Qualifications
Overview
Social workers help people to overcome personal and institutional barriers to wellbeing and achieve their full potential. They work with individuals, families, groups, and organisations in a wide range of contexts.
The Bachelor of Social Work with Honours (BSW(Hons)) is a great option to consider if you are interested in working in a people-focused career. Professionally trained people are needed in increasing numbers to work in the social services, nationally and internationally.
Students develop a strong academic foundation by studying a variety of courses from the social sciences and Māori studies, as well as specialist Social Work topics. Later on in the degree, a fieldwork internship takes place in the community. Combined, this academic and practical foundation equips students with the values, knowledge, and skills for employment in the social work profession, as well as in people-related, social policy, and research occupations.
Why study Social Work at UC?
- One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s longest-established Social Work programmes.
- UC offers qualifications which are internationally regarded and recognised by the New Zealand Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB).
- The programme is well-known for its high-quality Social Work education and research.
- The Social Work programme is friendly and accessible with interactive classes, a specially designed blended learning programme, and a strong practice orientation.
- Students will work with diverse populations and learn about practical issues relevant to Māori, Pacific, and other communities.
- There is the opportunity to pursue special interests in topics such as mental health, child welfare, criminal justice, ageing, violence and abuse, and gender and sexuality studies.
Recommended preparation
Entry to the first year of the Bachelor of Social Work with Honours is open to all students with entry to the University.
While there are no particular school subjects required for the study of Social Work, a background in subjects which require communication skills such as English, history, geography, or te reo Māori are useful. Volunteer work in the community is good preparation.
Courses
UC offers a Bachelor of Social Work with Honours, which focuses on human services, policies, and social development and behaviours.
Students studying other degrees may also want to include introductory Social Work courses to their studies to build a knowledge of social work practice, policy, and research.
Bachelor of Social Work with Honours
See the Bachelor of Social Work with Honours for the compulsory courses in the degree.
The third and fourth years of the degree include advanced courses in social work theory and method, research methodologies, mental health, law, and indigenous social work. In third year, the skills course assists students to identify and develop interpersonal helping skills using role-plays, video equipment, and small group discussions.
In the final year, students will also undertake a research project and two fieldwork placements in social service agencies. During this time, they are supervised by field educators who help them integrate the knowledge, values, and skills taught at UC with social work practice in the community.
Limited entry to each year of the degree
Entry to the second, third, and fourth years of the Bachelor of Social Work with Honours is limited to students who have successfully completed the compulsory 100-level courses and who have been accepted into the programme following an application process each year.
If you are unable to or decide not to continue with a Social Work degree, you can credit completed courses to a Bachelor of Arts.
Career opportunities
In Aotearoa, social workers are employed in both the public and private sectors, providing direct and indirect services. Direct services include those for children, families, older people, those who have committed offences, and people with disabilities. Indirect services encompass social sector planning, administration, policy, and research.
Direct services may include the protection of children who have been abused, providing group or family therapy, educational programmes for at-risk adolescents, supporting adolescent parents, working with groups aiming to achieve community development, providing interventions for people who are experiencing mental health issues, providing assistance with housing needs, mediation and resolution of family conflict, facilitating access to benefits and other financial resources, and assessment of home and family support for older people.
Social Work graduates can work as community development workers, therapists, counsellors, case managers, field workers, youth workers, care and protection workers, probation officers, iwi social workers, school social workers, hospital social workers, service coordinators, educators, policy analysts, and researchers.
Graduates are employable overseas, particularly in the UK and Australia (there is a Mutual Recognition Agreement between the NZSWRB and the Australian Association of Social Workers).
Find out more about what you can do with a degree in Social Work.
Contact us
School of Language, Social and Political Sciences
Phone +64 3 369 3377
Email [email protected]
Location
Level 1, Music building – see campus maps
Postal address
College of Arts | Te Rāngai Toi Tangata
University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand