MA Social Work

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £10,500
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £27,800

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

The fees quoted will be fully inclusive for the course tuition and administration costs during your studies.

All fees will be subject to yearly review. For information visit postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1,000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

Travel costs for placements during the programme across Greater Manchester and the wider north west region can be expensive and should be included in your cost calculations. The Transport for Greater Manchester website can help you estimate costs to different sites.

Placement transport costs are normally covered via NHS bursaries and students not eligible to claim bursaries are usually able to claim placement travel costs.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

UK government funded bursaries and loans

The UK government usually provides a number of bursaries to postgraduate Social Work students on an MA. These are primarily for home students and will be for both years of study, administered by the NHS Business Service Authority

Should students be in receipt of a bursary they will, at the point of registration, be expected to pay to the University any difference between tuition fees and the bursary contribution. Applicants should apply for a bursary when they accept our offer of a place on the course.

Postgraduate students who do not receive NHS bursaries may be entitled to apply for a Postgraduate Master's Loan .

For the latest scholarship and bursary information please visit the fees and funding page.

International scholarships

Schorships for international students are available through the Global Futures scheme. Visit the scholarship page to find out more about eligibility and how to apply.

The student will spend 70 days in an approved social work setting where s/he will undertake direct practice with service users. Prior to this the student will complete a defined number of skills days and be required to pass 'Assessed Readiness for Direct Practice'. This will be assessed through the Observed Structured Assessment, which includes simulated interviews and written work.

• Ensure that students understand and develop the skills and knowledge necessary to meet the Social Work England Professional Standards by the time they complete the course.
• Enable students to achieve and demonstrate the Professional Capability Framework (PCF) domains for the end first placement held by British Association of Social Workers (BASW).
• To provide a social work experience that facilitates the integration of theory and practice.

• Shadowing experienced practitioners
• Supervised and/ or observed work with service users
• Supervision with practice educator
• Peer supervision.
• Reading of case work undertaken by experienced practitioners
• Specific agency/ service user group related training provided by the agency
• Use of agency intranet as a resource for information.

• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of current research and advanced scholarship and apply it to social work practice.
• Understand and with guidance, apply in practice, the principles of social justice, inclusion and equality. 

• Demonstrate the ability to reflect critically on own and others’ professional practice
• Inform decision making through the identification and gathering of information from more than one source and, with support, question its reliability and validity
• Evaluate and review hypotheses in response to information available at the time and apply, with support, in practice.

Demonstrate the Social Work England Professional Standards and the PCF domains for the end of first placement. 

SWE Professional Standards:

• Promote the rights, strengths and wellbeing of people, families and communities. 
• Establish and maintain the trust and confidence of people. 
• Be accountable for the quality of my practice and the decisions I make. 
• Maintain my continuing professional development.
• Act safely, respectfully and with professional integrity. 
• Promote ethical practice and report concerns.  

Professional Capability Framework domains: 

• Professionalism 
• Values and ethics 
• Diversity 
• Rights, Justice and Economic Wellbeing 
• Knowledge 
• Critical Reflection and Analysis 
• Intervention and Skills 
• Contexts and Organisations 
• Professional leadership 

• Build good working relationships with a variety of service users and carers and use appropriately a range of communication skills.
• Work effectively with others within the organisational context
• Recognise personal and organisational discrimination and oppression and the importance of respect for diversity
• Communicate effectively information, advice, instruction and professional opinion
• Build and conclude compassionate and effective relationships appropriate to the placement setting

Students will normally have the opportunity to receive feedback on formative work submitted to the online portfolio - Practice Assessment Record & Evaluation (PARE) prior to the summative assessment. Online summative feedback is provided in PARE. Provisional feedback based on internal marking will be made available prior to the Exam Board on the basis that these marks are yet to be ratified at the Exam Board and therefore may be subject to change. PARE provides detailed and constructive feedback on each component and aspect of the assessment and identifies areas of strength and those aspects which could be enhanced. Student feedback is obtained via the online student Quality Assurance Practice Learning (QAPL) and the University unit evaluation forms at the end of the unit.