Why choose the School of Society, Community and Health
Accredited by Social Work England; this accreditation is needed to practise as a professional social worker.
This 19-month course is designed as an entry route to a social work qualification for those with an undergraduate degree in any subject and experience in social work/care.
In the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2025, our social sciences courses rank in the UK top 10 in their subject field for teaching (3rd); organisation and feedback (6th); and student engagement (6th).
About the course
This Social Work PgDip prepares you to work in a rapidly changing, complex and unpredictable sector, offering the most up-to-the-minute knowledge, skills and practice. With a focus on applying theory to practice, it combines work-placement experience, practical skills development and academic study. The course equips you with the skills, ethical principles, deep knowledge, critical awareness and reflexivity needed to both develop your existing knowledge and experience, and support you to pursue a career in this challenging and rewarding field.
Find out if you are eligible for a Social Work Bursary administered by the NHS Business Services Authority.
Course accreditation
Our Social Work courses are accredited by Social Work England. This accreditation is needed to practise in the sector.
Facilities and specialist equipment
Access to the Faculty’s range of fully immersive simulation units, moot court, and police custody suite and interview room, preparing you to respond to and manage a range of scenarios.
Industry links
Strong links with local authorities including Luton, Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes and Hertfordshire, giving a wide choice of placement opportunities.
The University’s XBX Group (experts by experience) ensure the voices of those with lived experience of social work services are incorporated into all aspects of the course.
Your student experience
Learn the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to be a qualified social worker, working with adults and children in the private, voluntary and independent sectors.
Benefit from intensive, hands-on experience of working in a social work role through placements in a local authority. All placements are under constant development with our employer partners.
Explore the role of social work; its inter-relationship with other disciplines; and the ethical base for practice where initiative must be balanced with accountability.
Develop a deep and systematic understanding of current theoretical and methodological approaches, and acquire the skills necessary for analytical, research-informed practice.
Gain the skills in critical reflexivity and emotional literacy that underpin collaborative social work practice and proactive professional development.
Benefit from classroom and placement activities that develop your collaborative and communication abilities, showing you how they can be applied to complex tasks.
Developing academic and professional social work - Use your knowledge and skills to complete a set of tasks, showing you are ready to take on a placement.
Social work law and ethical perspectives on society - Look at the legal, ethical, policy, and social aspects of social work.
Reflective professional social work practice - Apply theoretical approaches in practice and be able to reflect critically on your experience of using them.
Research Informed Social Work Practice - Show you can plan, deliver and improve social work services, and develop strategies for transformation and change.
The course is assessed using a range of methods including formally assessed papers, assignments, case studies, group and individual presentations, research based work and evidence drawn from learning in the work place. All unit assessments will draw on your experiences in the work place in order to embed the integration of theory and practice.
These methods are designed to test you in all the areas necessary for professionally capable practice as qualified Social Workers as well as the academic disciplines underpinning such practice. Through the use of a variety of assessment methods you will be able to demonstrate a wide range of key skills for both academic and practice capability. Representatives of students’ sponsoring authorities and service users and carers will be fully involved in all relevant assessment tasks to ensure that your learning is assessed against the requirements of the profession. Formal Practice Learning will be assessed over two periods of work-based learning in a variety of social work and related settings.
All students qualifying with the Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work are required to meet both the SWE Professional Standards (2020) and the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF)(BASW 2018). In order to ensure this, the course and unit learning outcomes have been carefully designed to meet and are clearly mapped to both the SWE Professional Standards (2020) and the PCF. This information is contained in the course handbook as well as unit information and practice learning documents to ensure that you understand and know what you need to evidence in order to meet these professional requirements.
Careers
Approved by Social Work England (SWE), this course opens up a rewarding career path. Successful graduates are eligible to apply to the social work regulator Social Work England for professional registration. Once registered, you can pursue a professional social work career across a range of settings including within local authorities and many private and voluntary agencies throughout the UK.
After completing this PgDip, you also have the option to continue with your postgraduate studies with our part-time MProf Social Work Practice
Fees for this course
UK
The standard fee for a Postgraduate Diploma for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £6,700.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Scholarship Available
The University of Bedfordshire is proud of its alumni and is delighted to offer a tuition fee discount for those who choose to continue or return to the University for on campus Postgraduate level studies.
We offer a 20% discount on full and part-time Masters courses to those who were successful in completing an Honours Degree with the University of Bedfordshire, DMU’s Bedford campus or the University of Luton.
International
The standard fee for a Postgraduate Diploma for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £11,300.
if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Fees for this course
UK
The standard fee for a Postgraduate Diploma for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £6,700.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Scholarship Available
The University of Bedfordshire is proud of its alumni and is delighted to offer a tuition fee discount for those who choose to continue or return to the University for on campus Postgraduate level studies.
We offer a 20% discount on full and part-time Masters courses to those who were successful in completing an Honours Degree with the University of Bedfordshire, DMU’s Bedford campus or the University of Luton.
International
The standard fee for a Postgraduate Diploma for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £11,300.
if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
