December 2002
News

Funding boost for Social Work students

Social work students on a new Honours degree course at Bradford will benefit from a new bursary scheme worth at least £3,000 per year.

The funding will be available as part of the BA (Hons) course in Social Work, which is due to commence in 2003. The University is one of the first in the region to get accreditation for the course.

The bursary, at least an average of £3,000 per annum plus tuition fees, will be available to all students who do not receive payments from LEAs or employers. This includes a flat rate allowance of £500 per year to meet the cost of travelling to practice placements.

The University previously offered a Diploma in Social Work with an Applied Social Sciences degree which proved very popular with students. Graduates from the course have gone on to careers working with children and adults in the statutory, voluntary and private sector in fields such as child protection, family work, fostering and adoption, care management and drug and alcohol services.

The new course is approved by the General Social Care Council (GSCC), the accreditation body for social work training. It will differ from the Diploma in that students will undergo assessed practice learning in the form of 200 days' work experience in two contrasting settings and with at least two different client groups.

The three-year full-time degree combines a general grounding in social sciences with practical experience to enable graduates to enter a professional career in social work. As a graduate social worker students will be able to synthesise theory and practice, and apply this to the personal and structural dimensions of human distress and oppression.

Course Tutor, Pat Wilkinson, said: "There is increasing demand for well-trained graduates in this area and the job prospects are plentiful. A well-trained social worker can, and does, make a positive difference to the quality of people's lives at times when they most need help and support. Social work is recognised as an important and valued professional career."

• For further details logon to www.bradford.ac.uk/acad/socsci For further information contact Julie Meek on (01274) (23)3072 or email j.k.meek@bradford.ac.uk

3 December 2002

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