MA Social Work – what is relevant work experience?
Your work experience needs be:
- in a social care setting
- a minimum of 400 hours
- face-to-face
- paid, voluntary or placements
- completed by the time you apply
Examples of where to get experience
- Local Authority child, adult or family services
- Charities such as Barnardo's, Mind, Refuge, Shelter, Women's Aid
- Residential homes
- Nursing homes
- Homeless centres
- Addiction centres
- Youth or community centres
- Nurseries/schools/creches catering for special educational needs
How to tell us about your work experience
- When we receive your application, we will contact you for details of your work experience if we are considering inviting you for interview
- We'll send you a questionnaire and the sooner you complete it and return it to us, the sooner we can process your application
- In preparation for this, please have to hand the following details:
- Where you worked – the name and type of organisation
- What you did – the nature of your role there
- The start and end dates of your work
- Hours per week worked
- Whether your work was full-time or part-time
Hints and tips
It may help you to keep a journal throughout your work experience, so that you can record:
- why you chose that specific setting for your work experience
- what skills you developed
- what challenges you faced and how you overcame them
- your understanding of social care systems and environments
- how you could bring your experience to the role of social worker
- how your work experience has shaped and informed your career goals
- any questions you'd like to ask about social work
Need more information?
Please contact us and we'll be glad to help you.