Social Work Degree

[shivbo2014]

I was wondering if someone could give me some advice. I am looking into starting a degree in social work. Initially I would need to do the access to higher education diploma (I don't have any a levels) and then hopefully get a place at a uni to study full time and get my degree.
I have looked into the fees and the initial course could be covered by an advanced learner loan but if I do that I then won't be able to apply for a tuition fee loan when I want to start me degree as from what I can gather you can only get a loan on your first higher education course, is this correct? Even if you pay for the first course yourself?

The degree is £9200 a year for 3 years so impossible for me to pay outright.

Does anyone have any advice of what I could do?

You will be able to apply for the HE loan for your degree as well as the Advanced learner loan for Access. The Access course isn't a HE course. It's a further education course that prepares you for HE, so different loans, and you are entitled to both.
Also, if you successfully complete your degree, you won't have to pay back the Advanced learner loan.

Is there a document containing this information, Tralala33? Might be helpful for other people considering the same courses.

I can't answer questions on specific loans but have you looked into alternative ways into social work? Our local authority have a Social Work apprentice scheme which you can apply for if you're in a relevant, non SW qualified role. Also, if you work for an LA already you could look a their Open Univeristy sponsorship options, though you'd need to do the Access course for that but worth considering if applicable to your circumstances.

@EdmontinaDancesWithOphelia

Is there a document containing this information, Tralala33? Might be helpful for other people considering the same courses.

www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan

The Access course provider, such as an FE college, will also have relevant info on their website.

To add to what other pp have said, from your 2nd year there's also social work bursary available which pays up to £4k of your fees and still leave you with basic grant and maintenance grant which you can use to top up the shortfall of the fees.

Thank you for your replies. That's great information. It's all a bit overwhelming reading up on everything! I am currently a SAHM and will be ready to start studying next September once my littlest starts nursery. Having no other qualifications other than my GCSEs means I think it'll be the long way into Social Work. My LA doesn't seem to be doing any apprenticeships either. To be honest I'm OK with taking it slowly! Another question if you don't mind...I'm looking to do the full time degree would this usually mean attending uni every day for full days? Apart from when on placements.

I did this route too, the advanced learner loan has nothing to do with student finance so you would still get finance for all 3 years. If you're doing the BA social work would you will also get an NHS bursary as well as student finance from your second year.
I'm currently in my 3rd year of the social work degree so if there's anything I can help with feel free to message.

@Draculahhh

I did this route too, the advanced learner loan has nothing to do with student finance so you would still get finance for all 3 years. If you're doing the BA social work would you will also get an NHS bursary as well as student finance from your second year. I'm currently in my 3rd year of the social work degree so if there's anything I can help with feel free to message.

Thanks so much for your reply! I Haven't studied in years is it quite intense, I'm really worried I won't cope? I'm hoping the access course will ease me in gently or is this wishful thinking 😂

How many days are you actually in uni and from what times, thinking about childcare? Both will be in full time school but I still want to be around for as many drop offs and pick ups as possible! Happy to work in the evenings and weekends so I don't disrupt their routine too much.

Is there many older people on your course? I'm 38!

Are you enjoying the course?

Social work degrees are intense and you'll either be at university or placement pretty much every day.

Placement is the majority of the second and third years and it's the same as a full time job (with usually one day a week at uni)

If you have not got a degree you should get student finance no problem. If you haven’t you can do an MA.

I have taught on a social work access course. There was a lot of focus on developing academic skills that related specifically to what you would be doing on your course do it builds up.

Social work is an intense course with a lot of placement. There are a lot of mature students and student parents as people tend to have more life experience when they train.

Could you get some experience working in social care before you train?

