Rejected from all 6 unis for Social Work (Chance of clearing)

Hey all,

I did not study a social work related course at college but rather a BTEC Nat Cert in Business. I had applied to 6 unis in Birmingham (Don't want to move away from home).

I got 4 straight of rejections from Birmingham (expected), Coventry, Oxford Brooks, Manchester.

However, I attended a group interview at UCE and a video test at Wolverhampton - however I was unsuccessful and am now do not have a place at all.

I decided to apply for social work from personal experience of bullying at school which deeply affected me. I have done a weeks work experience at a junior school in the office.

Now, when I attended the group interview and test everyone very few people were the same age as me, ie alot older than 18. Most of the people had either had personal experience, experience of working with people in a social work related job or had done the access cource. I found out that the course is VERY competitive with about 8 people applying for every one place.

Along with my personal experience, I wanted to become a social worker because it is a profession and you can get a job after the course without much hassle.

I am disappointed that I did not a get a place and get depressed at times thinking about it. My college tutor seen my UCAS application and said that It was the best personal statement she had seen in 16 years of teaching!! I really wanted to go straight from college to uni as I love the student lifestyle.

Now, I am going to try for clearing. I would really like a place at UCE or Wolverhampton as they are very close to me. What are the chances of obtaining a place during clearing????

If I did NOT get a place during clearing (which i figure i wont:-) I could get a years experience by applying for a job with the council for instance for a job related to social work. There are some admin jobs at drug places/ immigration which I could take up for the year and then re-apply.

I have also put my name down for this 'Computer Buddies for Carers' at this centre near me. It is a volunteering opportunity to provide computer help for carers.

So if i did not get a place during clearing would this increase my chance of geting a place NEXT year if I have to re-apply?

Thanks, any advice is welcomed

Reply 40

x_beautyful_x

tabs_pink_laydee

she and i were in the first group, most of us from that group caught the train home together afterwards, most of the people in that group that i spoke to said that birmingham was their first choice. Our group was nice we didint have any god men ROFL and we worked well as a group, everyone spoke and no one got left out. There were two girls that i think were sisters, i remember because i thought they were my age and they were only 18. The panel were lovely and encouarging as well lots of nodding and smiling while we were all talking. I'm not sure if i found it easier because i'd done it before but also because we all sat together in the canteen and got to know each other a bit better before we had the interview. I remember that lady who was pregnant i think she was called sue (dont quote me on it) was really nervous that she would go all silent and not say anything but we promised to ask her a couple of questions so she could find her voice.. which she did.

HAHA yeh my group was lovely too....no 1 dominated it and we got to know each other too before the the actual interview. I agree the panel was lovely at first when i walked in the room and sat down i though oh my gosh 4 people lol but they turned out to be really nice....there was 1 girl that got quite embarresed because she was at the end and the panel asked her how she thought it all went at the end and she couldnt answer so they asked the person next to her and came back to her at the end and she still dint have an answer....aww bless.......Kiran from ur group didnt get in shes the girl whos going to manchester now

Reply 41

slikkstah

Hey, Don't worry I got rejected by my top 4 choices... in the end i decided uni wasn't for me, but then clearing came along, and I got two offers, one being Uni of Bedfordshire, or Manchester Metroplitan University... I stuck to MMU... i'm doing youth work now, so there is a chance but what you have to do is look at your experience in the field... I had personal experiences to back up my 4 years of voluntary work... Ideally you need to have good valuable voluntary experience behind you to help you get into uni... So start doing voluntary work.. it's a bonus because your gaining in experience.

Reply 42

DebraN9

slikkstah

Hey, Don't worry I got rejected by my top 4 choices... in the end i decided uni wasn't for me, but then clearing came along, and I got two offers, one being Uni of Bedfordshire, or Manchester Metroplitan University... I stuck to MMU... i'm doing youth work now, so there is a chance but what you have to do is look at your experience in the field... I had personal experiences to back up my 4 years of voluntary work... Ideally you need to have good valuable voluntary experience behind you to help you get into uni... So start doing voluntary work.. it's a bonus because your gaining in experience.

So you applied for social work as well? Surprised you didn't get in if you had the experience..I got rejected as well, ended up at MMU as well lol...but am doing Health and Social Care instead

Reply 43

Kells

Hey

I am currently holding no offers, as all of my 5 choices have been rejected for Social Work, I am 25 years old, have 1 yrs experience of working with the elderly as a care assistant. But have low A level grades which I completed in 2005. Since then I have become a mother and have acquired more skills and qualities to enable me for study to become a Social Worker.

