Social Work Master's Degree in England?

Hi everyone!

I have one more semester left at my university in the US, studying a human-services related major.  I am looking to do my master's in Social Work in the UK with the hopes of obtaining a job there upon graduation.  I studied abroad for a semester at Uni Gloucestershire so I am not unfamiliar to the England education system.

HOWEVER...I am very worried about applying for a Social Work progam considering the rigor in which they seem to be monitored for in terms of application process, interview, etc.  I am especially concerned because doing a Social Work master's will more likely be given to the UK students over an American applicant because it only transfers to working as a licensed social worker in the UK.

I have been working on my letter of intent and I'm also working on my letters of intent.  Does anyone have any general advice for me regarding Social Work in the UK, and my odds of getting accepted to any University as an American?

(ps--I have many years of volunteer experience under my belt as well as a current internship as a caseworker working directly under a licensed social worker)

Thanks!

TBH, I think doing an American MSW is probably better in your situation. You still may be eligible for a work permit maybe if child protection remains on the shortage list by the time you do graduate and you register with the appropriate Social Care Council (professional registering body in the UK for social work).

I think one'd have to ask themselves, do you want to be a social worker, regardless of where you live?

The immigration system here is changing all the time and you cannot be guaranteed that you will be able to necessarily able to get work after graduation, unless maybe child protection remains on the shortage list by the time you do graduate. The social work education system is very different in the UK compared to the American social work framework.

The challenge is that if you do a British MA / MSc in Social Work, it may be harder to get it recognised to practice in the appropriate state should you wish to return home and this is what I'd research the most.

Secondarily, social work courses tend to be funded by the Social Care Councils for and as a foreigner, you may have a hard time getting a place on this basis.

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Students/825.aspx

Thirdly, international student fees are extremely costly. Save, save, save, if the is truly what you want to do. I could certainly let you know which universities rate well for social work, if you'd like that information.
  
See also this thread, as still some relevant stuff:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=54677.msg780595#msg780595  

I'm sorry - I am not trying to put you off - just thinking about what I'd consider in your position. PM if you'd like further advice. HTH.  

Best of luck whatever you decide.  

ETA: PS also check the Calling all Social Workers thread - there's a wealth of information and experience there! 

I have been working on my letter of intent and I'm also working on my letters of intent.  Does anyone have any general advice for me regarding Social Work in the UK, and my odds of getting accepted to any University as an American?

I've no knowledge of social work, but getting into any university as an international student isn't as hard as it may seem. Most universities love taking in as many international students as possible because they can charge extortionate fees that they can't for EU students. (Capitalism seems to be conquering the focus of a decent education at universities.) And since university applications are free, it's not like you'll be out anything if you don't end up getting in. That being said, it's a serious financial commitment to do a degree over here, so make sure it's really worth it to you in the long run.

Thanks so much to both of you!

All of this is very overwhelming to me at the moment and i'm really just trying to discern where I want to be upon graduation.  My passion lies in social work but I just don't want to remain in the US after graduation, I need a major change of scenery.   

Mapleleafgirl, I would like to hear what universities are the best for social work.  I am not sure how to send a message but maybe you can help?  I am really looking at Bristol but if I'm reading their site correctly, applications are due July 1st 2010 for September 2011 entry!?  Crazy....Thanks again for your replies everyone.

I am really looking at Bristol but if I'm reading their site correctly, applications are due July 1st 2010 for September 2011 entry!?  Crazy....Thanks again for your replies everyone.

That can't be right - I did my masters at Bristol and there was no official deadline for postgraduate applications, although most people applied around January for September entry (in the Earth Sciences department) - I applied in Oct 2005 for Sept 2006 entry... got the acceptance letter in Jan 2006, but turned them down for a different course in Leeds. Then I changed my mind about Leeds and called the Bristol department in June 2006 and asked if it was still possible to attend the Bristol course... they said yes and I started studying at Bristol in Sept 2006.

