94% of students were positive about the quality of teaching on their course – National Student Survey, 2023.
With a high demand for qualified social workers, this approved programme will give you the skills to build a career enabling people at risk to live fulfilled and independent lives. You will learn from a dynamic social work curriculum co-designed by academics, service users and practice partners. A supportive and friendly teaching team with ongoing links to social work practice will guide you every step of the way.
After graduating you will be able to register as a Social Worker with Social Work England. You will be confident in communicating effectively with a range of service users and professionals in various situations. You'll be able to present arguments confidently based on academic evidence in specialist areas of social work practice.
You'll acquire strong problem-solving skills, advanced IT skills and will be able to critically analyse the latest research findings. You will be able to apply these skills in a variety of social work settings.
We have over 145 years of experience delivering professional, creative and technical education that prepares students – like you – for success in global careers, so find out more today.
This degree is approved by Social Work England (SWE), the statutory body regulating the social work profession.
SWE believes in the power of collaboration and shares a common goal with those they regulate – to protect the public, enable positive change and ultimately improve people’s lives.
Social Work England has created professional, education and training standards in partnership with everyone interested in social work, including Middlesex University. These standards set out the requirements that they expect social workers and social work courses to meet.
This course is professionally recognised for being of the highest quality, focusing on developing the knowledge and skills that employers require.
With the social work sector expanding rapidly, there’s never been a better time to enter a career that will positively impact some of society’s most vulnerable people.
Through a mix of teaching sessions, interactive workshops and e-learning resources, you’ll become familiar with current law, policies and theory, and be able to communicate effectively with service providers, service users and their carers.
A huge part of this course is on-the-job learning through work placements where you'll get to grips with what it's actually like to do the job of a social worker.
By joining us on this hands-on and fulfilling course, you'll benefit from:
The opportunity to apply to Social Work England to register as a qualified social worker once you graduate.
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In your first year, you will gain professional insight and communication skills required for effective social work and lay the foundations for your second and third years of academic study and practice-based learning.
All modules, and the programme as a whole, are clearly structured to meet Social Work England's Professional Standards. You will undertake two professional placements in contrasting settings in years two and three. These usually run concurrently with academic study.
You will be allocated an academic advisor at the start of your course who will meet with you regularly in tutor groups and who will also act as a link to your professional placements.
In your first year, you will undertake a child observation task, undertake a research project in your community and develop the communication skills required for your first placement in year two.
In your second year, you will learn new research skills, understand the law that underpins social work, consider how theory applies to social work practice, and undertake your first, 70-day practice placement.
In your final year, you will complete your final, 100-day placement, undertake a research project in your chosen area of practice and further enhance your skills in applying theory to practice. By the end of year 3 you will be ready to graduate and qualify as a Social Worker.
See the course specification for more information:
Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.
To find out more about this course, please download the full specifications:
We review our courses regularly to improve your experience and graduate prospects so modules may be subject to change.
These fees are for 2024/25:
Full-time: £9,250
Part-time: £77 per taught credit
Full-time students: £16,600
Part-time students: £138 per taught credit
The following study tools are included in your fees:
To help make uni affordable, we do everything we can to support you including our:
MDX Excellence Scholarship offers grants of up to £2,000 per year for UK students
Regional or International Merit Awards which reward International students with up to £2,000 towards course fees
Student Starter Kit. Get help with up to £1,000 of goods, including a new laptop or iPad. MDX Student Starter Kit.
Find out more about undergraduate funding and all of our scholarships and bursaries.
1. UK fees: The university reserves the right to increase undergraduate tuition fees in line with changes to legislation, regulation and any government guidance or decisions. The tuition fees for part-time UK study are subject to annual review and we reserve the right to increase the fees each academic year by no more than the level of inflation.
2. International fees: Tuition fees are subject to annual review and we reserve the right to increase the fees each academic year by no more than the level of inflation.
Any annual increase in tuition fees as provided for above will be notified to students at the earliest opportunity in advance of the academic year to which any applicable inflationary rise may apply.
There are a wide variety of career choices for qualified social workers, including roles within local authorities, the voluntary sector or as independent practitioners.
Social work skills are also valued in the private sector, NHS and local authorities. Job prospects are excellent with consistently high graduate employability rates.
Roles undertaken include working with adults and their carers, with disabilities, mental health problems and social isolation. Salary progression is excellent and the average starting salary for our graduates is £30k+.
