Are you working in a social care role in adults or children’s services, mental health, disability or youth offending? Have you thought about your future development and career? Have you discussed this with your line manager or other colleagues? Perhaps you would like to become a qualified and registered social worker, but you cannot afford to take time out or meet the costs to do a conventional degree programme? If your answer to these questions is yes, then you may be interested in our new degree apprenticeship, our BA (Hons) Social Work.
The BA (Hons) Social Work is an integrated degree course that combines academic study with its application in a work-based practice setting, to enable apprentices to optimise their learning and demonstrate all the evidence needed to meet vocational and academic standards (knowledge, values, skills and behaviours).
This is often referred to as off-the-job and on-the-job training, where for one day a week you attend University and undertake guided self-study, and for four days a week you work in your usual setting. You will be supported by a University Apprenticeship Tutor, your line manager and a Practice Educator, who will meet with you regularly to identify your learning objectives and evaluate progress.
Your learning will also be supported by a virtual learning environment that is accessible 24/7. This allows you to catch up with any sessions missed through short term absence including illness or annual leave and to extend and reinforce your learning in a flexible way.
Why choose this course?
This degree apprenticeship has been collaboratively designed by the University of Warwick and local authorities and service users in the region to meet all the requirements of the Apprentice Standard for Social Work and the professional requirements for validation by Social Work England. The University of Warwick has a long history of social work education; the Centre for Lifelong Learning has unparalleled experience of working with adult and non-traditional learners and has a dedicated student support team.
The Social Work Teaching Group is committed to developing progressive forms of practice underpinned by principles of social justice and anti-oppressive practice and can draw on the resources within the Centre to meet your learning and support needs.
There are no formal academic entry requirements for the BA (Hons) Social Work.
There is a two-stage admissions process that will evaluate your suitability for social work education, including in relation to your values and understanding of social work, fluency in spoken English, and potential to successfully complete the degree apprenticeship.
This process will involve employers, University teaching staff and service users. An enhanced DBS check is mandatory.
Modules
Note that the module catalogue is subject to change for future years of study, as we evolve our courses in response to the latest developments in academia and industry. If optional modules are listed below, these can vary from year to year.
Like other degrees, the BA (Hons) Social Work is a three year degree apprenticeship and taught sessions are delivered in sequence on a modular basis:
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Fees and funding
Are there course specific costs?
As a Degree Apprentice, all fees are met by your employer.
If you require a diagnostic test to evidence a disability to gain reasonable adjustments this may need to be funded by the apprentice.
Teaching and learning
This is an exciting new way of gaining a BA (Hons) Social Work, offering eligibility to apply for entry to the professional Social Work England Register, whilst working for an employer (usually a local authority adult or children’s social care department, or in the voluntary/independent sector) and being paid a salary. Your employer pays a levy to the government and the cost of the degree apprenticeship comes out of this, enabling you to thrive in the workplace.
However, if your employer doesn’t pay the levy, we can still work them, it just means they will contribute 5% towards the cost of training and assessment. You'll be a full-time employee learning and applying knowledge and skills on the job for 80% of your time, and the other 20% undertaking off-the-job training and enjoying all the fantastic opportunities at the University of Warwick.
Supporting the academic development of undergraduate and postgraduate students
Ensuring a learning experience of the highest quality, both at the University and in partner colleges.
Communicating with students in order to ensure a positive learning experience at CLL
To do this, we support you in many areas, including:
Study skills
Student welfare
Technology and e-learning
Careers and development
In addition to the support offered by your academic tutors, you will be assigned a dedicated Apprenticeship Tutor to provide you with both academic and pastoral support and to discuss your progress and any concerns you have throughout your apprenticeship.
We want to ensure you to feel safe, supported and valued within our campus community, and although you may not spend large amounts of time on the University campus, you are fully entitled to the support and wellbeing services we offer.
Wellbeing Support - Wellbeing Support Services provide advice, information and support to navigate the challenges and opportunities of student life. Their main aims are to promote mental health and wellbeing for all students, identify support needs, discuss strategies for managing mental health difficulties, provide short-term or ongoing support, and, if needed, access to other services.
Disability Services - Disability Services encourage students to declare any disability or learning difference so that they can discuss support requirements to enable reasonable adjustments to be made for the duration of their studies.
This off-the-job training will be delivered on one day a week, and will mostly be through face to face contact at the University in seminars and workshops. Blended learning will also be used to engage apprentices in guided self-study and other methods of reinforcing learning and supporting its application in practice.
The other 80% of the week is spent in on-the-job training, where practice learning opportunities are provided by the employer that allow apprentices to apply their knowledge and demonstrate their values and skills in the work setting. On- and off-the-job learning will be coordinated through each apprentice’s Individual Learning Plan, which will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.
Assessment will take a variety of forms such as assignments, exercises, reflective logs, presentations and posters. Each module will have a summative assessment attached to it. In the practice setting you will compile a portfolio of evidence that demonstrates that you are meeting all the requirements. Progression from one year to the next is dependent on passing all summative assessment and providing satisfactory evidence of progress in practice.
Year one of the course will not count towards the degree classification, years two and three will be worth 50% each.