DH is a SW, I'd recommend working as an ASC or similar before applying. It will help with the application, as well as giving you a useful insight into social work, and his colleagues are then supported by the LA through the degree if the employer thinks it will work. The hours for the degree/placement are long, he was working a full time job but with extra 'homework' to complete the assignments still being set by the uni, and keeping a log of his placement etc. I'm not sure you'll be around for many school picks ups (he didn't always make it home for dinner). It's a really rewarding career and I'm so proud of him for going back as a mature student, but it is not easy and requires real support from those at home (it's not a degree that can be done in 12 hours a week or in the evenings once the kids are in bed)

My local NHS trust does an apprenticeship for SW which translates to a degree. It's aimed at getting HCA's into social work.
What's your working background? It might help your application to get a related part time role first, e.g working in admin in the L.A in the related sector for what you would like to go into. Unfortunately, contrary to what the public think, we're not actually crying out for social workers, at least not in my neck of the woods. The problem is reduced funding rather than it being difficult to recruit.
Good luck!!

I worked as a Housing Officer in Social Housing and Supported accommodation for 10 years and have only been a SAHM for 2 years. So have some experience of the LA and working with vulnerable people. I think the 1st year there aren't any placements is that right? There are 170 days in total. There is no way I couldn't be around in the evenings for the children I wouldn't be able to be coming home after dinner time. Maybe for the placements but not every day from university so may have to research that a bit further. Thanks for all the replies, really helpful!

I'm a qualified Social Worker (B.A Social Work and Dip.Sw), graduated almost 17 years ago. Then it was a three-year course with two placements (1st three months, 2nd six months). I've had a quick look at the four-year Hons. course and it mentions three placements. My first placement was on the other side of the city and was a nightmare to get to by public transport - easily an hour or more. That was with a local authority service so 9-5 four days a week. Second placement was a 45-minute drive, third sector, and very early/very late shifts. I had no choice in where I was placed, and due to problems finding enough suitable placements some people on my course didn't begin a placement for several weeks, they had to make up the time at the other end.

I was single and childfree throughout the course, not sure if those with children had any more flexibility in placement options, but unlikely. It is a full-on vocational degree and even after qualification you'll find that it is rarely a 9-5 job. I was still on the duty rota at 8 months pregnant, going out on emergency visits covering from 5pm - 9am, it's part of the job within the statutory system in some areas. Even in so-called office-based posts, you're expected to work over and above your hours. School drop off/pick-up not possible unless you work very locally and very part-time hours only. I worked full-time until I had my second and even then they were at childminders from 8-6 two days a week (after mat. leave) with other hours covered by a babysitter.

Your previous experience as a Housing Officer in Social Housing and Supported accommodation would make me think of doing a degree in that instead. I've worked in that field too and the local (amazing, dedicated staff) Housing and Homelessness LA office I dealt with did clock off promptly at 5pm. It IS Social Work in its broadest form but without the absolute grind and responsibility inherent in a qualified Social Worker role. Heart in the mouth sometimes, especially in Child Protection. I would also say it's easier to progress career wise in LA/Housing Associations/Supported Housing etc. I LOVE my job, but the job doesn't love family life. Good luck with whatever you decide.

"Thanks so much for your reply! I Haven't studied in years is it quite intense, I'm really worried I won't cope? I'm hoping the access course will ease me in gently or is this wishful thinking 😂

How many days are you actually in uni and from what times, thinking about childcare? Both will be in full time school but I still want to be around for as many drop offs and pick ups as possible! Happy to work in the evenings and weekends so I don't disrupt their routine too much.

Is there many older people on your course? I'm 38!

Are you enjoying the course?"

I'm so sorry for not replying earlier, On my first year I was there 5 days a week pretty much 9-5. It is a lot but the access course should prepare you well. Second year it was 4 days a week for 3 hours, We were meant to start placement in January but due to covid it got pushed back to March and it was an absolute race to finish those 70 days before the kids fee to on their summer holidays.
My 70 day placement was in fostering, I learnt a lot and I found the hours reasonable, however, the amount of travelling I had to do nearly broke me. I did over 2000 miles by the time I finished.
My third year is currently 2 days a week and then straight into my 100 day placement at the end of November.

