Social work degree or psychology degree

[Chickencuddle]

Hi everyone just wondering if anyone has done either a social work degree or a psychology degree.
These are the main two courses I would be interested in. I was in care as a child and have always been interested in giving back and helping children who went through similar experiences to me.
Also interest in psychology and again helping teens or children who are struggling with mental health issues.
Could anyone tell me what these courses are like. I have 3 children and minimal support. I've been waiting a long time to go back to education and I am determined. But want to know the full extent before I apply. All children are in school.
Thanks in advance :)

Social work is vocational with on the job training. My dsis trained as a SW with 2dc so doable. I think she got grants etc.

Psychology will give you a degree but you won't be a psychologist. You would need to train further to become a practitioner.

I'm half way through a social work degree and I love it. Neither course is better but I would say that with a social work degree, you're pretty much guaranteed a job as a social worker and there's a big shortage of social workers. It's a secure job also. Whereas I know a lot of people with psychology degrees who aren't using them. As a mature student myself, I knew that I wanted to do a degree that would lead to a specific job at the end of it. I'm a single mum of one - it's hard work but I love my course x

Social worker will lead to a job where you can help people straight out of the degree but the average pay for the average social work job is aprox £35k.
Psychology will not lead to you being a psychologist. You would need a masters probably and a doctorate definitely to do this. So another 3-4 year studying after the degree and experience to get onto the other degrees.
however the average psychologist job is around £45k but could be up to £60k-70k within 10 years of qualifying (more again if you work privately).

If you can spend 10 years getting your qualifications go for the Psychology option. If not, go for social work. Both incredibly rewarding.

Social work degree or if you have a degree already then masters or frontline social work then apply for job at camhs as gives you both. Once experienced in camhs easy to then train to be a therapist

I can only speak for social work but part of the traditional social work degree is to complete unpaid placements - these are usually a minimum of 9-5, 4.5 days a week for 4 - 6 months each.

It's pretty much impossible to work in a paid job at the same time and depending on the course you may be expected to complete a dissertation /essays at the same time as being on placement.

There are new routes into social work via the social work apprenticeship. These are offered in most local authorities now and you get paid whilst you are studying but the workload is still pretty intense - the idea is that the local authority funds your training and you commit to working for them for X amount of time after qualifying.

Some of the best social workers are those who like you have lived experience of what it's like to be on the other side. On the other hand it can also open old wounds and there are high risks around projecting your own experience onto the situations of others. All of that is navigable with good practice educators and supervision, but getting that can be pot luck.

A psychology degree won't qualify you for a profession in the same way as a SW degree. Others have explained the requirements of SW training but to be a clinical, educational etc psychologist you'd have to do a doctorate after your degree. So it would be sensible to look at the requirements and funding (and acceptance rates) for that.

You can work in mental health with a social work degree. There are mental health social workers in adult mental health services and CAMHS recruits social workers to be mental health practitioners and usually facilitates further therapy training once you are working for them. It's a much faster route in to working in mental health than doing a psychology degree would be (as there are many other steps involved to becoming a psychologist after doing a psychology degree and it is extremely competitive). I'd recommended the social work degree if you want more job options

I'm doing a BSc psychology with counselling degree via the OU part time. It takes six years approximately. As others have pointed out though, it doesn't mean you qualify as a psychologist as there is further training required to do that.
If you want to help people, and have a secure job at the end then it sounds like a social work degree would be a better option for you.

Wow thank you so so much for all replies. I think I'm tipped in favour of social work then. Only thing is the 9-5 but maybe I can get something sorted for the extra hour.
Any advice or just general information on a social work degree would be great. No information is too small. Give me anything you like. Xx