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what kind of work experience do you need to do to study social work?

I'm currently about to start my A2s, just got my AS results (I got AAAC), and I'm looking to study social work at Bath Uni. On all the uni websites it says they want relevant work experience before going to uni, please could someone tell me what kind of work experience I need to do to apply for Social Work in 2015?
ANY advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks :-)
Xx
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Henna_mb
I'm currently about to start my A2s, just got my AS results (I got AAAC), and I'm looking to study social work at Bath Uni. On all the uni websites it says they want relevant work experience before going to uni, please could someone tell me what kind of work experience I need to do to apply for Social Work in 2015?
ANY advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks :-)
Xx


Hi, social work requires you to have experience with a wide variety of people who are classed as vulnerable and in different settings.

People who are classed as vulnerable:

- Children/adults with disabilities.
- Children/adults who are disadvantaged.
-Children/adults with mental health issues.
- Carers.
- Young people/adults who are dependent on substances.
- People with health conditions.
- Homeless people.
- People in the criminal justice system.
- Elderly people.

There are a lot!

You should get experience in a wide range of settings such as schools, care homes, respite centres, in the community, youth clubs etc.

If you need any more help, reply or I'll give you the link to my blog post about experience.

Sophie.


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Reply 2
Original post by Henna_mb
I'm currently about to start my A2s, just got my AS results (I got AAAC), and I'm looking to study social work at Bath Uni. On all the uni websites it says they want relevant work experience before going to uni, please could someone tell me what kind of work experience I need to do to apply for Social Work in 2015?
ANY advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks :-)
Xx


Hi!
I have just had my place confirmed at chester university to study social work in September so I went through the gruelling process of interviews and experience needed this year.

Personally I had a lot of experience working with a young boy living with Down syndrome at my dancing school. I have worked wth him for the past 5 years and so I was able to count this towards my experience.

However most universities look for a range of experience within the social work sector. So I also arranged some placements. Some universities prefer you to personally arrange and take part in experience rather than doing it as a formal placement set up by your school or college as this shows you are committed in finding your own experiences.

I did a weeks volunteering in an old peoples home for dementia and Parkinson's sufferers. And also did around 10 weeks visiting the Local YMCA young children with disabilities youth club one night a week.

I had 4 interviews with universities for the social work courses and got offered a place in 3. If you need any more advice for anything please let me know! I was desperate for advice when going through this same process.

Hope this helps :-)
Reply 3
Original post by sophieleannexo
Hi, social work requires you to have experience with a wide variety of people who are classed as vulnerable and in different settings.

People who are classed as vulnerable:

- Children/adults with disabilities.
- Children/adults who are disadvantaged.
-Children/adults with mental health issues.
- Carers.
- Young people/adults who are dependent on substances.
- People with health conditions.
- Homeless people.
- People in the criminal justice system.
- Elderly people.

There are a lot!

You should get experience in a wide range of settings such as schools, care homes, respite centres, in the community, youth clubs etc.

If you need any more help, reply or I'll give you the link to my blog post about experience.

Sophie.


Posted from TSR Mobile


Hi sophie thanks for your reply it was really helpful! I am really worried that I am running out of time though, I have only recently decided that I wanted to do social work so I didn't really have the time over summer to organise it! Do you think I would be able to get work experience in the short time that I have? Also does it matter how many hours I have completed?
Thanks a lot,

Henna
Reply 4
Original post by elliemayh
Hi!
I have just had my place confirmed at chester university to study social work in September so I went through the gruelling process of interviews and experience needed this year.

Personally I had a lot of experience working with a young boy living with Down syndrome at my dancing school. I have worked wth him for the past 5 years and so I was able to count this towards my experience.

However most universities look for a range of experience within the social work sector. So I also arranged some placements. Some universities prefer you to personally arrange and take part in experience rather than doing it as a formal placement set up by your school or college as this shows you are committed in finding your own experiences.

I did a weeks volunteering in an old peoples home for dementia and Parkinson's sufferers. And also did around 10 weeks visiting the Local YMCA young children with disabilities youth club one night a week.

I had 4 interviews with universities for the social work courses and got offered a place in 3. If you need any more advice for anything please let me know! I was desperate for advice when going through this same process.

Hope this helps :-)


That was really helpful thanks a lot! I think there a few things I can organise in time for applying but I'm just worried that I'm not going to have enough work experience for when I apply! Do you think I will have enough time to organise some volunteering/work experience?
Thanks so much,
Henna
Original post by Henna_mb
Hi sophie thanks for your reply it was really helpful! I am really worried that I am running out of time though, I have only recently decided that I wanted to do social work so I didn't really have the time over summer to organise it! Do you think I would be able to get work experience in the short time that I have? Also does it matter how many hours I have completed?
Thanks a lot,

Henna


No problem and you aren't running out of time. You'll be able to get work experience of course. It only matters how many hours you have if you want to go to a university that specifies in the entry requirements that you need to have a certain amount of hours.

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Reply 6
I'm working full time as a care worker in a nursing home. It has 5 different units, so I've had experience in working with Dementia patients, critical care, challenging behaviour residents. Would you expect this to be good enough experience or would I need to do some voluntary work with others, children maybe?

I got BBC in my A levels in Human Biology, P.E and Psychology. The grades are good enough to get into some uni's (I'm looking at Derby, Sheffield Hallam and Swansea). I don't think any specify what subjects you need to have A Levels in.

I've also recently started doing Level 2 NVQ in Health and Social care with my work, but I'm not sure I'll have completed it in time for next year
Reply 7
Original post by Henna_mb
That was really helpful thanks a lot! I think there a few things I can organise in time for applying but I'm just worried that I'm not going to have enough work experience for when I apply! Do you think I will have enough time to organise some volunteering/work experience?
Thanks so much,
Henna





Hi, what universities did you apply to? And could you give some tips for the interview process, tests and group interview?

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