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MA Social Work

Start a career where you can make a real difference to people's lives

Year of entry: 2025 (September)

Length

2 years full-time

Start date

September 2025 (semester dates)

UCAS code

L508

Institution code

Y50

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in the UK for Social Work

Complete University Guide 2025

for the quality of our social policy and social work research

Times Higher Education’s ranking of the Research Excellence Framework 2021

Develop yourself with a qualification that allows you to apply to register as a social worker. 

Discover a career where you can make a real difference to the quality of people's lives.

This course offers you both a Masters degree and a professional qualification. Our course lasts two years and will equip you with the skills and knowledge you'll need for effective professional practice as a social worker. It is suitable for graduates from a wide range of disciplines who are committed to a career helping people.

You'll focus on professional practice and take part in two placements in different areas of social work.

You will also gain skills and specialist knowledge that would be suitable for a wide range of careers in social work.

Accreditation

After completing this Masters degree you'll be eligible to apply to join the register as a social worker with Social Work England

Watch video on YouTube
Maddie (MA Social Work) discusses her time at York and her experiences as a newly-qualified Social Worker at the City of York Council. Hear from more graduates of the Yorkshire Urban and Rural Teaching Partnership.

Employment prospects

Current demand for professionally qualified social workers is strong in the statutory and voluntary sectors.

Course content

The course will introduce you to core areas of social work knowledge, skills and practice. You will:

  • Develop an in-depth understanding of human behaviour and how to enable others to achieve their goals
  • Learn how to critically analyse evidence and construct arguments
  • Communicate effectively to a variety of audiences and exercise authority in complex social situations.

Placements

You'll focus on the practice of social work, and undertake two placements in different types of practice. The placements allow you to experience contemporary social work, with the guidance of a qualified social worker.

On your placements, you will work with a wide range of service user groups, such as vulnerable adults, children and families, young people, people with learning disabilities or people with mental health needs. You can complete a placement in a variety of settings, including within Local Authorities or within independent organisations working with drug and alcohol services, housing agencies, domestic violence, advocacy, or other social care and welfare services. You will spend 170 days on placement, and complete 30 skills days which are integrated into modules throughout the course.

Modules

Year 1

In the first half of Year 1 you'll prepare for your first statutory placement with a range of core modules which ensure you're ready for practice. You will explore the ethical, legal and policy contexts for social work, which will equip you to manage the competing pressures of social work practice.

You will take the following modules:

The placement lasts for 70 days, after completion of a module designed to support your professional development.

This counts towards the 200 days of practice which you must complete before you can register as a social worker. You will spend 70 days at a social work agency as well as Skills Days at the University, developing specialist techniques for working with individuals, families and groups.

You will work with a qualified social work practice educator who will support and assess you throughout the placement. Your placement is a chance to develop and follow your own professional interests, with guidance from our academic staff.

As part of your placement report you will complete written work which will evidence how you have brought the knowledge gained in the classroom into your professional practice.

Year 2

As part of your second year you'll undertake your final statutory placement which will take 100 days.

Throughout the year you'll work on your Masters dissertation. This is a 16,000-word extended essay based on your own original research. You'll work with your supervisor to choose a topic which interests you and design an empirical study or systematic literature review to explore your research question in depth.

You will take the following modules:

This counts towards the 200 days of practice which you must complete before you can register as a social worker. You will spend 100 days at a social work agency, developing skills for career-long learning, self-care and leadership.

Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.

Dissertation

Throughout Year 2, you'll work on your dissertation. This is a 16,000-word extended essay based on your own original research. You will work with your supervisor to choose a topic which interests you and design an empirical study or systematic literature review to explore your research question in depth.

The dissertation will allow you to demonstrate your skills in research as well as applying insights from the taught modules and your placement experience.

Examples of recent dissertation titles include:

  • A case study of a community mental health team's experience using cognitive behaviour therapy for the treatment for adult depression
  • Back to real social work? The implications for the practice of care managers following the introduction of individual budgets
  • Domestic violence - whose problem is it? An analysis of multi-agency services and responses to domestic violence
  • Can the voice of young people act as a pathway to positive outcomes? A critical analysis of emotional wellbeing during the transition from care in the UK

The York approach

Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.

Students who complete this course will be able to:

  • Make informed decisions concerning complex problems faced by individuals, families and communities in a wide range of social work contexts, by using appropriate assessments and interventions, analysing information from a range of different sources and incorporating stakeholder and service-user perspectives. 
  • Critically apply knowledge from established, cutting-edge and social work focused social science theory and research to the assessment of complex social work situations. 
  • Identify, critically evaluate and synthesise local, national and international social policy and legal frameworks relevant to specific social work issues in order to inform decision-making. 
  • Develop strong working relationships with service users, colleagues and other professionals, and within social work and interdisciplinary teams, based on high level communication and collaboration skills. 
  • Work effectively as a professional in multi-layered organisations and statutory social work contexts by understanding and respecting the roles and tasks of others, including non-statutory professionals, and upholding professional values and ethics. 
  • Reflect systematically on social work practice and engage proactively in supervision processes in order to adapt to new situations, improve practice, build professional resilience and identify professional development opportunities, including the development of leadership skills. 
  • Design, conduct and critically evaluate challenging social work research projects, informed by a critical understanding of research and evaluation methodologies relevant to the social sciences.