The page for the MSc in Social Work in the postgrad prospectus says the deadline is July 1st 2010, but I'm assuming that's for Sept 2010 entry (there's no mention of Sept 2011 that I can see). Looking on the department pages though, apparently the course is now full for 2010 anyway. Bristol is a popular university though, so the earlier you apply the better .

I used to work at an organisation that got a lot of information about SW in the UK.  I know there are big issues in programs going on right now.  There are difficulties in finding placements that are needed to graduate, but that might be undergrad only.

There is a UK magazine for SW professionals, it might be worth reading some issues before spending all that money in getting a degree here.  http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Home/

Personally, I recommend York, Lancaster and UEA, as they consistently rank very highly over the years.

Recent rankings:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2009/may/12/university-guide-social-work

More information:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/universityguide
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2010/feb/15/social-work-postgraduate-masters-table1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/feb/15/postgraduate-tables-2010-methodology
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/socialwork

Placements and lack of them are also a huge issue.

I think you might notice that in some of the tables provided above, the percentage of international students at the universities in this subject area is very low, from 0% to 20% maximum. This is because the financial support and funding arrangements for students is geared towards British and EU citizens and residents and those with ILR.

Having British social work degree will not guarantee you work in the UK necessarily on graduation, though at the moment, there is a post study work visa, which is good for 2 years and then you'd have to switch into another category, keeping in mind the immigration system is a rapidly changing beast. You'd also need to be sure and clear that the degree you did would be recognised in the US, as you wouldn't want to invest all this time and money, only to not be able to practice in the US, if for whatever reason, you returned to the US.

I think you'd be better off doing your MSW at an American university and then registering with the Social Care Council in the area of the UK you'd like to work and then apply for jobs to get a (current) Tier 2 work permit in the shortage area only of child protection, providing that immigration track remains.

Another option for a change of scenery and to get around the degree recognition issue in the US is to do your MSW at a Canadian university and then registering with the Social Care Council in the area of the UK you'd like to work and then apply for jobs to get a (current) Tier 2 work permit in the shortage area only of child protection, providing that immigration track remains. Providing that all works well, you could have the experience of two other countries. With a North American MSW, you also have the NAFTA option to work temporarily in Canada and if you do your degree in Canada, there is also a similar post study option.

See the information in the link in my first post. It's also worth posting your plans / ideas in the Calling all Social Workers thread to get input from American MSW qualified social workers who are in various stages of the process you describe.

HTH.  

ETA: have you considered BUNAC: http://www.bunac.org/usa/interninbritain/ to get a flavour of living in the UK?

Or are you eligible for citizenship of an EU country? http://europa.eu/ to live / work / study in the UK: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/

Another option for a change of scenery and to get around the degree recognition issue in the US is to do your MSW at a Canadian university and then registering with the Social Care Council in the area of the UK you'd like to work and then apply for jobs to get a (current) Tier 2 work permit in the shortage area only of child protection, providing that immigration track remains. Providing that all works well, you could have the experience of two other countries.

Here is where things get a bit tricky!  And perhaps I should be posting this on the relationship forum 

To make a long story short: I was engaged to a guy originally from the UK, living Canada.  We met in a crazy, surreal way and had a lovely relationship of about a year and a half with not much distance between my location in the states.  I met all his family in the UK when I studied abroad there and England is where he proposed.  We really did have a wonderful relationship, but nearly 6 months ago he ended our engagement due to emotional problems on his end.

Now I am in a position of not wanting to stay in the US, and definitely not wishing to go to Canada where he is (unless of course he were to heal himself and want me back, but that is probably unhealthy and opens up a new can of worms in itself).  I desire to go the UK not because I'm seeking a replacement English fiance, but because it was the place I learned so much about myself, and I just loved it all around.  This is why I need a change of scenery as I just know that I have to do something completely out of the box for myself.  Gosh, I'm hoping I don't sound too crazy here 

I looked at BUNAC but feel quite lost in looking up social work internships within England.  I really can't find any aside from study abroad programs which cost upwards of $20,000.  Perhaps I will post the BUNAC question in the social work forum.

