1. Welcome to the University of Bath
BSc (Hons) Social Work and Applied Social Studies
Dr. Gillian Macdonald
Social Work Lecturer & Admissions Tutor
Department of Social & Policy Sciences

2. Overview of talk: Social work at the University of Bath
International opportunities
Structure of the degree
Practice learning
Service user and carer involvement
Student life and student support
Admissions
Social work careers/employability
Questions

3. Social Work at the University of Bath
Ranked 2nd in the Guardian University Guide
We achieved 97% overall student satisfaction in the 2016 National Student Survey
Department of Social & Policy Sciences is a leading centre for social sciences
Staff at the forefront of their discipline (as educators, researchers, theorists, policy analysts and experienced practitioners)
Awarded the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2011 for ‘Influential research into child poverty and support for vulnerable people’
So why come to Bath to study sw. Well, for starters, we consistently rank highly in national league tables, demonstrating our continuing excellence as providers of social work education and placing our course consistently among the best in the country; social work at Bath is currently ranked 2nd in the Guardian University Guide 2018 (Uni of Bath ranked 4th) and retains the 4th spot in the Complete University Guide 2017 out of 78 universities.
In the most recent National Student Survey, overall student satisfaction was 97% for our SW course, and we are .
But what makes us so good? The unique thing about Bath is that our social work course is based within a very strong social sciences department. This provides our students with an excellent foundation in the theoretical principles on which SW is based and of the issues which SW tackles, such as poverty, structural inequalities and social injustices. We engage and lead the way in researching real world issues, being active producers as well as consumers of social work knowledge (don’t just tell you what others know, but are actively producing new knowledge and contributing to critical debates and changes in policy and practice – very important to us). Therefore, student learning is grounded in this research environment.
Staff are at the forefront of their disciplines (as educators, researchers, theorists and policy analysts) and have excellent reputations for cutting edge research and innovative teaching. We were ranked joint 6th in the country in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.
Our world-leading research has influenced policy and practice at both national and international levels. Research undertaken by members of the Department into child poverty and support for vulnerable people won the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary prize for Further and Higher Education.
So the people teaching you are some of the very best in the world in their disciplines – not only does that make the department prestigious (meaning that getting a degree in sw from bath is held in high esteem by others, such as employers, and other HEIs if you want to pursue pg studies elsewhere later), but also this means that students benefit from learning in an environment where knowledge is being created and exchanged right at the cutting edge of new and exciting research, policy and practice developments and teaching and learning developments, at a general level and more specifically in respect of SW education.
Local employers repeatedly tell us that Bath SW graduates are exactly the types of SWs they want to employ.

4. Social work at the University of Bath
40 places – relatively small course, yet set within an international/global context
Generic degree course, covering a wide range of topics and using a range of teaching methods – designed to be interactive and student centred
Taught by social work academics with extensive and wide ranging experience in social work practice, teaching, research and policy making
Very good retention & progression rates for students
Important input from social work practitioners and service users & carers
Small course – provides a well supported community of students.
Degree provides the opportunity to develop specialised knowledge and practice-based learning in relation to social work with adults and children and families. We provide an integrated approach to theory, research, policy and practice and you will be taught using a range of teaching and learning experiences, including workshop style lectures, including individual/group activities, discussions and debates, guided reading and private study, one-to-one tutorials, online discussion groups and other e-learning activities, group projects, practice placements. All our teaching and learning practices are interactive and student centred.
Staff group who keep regular links with practice. We have strong partnerships with local authority providers of social services and service user/carers groups. We are also very much up-to-date with the latest developments in SW knowledge, policy and practice. We all share a passion and active commitment to the SW profession, for excellent practice within our profession and we deeply value the importance of excellent SW education.
Valuable contributions at all stages of the degree, from entry level (interviews) to the final practice assessment panel, from social work practitioners and service users/carers. Lots of service user and carer involvement in teaching and assessment in year 1, including ‘young carer’ events. Students always tell us how much they benefit from su and carer involvement in the course.

5. Social Work staff group
Dr Louise Brown – Research in development of models of child protection in an international context (currently working with NGOs, academics & central and local government in China on child protection system). And improving practice through social innovation - how new models of practice transfer from one country to another
Dr Gillian Macdonald – Research interests include gender-based violence and effects on children, children’s participation in decision-making that affects them and the family courts. Currently researching women and children's access to justice in private family law disputes involving domestic violence
Dr Jeremy Dixon – Research interests include mental health care and the way in which risk is understood by service users, professionals and carers.  Recent work has focused on mentally disordered offenders' perspectives on risk, adult social care policy, adult safeguarding and end of life care   

