Social Work BA (Hons)

Modules

• Year 1 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Contexts of Social Work
  • Human Growth and Development
  • Introduction to Professional Learning and Development

  Spring and summer teaching

  • Developing Capability in Professional Practice
  • Law for Social Work
  • Values, Ethics and Theories: preparing for complexity in Social Work Practice

  Practice learning

  There is currently a minimum of 200 days of learning practice:

  • 170 days will be as part of a placement (70 days in Year 2 and 100 days in Year 3)
  • 30 days will be practice skills workshops (across all your years of study).

  In the workshops, you’ll be taught by qualified Social Work practitioners who work locally and teach on topics related to their area of specialism. You’ll:

  • get to apply what you’ve learned to your practice
  • have the opportunity to reflect on your approaches and experiences in a supportive environment.

  We plan our workshops in partnership with local employers, service users and carers. This ensures that what you learn helps you progress through your studies and into your first job in adults’ and children’s services social work.

   

  Find out more about placements and practice learning at Sussex

  Your degree

  Year 1 of the course is designed to give you a solid understanding of key theoretical, ethical and legal concepts underpinning social work. You’ll study theories of human growth and development, and explore the nature of social work. You’ll also look at the legal and policy framework that supports practice. You’ll start your professional development as a social worker and explore the ethical dimensions of social work practice.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include interactive lectures and practical seminars, group work, structured debates and discussion.

  

  70%: Lecture
  30%: Seminar

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include group presentations, viva, take-away papers, essays and portfolios.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 300 hours of contact time and about 900 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

• Year 2 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  All year

  • Practice Learning 1

  Autumn teaching

  • Communication Skills for Practice
  • Research Methods (BA Social Work)
  • Social Work Practice across the Life Course

  Practice learning

  There is currently a minimum of 200 days of learning practice:

  • 170 days will be as part of a placement (70 days in Year 2 and 100 days in Year 3)
  • 30 days will be practice skills workshops (across all your years of study).

  In the workshops, you’ll be taught by qualified Social Work practitioners who work locally and teach on topics related to their area of specialism. You’ll:

  • get to apply what you’ve learned to your practice
  • have the opportunity to reflect on your approaches and experiences in a supportive environment.

  We plan our workshops in partnership with local employers, service users and carers. This ensures that what you learn helps you progress through your studies and into your first job in adults’ and children’s services social work.

   

  Find out more about placements and practice learning at Sussex

  Your degree

  In Year 2, the focus is on social work practice in preparation for your first placement in a local social work organisation. You’ll explore social work practice with a wide range of individuals, groups and issues. You’ll gain communication skills and learn about research methods. Supporting the development of your social work practice, you’ll also attend skills workshops taught by social workers who are experts in their field.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include interactive lectures and practical seminars, group work and discussion, and placement-based learning.

  

  30%: Lecture
  25%: Seminar
  45%: Practical

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include individual presentations, essays and portfolios.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time, about 500 hours of placement time and about 450 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

• Experience Year

  Study abroad (optional)

  Apply to study abroad – you’ll develop an international perspective and gain an edge when it comes to your career. Find out where your course could take you

  If your application to study abroad is successful, you’ll have to meet the academic requirements at Sussex and also at the partner university. Find out more about studying abroad as a Sussex student

  Practice learning

  There is currently a minimum of 200 days of learning practice:

  • 170 days will be as part of a placement (70 days in Year 2 and 100 days in Year 3)
  • 30 days will be practice skills workshops (across all your years of study).

  In the workshops, you’ll be taught by qualified Social Work practitioners who work locally and teach on topics related to their area of specialism. You’ll:

  • get to apply what you’ve learned to your practice
  • have the opportunity to reflect on your approaches and experiences in a supportive environment.

  We plan our workshops in partnership with local employers, service users and carers. This ensures that what you learn helps you progress through your studies and into your first job in adults’ and children’s services social work.

   

  Find out more about placements and practice learning at Sussex

  Support from the Department, talks from service users and placement experiences have fully prepared me for my current job.”Apryl Golding
  Social Worker, Brighton & Hove Council 

  Please note that if you’re receiving – or applying for – USA federal Direct Loan funds, you can’t transfer to the version of your course with an optional study abroad period in any country or optional placement in the USA if the number of credits for the placement/internship exceeds 25% of the total credits for your course. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid

• Year 3 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  All year

  • Practice Learning 2

  Autumn and spring teaching

  • Understanding Organisations, Management and Interprofessional Practice

  Options

  Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Autumn and spring teaching

  • Practice-Based Research Project
  • Research Minded Project

  Practice learning

  There is currently a minimum of 200 days of learning practice:

  • 170 days will be as part of a placement (70 days in Year 2 and 100 days in Year 3)
  • 30 days will be practice skills workshops (across all your years of study).

  In the workshops, you’ll be taught by qualified Social Work practitioners who work locally and teach on topics related to their area of specialism. You’ll:

  • get to apply what you’ve learned to your practice
  • have the opportunity to reflect on your approaches and experiences in a supportive environment.

  We plan our workshops in partnership with local employers, service users and carers. This ensures that what you learn helps you progress through your studies and into your first job in adults’ and children’s services social work.

   

  Find out more about placements and practice learning at Sussex

  Your degree

  In Year 3 you’ll work on a research project – either in one of our partner agencies, or by studying and synthesising research literature through a literature review. You’ll study social work organisations and attend skills workshops. You’ll also go on your second practice placement in a local social work organisation. 

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include interactive lectures and practical seminars, group work and discussion, and placement-based learning.

  

  10%: Lecture
  30%: Seminar
  60%: Practical

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include individual presentations, essays and portfolios.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 150 hours of contact time, about 750 hours of placement time and about 300 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.