field trips.
Who teaches this course?
Every member of the teaching staff has substantial practice experience in social work. In addition, many are actively involved in social work research, presenting regularly at conferences and publishing in books and journals. In addition, our course teams draw on the wealth of experience provided by our professional contacts and service users and carers who feed into the design of our courses and provide teaching and supervision to enrich your learning.
Additional costs
Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs that are not covered by tuition fees which students will need to consider when planning their studies. Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessment and operating University facilities such as the library, access to shared IT equipment and other support services. Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees.
Where a course has additional expenses, we make every effort to highlight them. These may include optional field trips, materials (e.g. art, design, engineering), security checks such as DBS, uniforms, specialist clothing or professional memberships.
Social work internships
The Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership offers a number of unpaid student internships each year to both undergraduate and masters social work students studying at Kingston University.
Successful students will undertake two practice placements within their preferred local authority before being interviewed for a newly-qualified social worker position upon graduating.
Placements are available in a variety of practice settings and the scheme is ideal for students who have a clear idea of which organisation they might like to work for at the end of their degree. Organisations that have offered internships to date are:
- Achieving for Children (providing children's services for Kingston and Richmond)
- London Borough of Sutton (children's social work)
- London Borough of Merton (adult social work)
Other partners that may offer future opportunities are:
- London Borough of Croydon (adult social work)
- Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (adult social work)
- London Borough of Sutton (adult social work)
Applications for undergraduate students open in Spring each year (towards the end of the student's first year).
Placements
Placements are available in a range of settings. They cover all service user groups, including:
- Children and families
- People with disabilities
- People with learning disabilities
- Older people
- People with mental health problems
- People within criminal justice settings
Please note that placements are arranged with our partner agencies, which are relatively close geographically to the University. The maximum travelling time to placements will not normally exceed two hours each way from the University.
During the second year a practice learning experience of 70 days forms an important part of the course as you move on to test and hone your practice in real-life situations. Practice placements involve normal full-time working hours (with occasional variation for practice setting), from November until the end of February. Academic teaching takes place in blocks in the weeks both before and after practice placement and typically involves fifteen hours contact time per week with additional tutorial time.
In the final year, the full-time practice placements take place over 100 days from the end of September to March.
Facilities
Our Art Room is a specialist room designed to replicate a secondary school classroom where students learn a range of creative practices for values-based work with children and young people.
We collaborate across Kingston University and external organisations to come up with creative ideas to solve social care issues in the community, so that students are given the opportunity to apply their learning to real-world problems.
The Practice Learning Suite is a purpose-built facility where social work and social care students have the opportunity to learn and to practise key skills.
After you graduate
There are opportunities in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors. Social workers increasingly work in integrated interprofessional teams in social care, health, education and criminal justice.
Links with business and industry
Both local employers and service users and carers make a crucial contribution to the design and management of the course. This keeps it relevant, up-to-date and closely in touch with changes in social work.
We have long-standing partnerships with a wide variety of practice settings in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors.
Employment-based route
The BA (Hons) Social Work Employment Based Route is available to employer agencies who wish to sponsor groups of eligible employees into the generic 3-year course via a Partnership Agreement. Interested employing agencies may contact the Course Leader to discuss this option.
Key information set
The scrolling banner(s) below display some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Course changes explained.
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