6. Social Work staff group
Dr Justin Rogers – Research interests are in the area of child welfare and child protection. These interests stem from his experiences working as a social worker in local authority family placement teams. Currently developing research proposals in order to explore policy and practice responses, to the care of unaccompanied refugee children and young people.
Ms Megan Robb – PhD research examining how social workers conceptualise domestic violence against people with learning disabilities. Megan also continues to practice as a social worker through her role as a Best Interest Assessor for the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

7. Ms Caroline Hickman – Completed MSc Social Research into foster carers experience and evaluation of therapeutic groups. Research and writing interests focus on the effectiveness of different therapeutic modalities. PhD research into the therapeutic effects of our relationships with the natural world, animals & pets. Researching with children and people with Alzheimer's

8. International opportunities
Yonsei University, Seoul
Ohio State University, USA
Sun Yat-Sen, Southern China
Stellenbosch, South Africa
The social work course at Bath is set in an international context and encourages its students to see social work as a global occupation. The course has formal partnerships in place with the top social work departments in China (Sun Yat-sen University), the US (Ohio State University), South Korea (Yonsei University) and South Africa (Stellenbosch University). These provide students with the opportunity for overseas study/fieldwork visits.

11. Our degree is designed to provide you with the knowledge, skills and professional values to equip you for a career in social work, inline with the professional standards of the HCPC and the Professional Capabilities Framework, against which social workers are measured from entering into SW education throughout their social work careers.
First year provides a thorough and important foundation in the social sciences, before more specialist and applied knowledge and understanding is developed in years 2 and 3, supported by the placements.
We are very committed to social work both as an academic discipline and as a form of professional practice. Service users, carers and social work practitioners also contribute to University-based teaching across the programme.

12. Practice learning 170 assessed practice days plus 30 skills days
Year 1 - Community Needs Assessment
Year full time placement days, Semester 1
Year fulltime placement days, Semester 2
We provide excellent placements in a wide range of settings (in statutory, third sector, independent and voluntary organisations)
Supported by a trained Practice Educator/Supervisor and your Personal Tutor
Placements within a 50 miles radius of Bath
Inner city & rural teams (car/travel for year 2 & 3 placements)
Students undertake a total of 170 days assessed practice, plus 30 skills days. The two block placements (one in Year 2 and the other in Year 3) are arranged by the professional placements tutor in consultation with the student.
The range of placements varies from rural communities to inner city areas. You might be with a statutory agency such as a local authority, a Health Trust or Housing Department for one block placement and then with a large national charity or a small-scale local voluntary organisation for the other. Your placement might be in a residential or day care setting, a fieldwork team, a community-based neighbourhood project or a user-led organisation.
During each placement you receive supervision from a qualified practice educator who assesses your competence and contributes to the reports submitted at the end of each placement. Placements are assessed by means of a ‘portfolio’ of work compiled by you.
The placement is an opportunity to use the theory you have learnt in a practical context in order to develop your professional competence.
We have excellent relationships with partner agencies and have a serious commitment to getting students out on placement on time (which a lot of universities in the area struggle to do due to larger cohorts). All our placements are really excellent and provide students with wonderful and varied learning opportunities to enable them to develop their professional practice.

13. Community Research Projects
Examples Year 1 – small groups – 22 days across the 1st year
Off The Record (Bristol) – Evaluating a group for young minority ethnic women exploring themes of gender, race & wellbeing
Splitz (Domestic Violence) – Alternative support options using an online tool
The Carers Centre – What do Carers aged want from The Carers Centre
BFEG – Work with a group of black and minority ethnic young people to identify issues of importance in their lives – supplementary schools
Off The Record (Bath) – Researching young people’s access to counselling services
“Completing community profiling has proved to be the most challenging yet the most gratifying part of my year. The opportunity to work with local organisations, conduct research first hand and craft ideas into results has been an educational and confidence building journey. Although it was tough working out how to achieve goals as a group, the lessons I learned throughout this experience have shown me how to value my own strengths and how to appreciate the strengths of others” Kieran Smith Year 1 student
Breakthrough mentoring helps vulnerable people to develop positive relationships, enabling them to grow, develop new skills and realise their potential – S. Glos. Council.
Off the Record! provide free and confidential mental health support and information to young people aged in Bristol
Splitz is a registered charity delivering support services to women (predominantly) and young people experiencing the trauma of domestic abuse - based in Wiltshire.
Wiltshire People 1st is a disabled people’s user led Self Advocacy organisation, with a Management Committee made up of people with learning difficulties.
The Carers’ Centre is a local charity supporting people who care for family and friends who need extra support day-to-day.
The Black Families Education Support Group is a constituted voluntary organisation aiming to promote racial equality and challenge racism in the education system.
Off the Record BANES provides a range of FREE, CONFIDENTIAL and INDEPENDENT services for children and young people that support the development of their emotional health and well-being.