Our BA Social Work graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of roles in local authorities including the London Borough of Barnet, London Borough of Enfield, Haringey Council, and East Sussex County Council.
Our employability service can help you to develop your employability skills and get some valuable work experience. We provide workshops, events and one-to-one support with job hunting, CVs, covering letters, interviews and networking. We also support you in securing part-time work, placements, internships, and volunteering opportunities, and offer an enterprise support service for those looking to start their own business.
Our library is open 24 hours a day during the term and includes:
We offer lots of support to help you while you're studying including financial advice, wellbeing, mental health, and disability support.
We'll support you if you have additional needs such as sensory impairment or dyslexia. And if you want to find out whether Middlesex is the right place for you before you apply, get in touch with our Disability and Dyslexia team.
Our specialist teams will support your mental health. We have free individual counselling sessions, workshops, support groups and useful guides.
Our Middlesex Unitemps branch will help you find work that fits around uni and your other commitments. We have hundreds of student jobs on campus that pay the London Living Wage and above. Visit the Middlesex Unitemps page.
You can apply for scholarships and bursaries and our MDX Student Starter Kit to help with up to £1,000 of goods, including a new laptop or iPad.
We have also reduced the costs of studying with free laptop loans, free learning resources and discounts to save money on everyday things. Check out our guide to student life on a budget.
Dr Allain is Director of Programmes, Social Work and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate social work students and experienced practitioners undertaking CPD programmes. She holds an MSc Social Research Methods, a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education and a Postgraduate Certificate in Health and Social Services Management.
Lucille is a professionally registered social worker with the HCPC and has over 20 years' experience working in the fields of child protection and looked after children in London local authorities. She worked as a social worker, team manager and strategic commissioning manager before moving to a joint appointment role with Middlesex University and Barnet Council. There she successfully developed a postgraduate social work trainee scheme for a number of London boroughs. Lucille has worked at Middlesex University for over 10 years and has also led social work at the University of East London in the role of Associate Dean.
Director of Programmes for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Social Work, Professional Lead for Social work and Department Research Degrees Co-ordinator
BSc (Hons) Anthropology, MSc Social Work, CQSW, Dip Psychodynamic Counselling, PG Cert HE, PD Social Work, SFHEA. Helen has worked extensively in child and family social work, specialising in work with disabled children and their families. She gained her Professional Doctorate in Social Work from the Tavistock, researching the experiences of severely learning disabled teenagers and their families using observational methods. Helen has taught at Middlesex University and the Tavistock Centre at undergraduate, postgraduate and research degree levels for many years and has extensive experience of leading and developing social work programmes. Teaching interests extend across life course studies, theory and practice integration, social work skills, childhood disability and clinical practice. She has published on observational research methodologies, childhood disability, relationship-based practice, social work pedagogy, the impact of austerity and special guardianship.
MSc Mental Health Studies, PGDip Advanced Mental Health Practice, BA (Hons) Politics, PG Cert Higher Education, DipSW. Matthew has a strong practice background in adult mental health having worked as a Social Worker, Approved Mental Health Professional and Best Interest Assessor in central London for over ten years. Matthew is also Level 1 & 2 Practice Educator qualified. He worked as a Consultant Social Worker managing a unit of social work students in a statutory mental health setting. In a voluntary capacity, Matthew escorted vulnerable refugees to the UK as part of the UK’s Gateway Resettlement Programme via the IOM. Matthew has published research on older people in long term care with suicidal and self-harm behaviours. He is currently undertaking a research project on an evaluation of a mentoring scheme for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Social Workers.
Niall Dalyis an experienced consultant social worker having worked in an Out of Hours Service in London for many years. Niall has a BA (Hons) in Social Science and is active in his own Continuing Professional Development as an advanced practitioner. Niall is a qualified Social Worker and Approved Mental Health Practitioner. Niall’s teaching expertise is with developing expert practice, supporting students preparing for practice and working with risk and decision making.
Sarah Lewis-Brooke has been a qualified social worker for 27 years, specialising in children and families’ social work and in particular, fostering, adoption and permanency. She has taught on this programme for 9 years. Sarah is research active and has recently worked on a research project that has set up an innovative service for birth mothers who have their children permanently removed. She is also interested in research into innovative pedagogies and is currently researching developing students’ ability to develop inclusive practice with LGBT people.
We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.
Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.
Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.
At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.