I was interested in the post study work visa upon graduation.  Hearing all of this immigration stuff is very intimidating, nothing is ever easy, is it!?  Perhaps some sort of policy course would be more for me in case I would indeed come back to the US. 

Thanks again everyone for your answers! 

I'm sorry about your relationship woes and things will get better.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to get a social work internship, because:
a) no such thing exists here and
b) there aren't even enough placements for social work students
c) you need to be registered with the appropriate care council to practice, which means you need a recognised social work degree i.e. a British, American or Canadian social work degree (look at the GSCC website for how foreign degrees are recognised), to practice as a social worker. It is a legally protected job title.

http://www.gscc.org.uk/The+Social+Care+Register/Apply+for+registration/Social+workers+trained+and+qualified+outside+the+UK/I+am+a+social+worker+trained+abroad.htm  

ETA: to understand social work in the UK, see http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/social_worker_job_description.jsp if it hasn't already been mentioned

Have you considered an Irish Working Holiday maker visa just to work there? Again, I think social work may be a protected title there and the economy is not great, but it'd be a great experience! There are links about Irish social work in the thread I originally quoted/ cited.

http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=73713

What is your first (undergrad) degree in? What are your areas of postgraduate interest? Perhaps if you chose an academic degree rather than a professional degree, you would have less difficulties about the issues of transferability I identified. Then you could come over as a student, providing you met all the relevant eligibility criteria.

To look / search postgrad courses, see http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Find_courses_and_research_gs/p!eefXfmd  

And lastly:

Or are you eligible for citizenship of an EU country? http://europa.eu/ to live / work / study in the UK: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/

HTH.  

Thanks mapleleafgirl!

My undergrad is in Human Development & Family Science--basically social work, but learning about individuals in the context of family dynamics.  We learn about people from all stages of the lifespan, so I have quite a bit of knowledge in terms of children, adolescents, adults, and the aging population.

King's College does a gerontology degree that I thought looked fascinating, perhaps I can look into that.

The Irish Holiday sounds interesting, I think I'll give a look into that

I don't believe I'm eligible for citizenship of an EU country based on the fact that I don't have any recent ancestry there...skilled workers is an area I could look into but requires a lot of research into jobs.  I'm wondering if I should perhaps look into a temp agency within the UK as a start.  I don't know. 

Thanks again for all your help and knowledge on the subject.  I will look into these today!

Temp agencies are unfortunately unlikely to look at you unless you are in the UK with an appropriate visa.

In your shoes, I'd consider, in no particular order:

1. BUNAC

2. the Irish Working Holiday visa

3. coming to the UK as a postgraduate student in an academic, but non professional area with a student visa

RE: Gerontology:
You might be interested in European Master in Gerontology offered partially at Keele University:
http://www.eumag.org/content/view/51/69/
http://www.eumag.org/content/view/21/38/
http://www.keele.ac.uk/research/lcs/csg/courses/index.htm

4. or do an American MSW and consider applying for social work jobs in child protection, if that field remains on the job shortage list for work permits in whatever form may exist in the UK, as the immigration process is ever changing.  

5. you could still look into a MA / MSc in Social Work at a British university. I'd just do my homework to make sure:
a) places aren't kept for British citizens / ILR holder and EU citizens
b) that the degree is transferable to practice in the US: any states that you may wish to ever practice in - keeping in mind this is a changing landscape
c) that you have the savings to do this
See http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/coursesearch/ and search postgraduate entry. I personally still recommend York, Lancaster and UEA.


What types of jobs would / could you do in the US with a Human Development & Family Science degree? If we knew this, maybe we could advise better on the areas of work that may be relevant / roughly equivalent for you here in the UK. Unfortunately, I think a lot of jobs here with children or in psychology are fairly heavily regulated, so it'd be hard to get a qualified post.  

