One in ten social work courses still have places

Only 23 (13%) of the 179 social work degree courses on offer throughout the UK still have spaces in clearing for A-level students who did not gain their first or second choice course, according to university admissions body UCAS.

Students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive their A-level results today, but students in Scotland received them last week.

Those wishing to study part-time will find the market for places even more competitive because there is only one course with part-time places available.

Ray Jones, professor of social work at Kingston University, said 13% was actually quite a high proportion of courses. However, he warned that this did not necessarily equate to a high proportion of places, because some of the courses may only have a few places left to offer.

“The proportion of places is likely to be significantly lower than the proportion of courses with places available,” he said.

Jones added that social work students should make sure they sell themselves when applying for courses, as the market is becoming increasingly competitive.

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