Social Work (Degree Apprenticeship) - BSc (Hons) / PgDip

The Social Work Integrated degree apprenticeship is a work-based integrated degree. On completion, you will be eligible to apply for registration as a social worker with Social Work England.

The Integrated Degree Apprenticeship is a qualifying route into professional social work practice. We offer two degree apprenticeships for Social Work:

• A three-year BSc (Hons) course
• A 27 month Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip)

You will study for the award over the period of the course, while remaining employed with one of our partner agencies. Apprentices are released to undertake academic learning with us at BCU and carry out their practice placements with their employer.

We have over 50 years' experience in training people to become social workers in the super-diverse and cosmopolitan city of Birmingham. If you want to become a professional social worker, successful completion of this course will enable you to work with children and adults in a range of social work settings and make you eligible to apply for registration with the regulator, Social Work England, to obtain the protected title of ‘Social Worker’.

Approximately half the programme involves direct practice experience through defined work-based professional placements. These are provided by our employer partners in the second and third years of the BSc course and both years of the PgDip. On placement you will be supported by a team including a dedicated and qualified practice educator who will always be a registered social worker. Defined Placement days will be considered to be off the job training and learning days so that apprentices are considered as students rather than solely employees. At least one of your placements will be within a statutory setting, providing experience of sufficient numbers of statutory social work tasks involving high risk decision making and legal interventions. 

As a requirement of apprenticeships is to review safeguarding and British values, this is integrated into the off the job learning curriculum. The British values cited are:

• Democracy
• The rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect and tolerance (Department of Education 2014)

As these values align with those of social work itself, there are ample opportunities within the apprenticeship for these to be evidenced. Apprentices are able to evidence their progress against Safeguarding, Prevent and British values through on- and off-job learning. This will then be discussed at each progress review.

Outside of placement, at least 20% of the course (equivalent to the ifATE standard of an average of six hours per week) will be delivered by us at the University as off-the-job learning. The remaining 80% of the time apprentices will be in work-based learning. 

What do apprenticeships offer?

• Work based learning – the opportunity to build on existing knowledge and skills
• A wide range of placement opportunities to broaden your understanding of social work practice
• Highly experienced tutors who are all professionally qualified to support you at university
• Work based mentors to support you in practice
• A wide range of support services available to you at university to support your learning journey

Applications

Candidates will apply for this apprenticeship through an employer organisation, and their application will be assessed by both the employer and the social work academic team at Birmingham City University.

Entry requirements

This is not an exhaustive list of qualifications so please contact your employer for further clarification.

Our facilities

Our School of Education and Social Work is based at our City South campus in leafy Edgbaston.

We’ve spent £41million expanding the education facilities at City South. These facilities offer hands-on practical experience, replicating the spaces you will come across in professional practice. Alongside classrooms and lecture theatres, we also have a range of specialist teaching and learning spaces for specific subjects including science, design and technology, drama and physical education.

As well as subject-specific rooms, our facilities include the Primary Innovation Lab, which houses £24,000 worth of LEGO. This room is a special resource for our education students, offering an innovative and creative way to approach subjects across the curriculum – from computing to English, mathematics to art. The lab responds to research that children and young people learn best from practical experience.

Our Social Work students have access to a home environment room and mock hospital wards which offer an opportunity to gain experience of working with service users in different situations.

Computer facilities

The Seacole building has two open-access IT Suites which offer PCs, printers, photocopiers and scanners. There is also an IT Helpdesk for quick and easy help with your computing or internet issues.

Our PCs utilise the latest Intel i5 core technology, all with:

• Fast (unrestricted) internet connectivity
• Ability to save files to USB, DVD & CD
• Microsoft Office software
• Research and statistical software
• Storage space which can be accessed from any PC across the University and from home

Our PCs are also designed to support students who may have difficulties with reading and writing, featuring specialised software with zooming/magnification and screen reading capabilities, which may also be customised for individual student needs.

In addition to desktop PCs, we also offer a laptop loan facility, allowing students to borrow a laptop for up to six hours while on campus.