MSc Social Work at Swansea University Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Pertaining to applications for September 2014 entry. Contents A. Entry Requirements:... 2 B. Social care work experience... 3 C. Fees and Bursaries... 4 D. Applying to the MSc programme?... 5 E. Deferment... 5 F. Part Time study... 5 G. Privately arranged paid employment whilst studying on the programme... 6 H. Selection Interviews... 6 I. Criminal investigations, cautions, criminal charges, criminal convictions and CRBs... 7 J. Health issues and mental health issues... 7 K. Local Authority Partner Agencies... 8 L. Practice Learning Opportunities (PLOs): Practice/field placements whilst on the programme... 8 M. Age requirements... 9 N. Accommodation... 10 O. Care Council for Wales Code of Practice... 10 P. Contact details:... 10
A. Entry Requirements: 1. What is the minimum entry requirement for the course? Graduates in a social science subject or a related discipline (with a minimum of 2:2). In exceptional circumstances we may also consider applicants with a degree in an unrelated field. Such applicants would need to have extensive social care work experience and evidence of ability to study at post graduate level. (by August) Applicants must possess Maths GCSE at grade A*-C or equivalent e.g. Key Skills level 2 (QCDA) Numeracy or Application of number, (at the point of application) Have English GCSE at Grade A*-C or equivalent e.g. Key Skills level 2 (QCDA) Communication, (at the point of application) Have evidence of 210 hours social care work experience within the last 5 years, (at the point of application) Be able to demonstrate an awareness of the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers (Care Council for Wales). 2. I don t have maths GCSE (grade C or above) or the equivalent can I still apply? No. Unless an applicant has acquired maths GCSE (grade C or above) or equivalent at the point of application the application will be rejected. 3. I don t have English GCSE at C or above. Can I still apply? No. Unless an applicant has acquired English GCSE (grade C or above) or equivalent at the point of application the application will be rejected 4. I would like to consider an alternative to the GCSE route for maths/english, what other qualifications are acceptable? Key Skills 2 (Numeracy & Communication): Awarding body - EDEXCEL.
B. Social care work experience 5. I do not have the required 210 hours social care work experience. Can I still apply? No. You must have 210 social care work experience at the point of application. We will not be able to progress your application until this has been obtained and verified by a social care referee. 6. I am unsure whether the social care experience I have is appropriate. Please could you give me your opinion on this? On receipt of application we will write to you (by email) to ask you to supply additional information. This will include a reference from your social care work referee. We will provide a reference template for you to pass on to your referee. On receipt of the reference we will make a judgement as whether it is satisfactory. 7. Can you give some examples of what you consider to be appropriate social care work experience? Although we would need more detailed information on the duties undertaken we would normally consider the following roles to be appropriate: Direct work with residents in residential care homes Volunteer work with charities such as Childline and Samaritans Classroom assistant, where there is direct contact with children Voluntary/paid work for a statutory care service or other recognised social care provider in the private or voluntary sector Youth work such as assisting at a youth club/drop in 8. Can you give an example of what is unlikely to be acceptable? Acting as a taxi-driver or taxi-driver escort Serving the public in a shop / retail outlet Caring for a relative Being the sibling of a child who is fostered by your parent(s)/carer(s) Work as a life guard or some other supervisory role such as a soft play attendant
9. I don t have the necessary social care work experience are you able to put me in touch with an organisation that could offer me some experience? We recommend that you contact your local Council for Voluntary Service or if you are not sure of the details of these, you can contact the National offices: For Wales: http://www.wcva.org.uk/advice-guidance/contact-us For England: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/ They can help put you in touch with a great many volunteering opportunities. But do not leave this too late as often there can be quite a delay between the time you offer to undertake volunteering and when you are actually placed with an organisation. Other volunteering bureaus such as http://www.csv.org.uk/?display=volunteering might also help and there are a great many others. Simply putting Volunteering Opportunities into any Internet search facility will bring back the details of dozens of organisations able to help. If having tried and failed to secure a volunteering opportunity through other sources, you may be able to get help or advice from the Local Authority in whose area you reside. Local Authorities have different contact points for volunteering or unpaid work experience. In the first instance, the best thing to do is to look up your Local Authority s telephone number and having rung it, simply ask to speak with the person responsible for volunteering or work experience. Explain to them clearly what you are looking for. Remember that you are looking for opportunities for experience within a social care environment. C. Fees and Bursaries We have not yet finalised the fees for undertaking the MSc Social Work in 2014, however the fees in 2013 were 5300 per year. We will publicise the fees for 2014 on our website shortly. As a graduate you will not be able to access Student Finance Wales grants to cover post graduate course fees. However the Care Council for Wales can award cost of living bursaries to students studying post graduate social work programmes across Wales. 10. Am I certain to get a bursary? We nominate applicants who have been offered a place on our programme to the Care Council for Wales for a bursary. There are usually less bursaries than there are applicants, and nominations are made on a first come first served basis. If we fill our quota of bursaries then you may be placed on a Reserve list for a bursary and the Care Council for Wales will contact you if they are in a position to offer you one. Pto
