Students lack information about new degree

Lack of information about which universities are offering the
new social work degree course this coming academic year could leave
potential social work students without a place, writes
Katie Leason.

According to the General Social Care Council, the body
responsible for regulating social work training, 63 universities in
England have been “licensed” to offer the new
degree-level professional qualification from the autumn.

However, despite A-level results being due out this week and the
opening of the university clearing system, the GSCC website has
failed to list all the universities taking students this year.

It recommends that potential students hoping for a place
“ring the university concerned to find out its exact
arrangements for running the new degree”, such as the entry
requirements and the course content. The GSCC added that it
“does not duplicate” the role of the Universities and
Colleges Admissions Service or the Social Work Admission System in
providing information to students about where they can study.

Some of those universities whose details have not been updated
on the GSCC website have been forced to drum up business
themselves, with Bradford University sending out a press release
encouraging students to apply for its social work course through
clearing and Hertfordshire University setting up an online
application facility.

Other universities that will be offering social work degree
places through clearing, but whose details are out of date on the
GSCC website include the University of Lincoln, which estimates
that 10 of its 72 places will be available, and Anglia Polytechnic
University, which expects a quarter of its 160 places to be
available.

Elsewhere, meanwhile, many social work degree courses are
already full, with one reporting more than 500 applications for its
15 places.