In order to obtain a pass/ordinary degree, students will need to pass the final two years equating to at least 150 credits in total, including at least 50 credits taken in the final year (at the 40% module pass mark).
Careers
Where could a Centre for Lifelong Learning degree take me?
Dependent on the course you are studying, our students have gone on to roles such as:
Teacher: primary and secondary
Community worker
Social researcher
Manager of early years settings
Business development manager
Family support worker
Management trainee
Counsellor
Local government officer
Caseworker (MP)
The Student Support Team supports the pastoral and academic needs of our diverse student body, including:
Supporting the academic development of undergraduate and postgraduate students
Ensuring a learning experience of the highest quality, both at the University and in partner colleges.
Communicating with students in order to ensure a positive learning experience at CLL
Careers and Development
Careers planning
CV writing
Application forms
Cover letters
Interview tips
Our Student Opportunity (Careers) department offer a wide range of workshops, from developing confidence and interview techniques to learning how to articulate what you have to offer in order to impress potential employers. Online resources are also available, including training in drafting CVs and covering letters, practice aptitude and psychometric tests, practice online interviews, and other resources to help you research job opportunities. The myAdvantage databaseLink opens in a new window also advertises job, placement and internship vacancies that are from employers who are targeting Warwick students for their recruitment.
Placement
The BA (Hons) Degree Apprenticeship course is a generic award, and there is a Social Work England (SWE) requirement as set out in their 2021 Standards for Education, guidance that apprentices spend at least 200 days (including up to 30 skills days) gaining different experiences and learning in practice settings. This means that apprentices will undertake discrete periods of placement during the programme as outlined above.
Contrasting experience placements are found by your employer.
Claire's story
"I reflect so much more effectively now, I am able to think deeply when applying theory into practice (I still have a long way to go), I feel that my confidence is growing and I work in a different way as to what I did before."
"It's a course that makes me think about things from different perspectives and analyse certain things, so I feel that I've grown in my professional life, but also in my personal life. Now I don't seem to take things at face value and start to question everything in a way that can be constructive."
This is where your journey begins. Our campus is the heart of it all. It’s more than just a campus - it's the places you visit, the people you meet, the fun that you have; the experiences you have here will be transformative.
Within a close-knit community of staff and students from all over the world, discover a campus alive with possibilities.
Our campus is where all the elements of your student experience come together in one place. You won't be short of ways to spend your time on campus - whether it's visiting Warwick Arts Centre, using our incredible sports facilities, socialising in our bars, nightclub and cafés, or enjoying an open-air event. Or if you need some peace and quiet, you can explore lakes, woodland and green spaces just a few minutes’ walk from central campus
Follow our students around campus on our social channels to see their experiences first-hand.
Teaching facilities
Our campus is designed to cater for all of your learning needs. You will benefit from a variety of flexible, well-equipped study spaces and teaching facilities across the University.
Oculus, our outstanding learning hub, houses state-of-the-art lecture theatres and innovative social learning and network areas
Different study spaces offering you flexible individual and group study spaces, computers, printing and scanning facilities, multimedia resources and more
Supporting you
Our continuous support network is here to help you adjust to student life and to ensure you can easily access advice on many different issues. These may include managing your finances and workload, and settling into shared accommodation. We also have specialist disability and mental health support teams.
Whether you live in a campus residence or in partnership accommodation off campus, you’ll be part of a community to get the most from your experience at Warwick.
Societies and sports play a huge part in community life at Warwick. With over 300 to choose from, getting involved is one of the easiest ways to make friends and share in experiences. Whether you’re into films, martial arts, astronomy, gaming or musical theatre, you can instantly connect with people with similar interests.
Your university experience is defined by far more than your course or the career path you follow. At Warwick, it’s where you discover who you could become.
74th
Warwick is ranked 74th in the world and top 10 in all major UK league tables
Our alumni community still call Warwick home. From a few hundred in 1965 to more than 310,000 alumni, and it's ever-growing.
As Warwick graduates, our students have access to employability support for two years after graduation, including access to careers appointments, job vacancies and professional networks.
(We work with over 20 partners, including professional bodies and partner colleges, and are always looking to build new partnerships)
85%
1st and 2nd class degrees
(From 2016 to 2022, 85% of our undergraduate have achieved a first or second class honours degree)
Accessible, flexible, world-class Warwick education for lifelong learners
For more than 30 years the Centre for Lifelong Learning has been a centre of expertise in the education of lifelong learners in different contexts, with a focus on enabling adult learners to achieve their personal and professional goals by accessing a Warwick education, irrespective of background.
Who we are
A global network - There are 42 nationalities among our current students
A local community - 74% of our students are based in West Midlands
Accessible Higher-Education - In 2022, 32% of our students joining the courses do not have A-levels or level-3 qualifications
A nurturing place - From 2016 to 2022, 85% of our undergraduate have achieved a first or second class honours degree
A learning hub for many - We are home to over 1000 undergraduate and postgraduate students
A collaborative institution - We work with over 20 partners, including professional bodies and partner colleges, and are always looking to build new partnerships
This information is applicable for 2027 entry. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply. Please read our web page 'Important information to consider before making an application' in advance of applying to Warwick.
Next steps
Experience campus at an Open Day. Can't visit? Receive regular email updates or ask current students and staff questions about life at Warwick.