We do not oversee the bursary scheme or the criteria for bursaries. This is overseen by the Care Council for Wales. It is important to look at the Care Council s website for further details. The Care Council for Wales stipulates a deadline date by which nominations for a bursary must be made each year. This is typically the 1 st September. Please check directly at www.ccwales.org.uk/ for this year s date. 11. How much is the bursary? This varies annually, again, we strongly advise you seek the answer to this question from the Care Council for Wales. You are advised to contact them for further information on 0845 070 0249 or visit their webpage at http://www.ccwales.org.uk/student-funding/ D. Applying to the MSc programme? 12. How do I apply for a place on the MSc Social Work programme? We are accepting applications online through UCAS. Please look at the UCAS website for further information: www.ucas.ac.uk/ our course code is L501 Please note that correspondence to applicants from the social work team will be sent by email to the email address provided by the applicant on the UCAS form. We strongly recommend that applicants check their junkmail box from time to time as some software is programmed to redirect mail from large organsiations in junkmail. E. Deferment The deadline for receipt of applications to UCAS is 15 th January 2014. 1. If I am offered a place on the course can I defer for a year? No. Prospective students who have been offered a place but subsequently wish to defer, are welcome to re-apply the following year. F. Part Time study 2. Can I do the course on a part-time basis? We do not offer this course on a part-time basis
G. Privately arranged paid employment whilst studying on the programme 3. Is it possible to do some privately arranged paid work whilst undertaking the course? The course is a full time course of study and is intense. As such you will be expected to be available throughout the working day. In addition to formal lectures, there are seminars, tutorials, practice learning placements and a considerable amount of reading and written work to undertake. The programme differs from many post graduate programmes in that it is not only a formal academic Masters level degree but also confers eligibility to register as a social worker with a professional body. Students can expect to be on campus a minimum of 4 days a week. Additionally, over the two years students will undertake 200 days of practice learning during which they comply with the employment routines of the host organisation. This typically means working office hours Monday to Friday. Although on occasions the course can involve work outside of office hours. It is also a Care Council requirement that we monitor each student s attendance on the programme and unsatisfactory attendance can lead to a refusal by the care council to offer graduate registration to the student. Our experience has been that students who attempt to work as well as study on the programme quickly run into difficulty and tend to underperform. We therefore recommend students do not undertake more than 14 hrs additional employment per week while undertaking the programme. Paid employment will not be considered as extenuating circumstance. Attendance is 100% - all sessions are compulsory. H. Selection Interviews 4. When are interviews likely to be held? We will aim to hold interviews in February. 5. How soon after my interview will I be told if I am being offered a place? We inform candidates of our decision within 28 days from the interview date. 6. Who is on the interview panel? The interview panels consist of academic staff, practitioners from our partner agencies and service user representatives.
I. Criminal investigations, cautions, criminal charges, criminal convictions and CRBs 7. I am the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation and/or have been cautioned and/or have been charged with a criminal offence and/or have a criminal conviction. Can I still apply? Yes. All applicants must declare on their UCAS forms whether any of these conditions apply to them. Irrespective of the applicants response to this question the form is evaluated in the same way as every other form. Every applicant selected for interview will be required to complete and return a declaration of suitability form. This form requires each applicant to provide a detailed account of all ongoing criminal investigations, cautions, criminal charges or criminal convictions. The declaration of suitability form is only examined after the interview and only if a place is likely to be offered. At this point representatives from our partner agencies consider the anonymised application and all relevant information including declarations with a view to determining if it is appropriate to offer a place on the MSc programme / work based placements. Under some circumstances, our partner agencies may need to ask for further information. 8. Will a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS) have to be undertaken? Yes, every offer made is subject to a satisfactory DBS check. It is the university and partner agencies, in consultation with the Care Council for Wales, who determine whether a DBS check is satisfactory. 9. I already have a DBS does another one have to be obtained? Yes. The university will not accept previously acquired DBS checks. The University will apply for a new check on your behalf 10. Who pays for the new DBS? The applicant. Currently, the cost is 44 J. Health issues and mental health issues 11. I have some health related difficulties can I still apply? Yes. Every applicant selected for interview will be required to complete and return a declaration of suitability form. This form requires each applicant to provide a description of all any health and mental health related issues. The declaration of suitability form is only examined after the interview and only if a place is likely to be offered. At this point representatives from our local authority partner agencies and occupational health consider the anonymised application and all relevant information including declarations with a view to pto..