Best of luck.  

I don't want to be discouraging, but I'm another social worker who would definitely recommend the MSW in the States over a UK degree.  You can easily get the qualifications you want here with a US MSW and be able to work here, but I personally wouldn't be as happy with the training.  Social workers have good training, but there are so many less kinds of positions here than they do in the States.  There are handfuls of social work posts that aren't just in grass roots traditional positions (like child protection), but they are hard to come by. 

I'll admit that I struggle with the perceptions of social work here and so preferred the vast array of opportunities that were open to me as a MSW qualified social worker in the States.  While there are things I've liked about living and working here, if it were just up to my work, I'd have gone home long ago.  I'm happy here with my marriage and home, but I had much better possibilities professionally in the States. 

I say, absolutely, come work here in the UK, but I think in the long run you'd be better off with taking a year or two first for a MSW there then coming here.  Then you know that somewhere down the road should you change your mind you will have a broader education that allows you to do more kinds of things if you burn out in the traditional fields.

Thanks for piping up, Cadenza!   It's good to get someone's perspective who has an  American social work education.  

If you want to travel, study or have international experience, to me the priority would be these options:

1. BUNAC

2. the Irish Working Holiday visa

3. coming to the UK as a postgraduate student in an academic, but non professional area with a student visa

RE: Gerontology:
You might be interested in European Master in Gerontology offered partially at Keele University:
http://www.eumag.org/content/view/51/69/
http://www.eumag.org/content/view/21/38/
http://www.keele.ac.uk/research/lcs/csg/courses/index.htm

If you do one of the above and still want to be a social worker, then I still stand by this:

TBH, I think doing an American MSW is probably better in your situation. You still may be eligible for a work permit maybe if child protection remains on the shortage list by the time you do graduate and you register with the appropriate Social Care Council (professional registering body in the UK for social work).

I think one'd have to ask themselves, do you want to be a social worker, regardless of where you live?

Studying in the UK as a social worker would be my last option.  Besides the transferability issue, UK social work education is very, very different from Canadian or American social work education, as highlighted by Cadenza and also my input here, as cited previously:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=54677.msg780595#msg780595   

Really, it sounds like you need to consider two things to decide what you want to do (besides the financial implications):

1. what do you want professionally / educationally in the long term?

2. what kind of 'change of scenery' are you after?

I will third that!

I have a BSW and MSW from the US. I have been practice teachers for BA and MA students and I am finishing off my post qualifying diploma in SW too. My university promotes the generalist SW education philosophy. This means they train up social workers to be fit for work in any field. In the UK, you pick children and families or adults. The C+F route is getting a lot of criticism these days because of high profile cases in the press. That has had a knock on effect on placements, after all what over worked SW wants to take on a student SW, and what you are being taught. They are constantly changing the bar in the UK. The MSW is rock solid compared to all of the changes going on here. Even the new PQ diploma I am finishing is undergoing new changes!

I think you will do yourself a massive favor if you stay in the US and get the MSW.

Economically it makes sense because you won't have to pay international fees and you can find part time work while you study or even keep a job you have now.

Academically it makes sense because you already have a foundation in American social policy and culture. You won't have to learn to write in the British academic way (which is trickier than you may think!) or learn from scratch British policy and how that applies to British society. An American MSW will get you further in the long run particularly if you want to move back to the states or even change countries.

Emotionally it makes sense because you will not be facing as many difficult life changes all at once... cultural, social, academic, financial etc.

Good luck!

All good points, Olive! 

You won't have to learn to write in the British academic way (which is trickier than you may think!) or learn from scratch British policy and how that applies to British society.

Good luck!

There's loads of suggestions regarding how to deal with British policy and legislation in the Calling All Social Workers Thread. 

Hope you figure out what works for you, Katelyn!