I think like the pp mentioned children's social work is an absolute killer and the work life balance is much harder to manage. Adults is much kinder and doesn't have as strict deadlines so might be an option for you?

Thank you both for your replies. I dont get notifications so have just seen them.

I spoke to the uni I would like to attend and she said that there will be 2 or 3 contact days per week for the 1st year. Sorry to ask so many questions but why were you in every day 9-5? Were they your contact hours? That seems an awful lot. When did you carry out your work, essays etc?

I definitely don't want to go back to working in Housing, i just don't have the same interest in it and never felt I got to help tenants with their problems. That was more the job of the support/social workers. Ultimately when the kids are older I would like to work in child protection that is definitely my aim. I would also like to work with the elderly and think that may be a better route for when I qualify. I have read there are many different roles in social work and some are more unsociable than others?

I want to do this as something to do for myself once the kids are at full time school so that I have a career for the next 30 years or so. I don't nessecarily want to rush into working full time until late in the evening straight after qualifying and would still maybe like to either work part time or at least 9-5 whilst they're both still young. Sorry I'm rambling 😂

My first year was insane, we were in 9-5 Monday to Friday. I was working in an evening too, I ended up doing my assignments on lunch breaks. Lol

It's doable, but you will have to be organised. The first year is great, throw yourself into it and take all the opportunities you are offered because you will have less time during years 2 and 3 when placements start.

Has anyone done a one year intense course?

@Bargaincatfood I did, called Step Up to Social Work, you have to have a degree already though, qualification you get at the end is Masters level. Mine was 14 months. It was very intense but so glad I did it now. Happy to try and answer any questions.

@Louise241989 thank you! I've got onto a similar program and worrying about how intense it will be. I already work ft in mental health so the thought of doing similar and then studying around it makes me panic. Did you find it got easier once you were stuck in,

I think already working full time will set you up well, and the main thing is to be very organised I'd say. It took me a while to get back into swing of studying again but I would set aside evenings for my studying to try and keep my weekends for chilling out and socialising as much as possible. Or get any studying done early Saturday so it didn't stress me out all weekend. It worked for me but I guess each will have their own preference but being prepared for it being full on helps. It is nothing like an undergrad degree when you're straight out of a levels, partying and living in halls that's for sure! So glad I did it in hindsight now though.

Gosh .... I resigned from social work some years ago basically because my desire to help people and my long professional experience in the field had morphed into becoming a financial gatekeeper for the local authority - at least in adult services and mental health. In order to meet anyone's needs a vast array of forms had to be filled in - and I mean a vast array - and no care or service of any kind would be offered without the rubber stamp from above. I really did feel that humanity had dropped out of the system; and sometimes the very act of having to go through assessment forms with people and have them sign them actually made their condition worse. But you could not get their needs met without this even though professionally your opinion was that this would be detrimental to them.

Anonymised example of this: a mother with several children, including a son who is massively disabled - she is getting to the point where she has to ask that he be found residential care - a very hard thing for her to do. DD then dies in a drowning accident. She has just lost her DD and is having to fill in forms to say she cannot cope with her son - I said that she should not be required to do this as I felt it would tip her over the edge. My view was ignored and this poor woman sobbed her way through the blessed forms - I could have filled them in from my detailed knowledge of the situation. It was after this case that I resigned, as there were times when I was being forced to do more harm than good. My conscience would not allow me to continue.

I thought hard about whether to write this post, but I would not wish you to put in the massive effort required to train without knowing at first hand what the job has become. If you are motivated by the desire to help people you may find that this is exactly what you cannot do any more. Can you get some insider information about what the job entails from a social worker? You really do need to know this before you go any further.

The people who get on in social work and ascend the career ladder are those whose humanity has been ground down and who are prepared to concentrate LA money.

So many of my colleagues - at least the ones who really cared - were made ill by the actions they were required to take.

"concentrate on saving the LA money."

I left front line CP when I had a family, it is long erratic hours.
It is very rewarding work but not always helping so much as protecting. Colleagues who really wanted to help found it very frustrating at times.