determining if it is appropriate to offer a place on the degree programme. It is possible that you be asked to attend a medical examination in order to assess relevant support requirements. This disclosure is mainly to be made in order to assess the support requirements students may have. K. Local Authority Partner Agencies 12. Who are your partner agencies? We have 5 statutory partner agencies: Carmarthenshire County Council Ceredigion County Council City and County of Swansea Neath and Port Talbot County Borough Council Pembrokeshire County Council We also work in close partnership with a number of non-statutory organizations such as the NSPCC. L. Practice Learning Opportunities (PLOs): Practice/field placements whilst on the programme 13. I have heard that I could be required to undertake a PLO (practice/field placement) with any of the 5 partner agencies. Is this true? Yes. Students on the Masters Programme will be expected to undertake 200 full time days of practice learning over the duration of the course. Any offer of a place on the course is subject to you agreeing to accept PLOs (placements) with any of our partner agencies. We do try our best to match the personal and professional needs of students with available placements but, ultimately, you would be required to accept the placement offered. There are a small number of exceptional circumstances in which this policy would not apply, for example, if you have a registered disability that would make it difficult for you to travel or if you are a registered carer for an immediate family member. You would be required to provide proof of these circumstance.
14. I only want to work with a certain age group when I qualify (for example, children or elderly) will I still have to do practical work (e.g. placements) with other age groups on the programme? The MSc is a generic social work programme that qualifies you to work with people of all ages. You are likely, therefore, to have to undertake placements in different social care settings that may include children, older people and individuals with mental health or learning disabilities. This is not optional. 15. Can you give me some examples of PLOs (placements)? In recent years students have been placed with a very wide range of organisations and teams including for example: Barnardos: Leaving care team Social Services: Adult substance misuse team. Social Services: Area child assessment and long term teams Hospital: Discharge team Social Services: Long term family and Children Service NSPCC: Advocacy and representation Service (for children) Social Services: Community based team for adults with learning disability Women s Aid Supported housing projects 16. I would like to arrange my own PLO (placement). Is this permitted? No. Students are never allowed to arrange their own PLO (placements). 17. Can I do my PLO (placement) in an organisation that I have/am working in? It is very unlikely you would be allowed to do a PLO (placement) in an organisation that you have recently worked for as there is likely to be a conflict of interest which could affect your assessment. M. Age requirements 18. Is there an upper or lower age limit for applicants? No. We welcome applicants of all ages providing the entry requirements found in section A have been met.
N. Accommodation 19. Where can I find out about accommodation that I can stay in whilst studying at Swansea University? It may be useful to know that the majority of Social Work degree students do not live in university accommodation. Many travel in from their home address. The requirement to undertake 90 day block placements each year may deter many students from living in university accommodation. The social work teaching team do not keep any information on accommodation but there is a dedicated university based service which is able to provide advice. Please see: http://www.swan.ac.uk/accommodation/ O. Care Council for Wales Code of Practice 20. Is there any reading that you might be able to recommend to me as a prospective applicant? We would strongly recommend that you look carefully at the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers which can be found on the Care Council for Wales website. It would also be beneficial for you to have knowledge of the role of a social worker more generally and in Wales. P. Contact details: If, having read all of the above FAQs your query has not been answered please contact either - (i) for administrative matters: Ms Gail Brown Course administrator G.P.Brown@Swansea.ac.uk ii) for academic matters Dr Tracey Maegusuku-Hewett Admissions Tutor: swadmissions@swansea.ac.uk iii) For general admissions enquiries The Admissions Office, Swansea University admission@swansea.ac.uk and by phone on 01792 295111.
Useful websites: Care Council for Wales: www.ccwales.org.uk Qualifications and Curriculum Development agency: http://www.qcda.gov.uk/ Student Finance Wales: www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/ Swansea University: http://www.swan.ac.uk/ Swansea University Accommodation Office: http://www.swan.ac.uk/accommodation/ UCAS: www.ucas.com These FAQs are issued to prospective applicants as guidance only. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, Swansea University reserves, therefore, the right to make changes without notice. FAQ updated February 2014