Fees and funding

Annual tuition fees for 2025/26

Study modeUK (home)International and EU
Full-time (2 years)
This is the year 1 fee. Fees for future years are subject to confirmation.
£10,090£25,900

Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.

For courses which are longer than one year, the tuition fees quoted are for the first year of study.

  • UK (home) fees may increase in subsequent years (up to a maximum of 2%).
  • International fees may increase in subsequent years in line with the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate (up to a maximum of 10%).

Fees information

UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.

Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.

Additional costs

You will require a DBS check to take part in this course. You will pay £40 at the beginning of your course and a £13 update fee in subsequent years.

You will be responsible for travel costs to placements but can apply for an NHS Bursary to meet these costs (British citizens only).  Some agencies may reimburse travel costs. 

Course books will be available to you from the Library either in print or online format - new copies, if you wish to buy them, usually cost around £30. All other teaching resources will be available online.

Funding information

Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.

We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2025/26 throughout the year.

If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.

Funding opportunities

Each year the NHS funds a number of students on our Social Work courses. For students on the MA in Social Work this bursary may contribute toward your tuition fees.

Living costs

You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.

Teaching and assessment

You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.

Teaching format

You'll learn through a blend of classroom-based and practice-based activities, including:

  • lectures, seminars and workshops
  • one-to-one tutorial and pastoral support
  • two practice placements of 70 days and 100 days each
  • independent learning.

Your lectures, seminars and tutorials will be delivered by enthusiastic and knowledgeable academic staff who are experienced practitioners. Guest speakers with specialist expertise, including service users from our Service User and Carer Participation Advisory Group, will also contribute to your learning.

You will develop your knowledge and understanding with focused and guided reading and group work. For some modules you'll undertake online activities to support your learning beyond the classroom.

Teaching Partnership

We are part of the Yorkshire Urban Rural Teaching Partnership, working closely with local councils and the University of Huddersfield. The partnership collaborates to develop, inspire and sustain highly-skilled and confident social workers to improve outcomes for children, adults, families and communities. Through our work with the Teaching Partnership, we ensure that our students are well prepared for social work practice, receiving an excellent range of learning opportunities and an understanding of best practice.

 

Teaching location

You'll be based in the School for Business & Society in the Church Lane Building on Campus West. The majority of your teaching will be in Derwent and Alcuin Colleges on Campus West.

About our campus

Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.

Assessment and feedback

Types of assessment in this course include:

  • essays
  • practical assessment of communication skills
  • presentations and reports
  • portfolios
  • placement supervision and assessment
  • 16,000 word dissertation.

You'll also submit work that won't contribute to your final grade. This allows you to get feedback on your progress and understanding before you submit assessed work.

Careers and skills

Postgraduate social workers from York are in high demand and you will be very well placed in terms of employment prospects. We have a 100% employment rate for graduates from out social work programmes. To find out more about social work, please visit the British Association of Social Workers website, where there is information including from the International Federation of Social Work.

Career opportunities

  • Social worker
  • Child protection social worker
  • Outreach worker
  • Crisis practitioner
  • Social care assessor
  • Mental health practitioner

Transferable skills

You'll develop a range of transferable skills throughout the course, including:

  • Communication skills
  • Understanding of human behaviour
  • Exercising authority in complex social situations
  • Enabling others to achieve their goals
  • Managing risk to self, service users and colleagues.

Entry requirements

Typical offer
Undergraduate degree 2:1 or equivalent
Other international qualifications Equivalent qualifications from your country

Additional requirements

Grade 4 (C) in GCSE English or an equivalent qualification. An offer of a place will also be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a satisfactory health declaration.

Experience of working in social care, health care or any related field, including voluntary work, or direct experience of service provision, is essential.

English language

If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:

Minimum requirement
IELTS (Academic and Indicator) 7.0, with a minimum 7.0 in each component
Cambridge CEFR C1 Advanced: 185, with a minimum of 185 in each component
Oxford ELLT 8, minimum of 8 in each component
Duolingo 130, minimum 130 in each component
GCSE/IGCSE/O level English Language (as a first or second language) Grade C
PTE Academic 67, with a minimum of 67 in each component
TOEFL 96 overall, with a minimum of 24 in each component
Trinity ISE III 120 overall, with a minimum of 120 in each component

For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.

If you haven't met our English language requirements

You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.

The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.

After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.

Applying

To apply to York, you will need to complete an online application via UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). Search Social Work (postgraduate) in the Undergraduate search listing and use the filters to select University of York. Alternatively link directly to our MA Social Work on UCAS.

If you receive an offer of place it will be subject to a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and a satisfactory health declaration. Having either a criminal conviction or a health condition is not an automatic bar to entry. However, failure to disclose relevant information may result in the termination of your training.

Interview

Before we offer you a place, we'll invite you to an interview. You'll have the chance to learn a little more about our School. We look for applicants who have some understanding of the role of a social worker as well as the motivation to become a social worker.

The interview day will be held virtually, via the web-based video conferencing tool, Zoom. You do not need a Zoom account to join your interview. We will provide a link which will enable you to join your interview as a guest on Zoom. If you require more information please visit the Zoom Support page.

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