MA Advanced Social Work Practice

The MA Advanced Social Work Practice is a flexible course that offers you, as a registered social worker, an integrated academic and professional qualification in the areas of adult and childcare social work.

As a social worker, you are tasked with intervening in the lives of those who are vulnerable. You are required to make decisions which can impact upon both the individual and wider society. This course offers you flexible access to a range of modules – relevant at whatever stage of your career you are at – and will equip you with the essential skills needed for current practice.

The modular delivery of the course allows you to meet your learning at a time and pace that makes sense to you and will support your professional development throughout your career. By completing the course you'll have the opportunity to acquire a master's qualification while making an original contribution to knowledge and understanding in your chosen field of professional practice.

The course has been designed to meet the requirements of the Professional Capabilities Framework and Social Work England’s Professional Standards. It's therefore an ideal opportunity for continuous professional development, which will support your continued registration with Social Work England as a qualified practitioner who has demonstrated commitment to and involvement in CPD.

What you'll study

The modular framework of this course is designed to meet your learning at a time and pace that makes sense to your professional development. The course consists of single modules that you opt to study in order to support your Continuing Professional Development needs.

Each module is worth 30 credit points and these points can be built up over time to gain postgraduate awards. For example, the successful completion of:

• two modules would provide 60 credits and lead to a Postgraduate Certificate
• four modules would provide 120 credit points and lead to a Postgraduate Diploma
• six modules would provide 180 credit points and would lead to a Masters in Advanced Social Work Practice.

The title of the awards will depend upon the PCF level of the modules completed (i.e. Social Worker level, Experienced Social Worker level or Advanced Social Worker level).

Each module will encourage you to explore specific themes, based upon experiences in practice. In this way you will be able to integrate learning across the theory and practice divide. The modules you complete will depend on the current stage of your social work career.

If, for example, you are newly qualified, you would usually undertake the Consolidating the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment module, and / or the Consolidating Social Work Practice module.

If you have experience, you may wish to access modules individually or undertake a number of modules in order to gain further postgraduate awards.

Assessment

A variety of assessment methods are used including essays, research and policy reviews, case study analysis, practice setting analysis, group and individual presentations, observations of practice and a dissertation. There is a strong focus on helping you to develop your practice as part of your academic achievement, and the course will require you to explore and reflect on your practice as part of the assessment process.

As well as formal (graded) assessments you will undertake formative (developmental, ungraded) assessments for which academic staff will provide informal feedback on your progress and development.