The University of Birmingham is a public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham, and Mason Science College, making it the first English civic or 'red brick' university to receive its own royal charter. The University have a long and proud history of firsts, at the University of Birmingham; they were the first – and are now one of the largest - civic universities in the UK.

At Birmingham, the institution teach and research across the full breadth of academic disciplines, creating a vibrant community with multi-disciplinary opportunities for research and education. The University is a truly international community consisting of more than thousands of staff, students, and alumni. The student community is not only one of the largest of any UK university, it is highly diverse, with 82 per cent of home undergraduate students from state schools, 32 per cent from a BAME background, and 35 per cent in the first generation of their family to attend university.

First year modules
In the first year you will study five modules introducing you to the social and organisational content of social work. This introduction to social work will provide you with the opportunity to develop your skills to prepare you for working with service users and carers.

Compulsory
Psychology and Human Development for Social Work
Research for Evidence Based Learning
Social Issues and Social Policy for Social Work
Social Contexts for Social Work
Social Work Skills, Values and Approaches
The social work regulatory body, Social Work England, and the College of Social Sciences require that before students go out into their practice placements, they have the basic skills needed to work with a variety of people and to communicate with service users with understanding and respect. As part of the assessment of your ‘readiness for practice learning’, you will carry out an assessed role play interview with a service user or carer and also spend time in a local social care organisation.

Students’ readiness for practice will be assessed through observed simulations. These simulations do not carry academic credits but a pass mark is required to proceed to year 2. Those failing the readiness for practice assessment but passing their academic assessments in year 1 would receive 120 credits and continue with the academic components of year 2 and 3 and would transfer to the existing Level H programme BA Applied Social Sciences. Students who fail the readiness for practice assessment cannot continue on the BA Social Work programme as they cannot undertake placements.

Second year modules
You will complete 70 days professional practice learning, in addition to five academic modules designed to help you develop and apply the knowledge, values and skills required in social work practice.

Compulsory
Enhancing Skills for Social Work Practice
Placement 1
Law for Professional Practice
Theory, Methods and Practice
Research for Evidence Informed Practice
Social Identity, Citizenship and Social Work Practice
Students who pass the academic but fail the practice component of Placement 1 will be switched to Reflection on Practice 1. Students will then transfer to the existing Level H programme BA Applied Social Sciences (N.B. this is not a qualifying programme and will not be eligible for registration with Social Work England).

The University of Birmingham has joined one of the government's Teaching Partnerships. This is the West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership and involves the University of Birmingham working collaboratively with 11 Local Authorities. The overall aim of the Partnership is to enhance practice leadership across the region via a 'University at Work' model.

The Teaching Partnership will strengthen the existing relationships between service users, carers, practitioners and academics at the University of Birmingham. The relationship between the University and these 11 Local Authorities will be enhanced in many ways including in terms of placement opportunities.

We will continue to work in collaboration to shape evidence based curriculum that aims to raise the standards of social work education and ensure that it is fit for purpose for local employers.

At present the majority of our Practice Learning Placements are provided by Birmingham City Council. We also have some placements in a range of voluntary and private sector organisations. We also have a few placements with some neighbouring local authorities. However at present we cannot guarantee any placements outside of Birmingham itself and so students who live outside of Birmingham will be required to travel.

The placements on offer are challenging and also very rewarding. Some of the areas of social work covered on placement are:

Family support and prevention
Domestic violence/Women’s Aid
Refugee and asylum
Special educational needs
Fostering
Child protection
Disabilities
Substance misuse
Mental Health
Older adults
You will need to be aware that placements in particular areas of interest are not guaranteed. However all placements are quality assured, meet required Social Work England and College of Social Work standards and provide a wide range of learning which is transferable to any setting.

Year Abroad third year
Your third year will be spent abroad at a university in the EU or elsewhere in the world. After completing your year abroad, you will return for your fourth and final year to the same BA degree programme. You will be required to choose from a range of modules provided by the host institution and which must be agreed by the exchange tutor. These modules should be equivalent to 120 credits. You will obtain their marks for these modules via a transcript provided by UoB. In terms of the BA degree, although a pass mark in all modules needs to be achieved, the actual marks will not be taken into account in the final degree classification.

As well as a range of European universities, you may also choose from a range of current institutional partners worldwide. These include countries in which a variety of languages are spoken, including universities at which courses are taught in English. In recent years, students in the School have taken their year abroad in Australia, Canada, Denmark and the United States, among others.

Final year
In your final year you will complete a further 100-day professional practice placement. As part of this you will also complete a risk analysis.

Compulsory
Advanced Practice: Individuals, Families and Communities
Dissertation A
Placement 2
Dissertation B
Students who pass the academic but fail the practice component of Placement 2 will be switched to Reflection on Practice 2. Students will then transfer to the existing Level H programme BA Applied Social Sciences (N.B. this is not a qualifying programme and will not be eligible for registration with Social Work England).

Unless indicated otherwise the modules listed for this programme are for students starting in 2023.

Please note: The modules listed on the website for this programme are regularly reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods. On rare occasions, we may need to make unexpected changes to compulsory modules; in this event we will contact offer holders as soon as possible to inform or consult them as appropriate.

You will need to book the accommodation after you have been accepted.

You can choose to live on campus or off campus in private accommodation.

• Make a booking online after you have been accepted (in this case please let us know your choice when you apply).
• Register when you arrive - its not possible to reserve a room before arriving. You can arrive a few days before and book it