I now have to enter clearing, and I am so worried that I wont get a place through clearing due to the popularity of the course.

If I am not successful through clearing I dont know what I am going to do, as I really would like to start the course this year as I have the enthusiasm and the motivation to start now.

Has anybody gone through clearing wishing to get onto a Social Work in a similar position?

Reply 44

~ Purple Rose ~

19

Kells

Hey

I am currently holding no offers, as all of my 5 choices have been rejected for Social Work, I am 25 years old, have 1 yrs experience of working with the elderly as a care assistant. But have low A level grades which I completed in 2005. Since then I have become a mother and have acquired more skills and qualities to enable me for study to become a Social Worker.

I now have to enter clearing, and I am so worried that I wont get a place through clearing due to the popularity of the course.

If I am not successful through clearing I dont know what I am going to do, as I really would like to start the course this year as I have the enthusiasm and the motivation to start now.

Has anybody gone through clearing wishing to get onto a Social Work in a similar position?

Did you ask for feedback on why you didn't get offers?

I know someone who got into Royal Holloway a couple of years ago through Clearing. They had a waiting list, but she bypassed that because her grades were above the usual entry requirements. It might be worth contacting unis now to see if they have any places left, or to ask to be considered after results day.

Reply 45

Kells

Hey

I did contact the Universities, which gave me different reasons. One was my Personal Statement was weak and another was that I dont have GCSE Maths. But when talking to my former tutor about other options there are for me, he brought to my attention that I was issued with a certificate for Key Skills Application of Number (equivalent to GCSE Maths) which some uni's do consider.

So once clearing starts I will have to inform the admissions team of this, as I hadnt realised I had this qualification, and hopefully this could support my application further

Thank you for your advise. xx

Reply 46

xhelen1989x

11

Hi, by any chance does anyone know how many Uni's you can apply to do do postgraduate social work? some people have said three, yet it allows you to put six in on UCAS? Thank you...sorry its off topic :smile:

Reply 47

jellybeanjen

16

UCAS only allows up to five choices for undergrad courses, and from what I could see when I filled in my form, there is nothing to stop you applying to the same amount for a MA/MSc Social Work.

Reply 48

xhelen1989x

11

jellybeanjen

UCAS only allows up to five choices for undergrad courses, and from what I could see when I filled in my form, there is nothing to stop you applying to the same amount for a MA/MSc Social Work.

Hey! Yeah sorry I meant five. I'm still undecided where to go but if i have five options that'd be better for me than three so just wanted to make sure. Do you mind me asking how much work experience the uni's actually want? What did Brunel want? Some say one years full time experience in social work..but mines abit disjointed and mainly with children with special needs rather than directly with the social services etc although i do have a few weeks experience there.
What was the interview like at brunel? if you dont mind me asking :smile:

Reply 49

jellybeanjen

16

xhelen1989x

Hey! Yeah sorry I meant five. I'm still undecided where to go but if i have five options that'd be better for me than three so just wanted to make sure. Do you mind me asking how much work experience the uni's actually want? What did Brunel want? Some say one years full time experience in social work..but mines abit disjointed and mainly with children with special needs rather than directly with the social services etc although i do have a few weeks experience there.
What was the interview like at brunel? if you dont mind me asking :smile:

Ask away!

Everyone at my interview seemed to have different experiences - there were people who'd done voluntary work around their first degree or job, one woman with a background in mental health nursing, a registered childminder, a few Social Services employees...you get the picture! It seemed like everyone had at least a year's worth of experience in whatever area they came from. Personally, I have nearly two years working as an administrator in Children's Services but it's mostly indirect contact with service users, so I really didn't think I'd have enough experience. I think they judge a lot on interview and references as well though. Different unis are probably stricter on their requirements.

Brunel carry out group interviews for the Social Work MA. We were all given a week and a half's notice before our interviews. With our interview letter, we were given 4 essay questions and were told that at the interview, we would have 45 minutes to provide a written answer to one of these. The interview lasted about 2 hrs including the 45 min written test. When we arrived at the interview, we were given a topical newspaper article to read. After the test, we had a group discussion on this article. We also individually said to the group what our background as and why we're interested in social work, and what our research interests are/why we think research is important in social work. A panel of 2 lecturers and a service user were assessing us.

I hope that's a little bit helpful to you, and that it makes sense! Where are you thinking of applying? I see you're from Chester, so do you think you'll stay up north or move down south?

Rejected from all 6 unis for Social Work (Chance of clearing)

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