14. Practice Learning Placements Year 2 & 3
Examples:
Year 2 (80 days)
Splitz Domestic Abuse Project, OTR Bristol, Bath Mind, SW attached to schools, Richmond Fellowship, The Carers Centre, Julian House, TACT, Adolescent & Young Person Mentoring Project, Homelessness Project, Children’s Centre, DHI, Young Carers Project, Women’s Refuge, Ex Offenders Rehab Project, Supported Housing projects
Year 3 (90 days)
Swindon, Banes, South Glos, Somerset, Wiltshire - Cafcass (Swindon & Somerset), Mental Health Community teams, Children & Families Intervention teams, Assessment & Child Protection teams, Safeguarding Children & Families teams, Youth Offending teams, Family Placement teams, Children’s Centres, RUH, Great Western Hospital, Wiltshire Social Care team, Salisbury District Hospital, Community Mental Health teams, Fostering & Adoption teams, Looked After Children’s teams, Drugs & Alcohol teams, Adult Recovery Service

15. Service Users and Carers
In keeping with the values of the social work profession, the course is designed and delivered in partnership with service users and carers. Local service user and carer organisations play an important role in the students’ training. Across the three years of the course service
users and carers are meaningfully involved in designing and delivering thought-provoking lectures and training sessions. Student feedback has consistently highlighted the value of this involvement and the impact that the service user and carer input has had on their learning experience on the course.

16. Student feedback
“The importance of service users and carers on the social work degree program cannot be overstated. Meeting face to face with service users not only taught me a great deal about social work but also about myself. The honesty and unique insight that was brought by the individuals that I encountered challenged my assumptions on many levels and had had a lasting impact on my perception of others. Engaging with service users has made the program very real and very human for me and has been a truly valuable experience” Kieran Smith Year 1 student
"My work with the Young Carers was an amazing opportunity to develop and utilise my skills and learning from the course. I met some truly inspiring young people who really do enjoy collaborating with the university to teach us about being Young Carers, which develops our learning but also empowers them”

17. Student life and student support …
Personal Tutors
Peer mentoring & peer assisted learning
Social work community & facebook page
Student Centre - money advice, counselling services, learning support (such as academic writing, disability, dyslexia etc.)
Students’ Union and societies
Very supportive course, staff team and student group
Excellent pastoral care
Safe campus, small, supportive community

18. Social work admissions
UCAS application (grade requirements: ABB-BBB, personal statement, including relevant experience, references)
Interview day (group talk, written exercise, meeting with current students, individual interviews)
Enhanced DBS (previously CRB) and health checks
See website for details: duate-2018/social-work/
All details about admissions can be found on our webpages – can get advice from me and from Central Admissions team at the University (extremely helpful). So just in summary….
ABB-BBB typical offers. And equivalent grades in other courses accepted (e.g. DDM BTec) – see webpages or speak to Admissions for details.
We expect you to have sufficient experience in social work or a related field to demonstrate at interview that you have a realistic understanding of social work and the training requirements. (If you are applying direct from school or college you may want to consider taking a 'gap' year as a means of obtaining appropriate experience before making your application).
We don’t set limits around this, i.e. it is not a condition that you must have a certain number of years doing certain kind of work, BUT it is essential that you are able to demonstrate applied knowledge and understanding of the social work role from the experience you have and that this experience has prepared you for social work education. Tell us more than just the fact that you ‘want to help people’!

19. Social work careers
As a professionally qualified social worker you can work in a wide range of health or social care settings
Increasingly employment opportunities arise in multidisciplinary settings where social workers work alongside health care and/or other professionals (e.g. education, criminal justice, mental health)
Further information about careers in social work, and social work in general, can be obtained from:
Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) – look up the PCF!
Community Care website

20. Summary Taught by experienced, enthusiastic staff
Based within a prestigious social sciences department, providing high quality research and teaching
Mixed methods of teaching; high levels of interactivity and student engagement
Wide range of fantastic, well supported practice learning opportunities, including international possibilities
Small groups of students, great community, lots of support from staff, peers, the university
Studying here will enable you to gain a good degree from a university with a great reputation, which impacts positively on your employability

21. Student comments
“ Having such a variety of service user involvement in the social work course has been immensely valuable and has enhanced my level of learning. Understanding the perspectives and needs of service users and what they expect from me has been critical to how I want to develop throughout the social work course. “ Tracey Branch Year 1 student
“I found this unit particularly useful to develop my ability to be 
assertive and confident within organisations. I feel this is very 
important, especially as I'm a relatively young, and perhaps 
inexperienced, student on the course. It also taught me how to be more research minded, which is inevitably useful and relevant within any social science based profession”
Tia Wharton Year 1 student

22. Questions

23. Contacts Justin Rogers Incoming Admissions Tutor
Tel:
Undergraduate Admissions
Tel: