Curious about studying Master of Social Work (MSW)at Kingston University? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
MSW - Master of Social Work
Kingston Hill
Full Time
Sep 2026
2 Year
Studying Social Work at Kingston will accelerate your path towards a career with the potential to change lives for the better. Social workers are highly sought after, and this qualification will open opportunities in everything from children’s services and community care to criminal justice and mental health.You’ll learn from social work academics, researchers, expert practitioners and people with lived experience across a range of specialist social work fields. Through a blend of theory and practice, you’ll deepen your expertise in your chosen specialism and equip yourself with a range of skills.Prepare for transformative learning experiences in a supportive, inclusive environment. You’ll follow a psycho-social and life-course approach, encouraging critical thinking and anti-discriminatory practice in response to people and community needs.Teaching will come from fully qualified experts, many of whom are also practitioners.On successful completion of this course, you’ll be able to apply to register with Social Work England to work as a qualified social worker.Many of our graduates have even transferred their qualification across the globe, with former students currently working in the USA, Canada and Australia.
This module will enable you to build on your core skills and deepen your knowledge of diverse practice contexts by developing a critical understanding of the factors that impact on provision of social work services. In this module, you will develop an understanding of key contemporary issues in social work and gain awareness of how these developments underpin the provision of social work services, and the implications when applying social work theory. Learning will involve applying concepts from theory and research in lectures, interactive workshops, investigatory experiences and through formative and summative assignments.
The focus of this module is to enable you to develop theoretical foundational knowledge of social work assessment and intervention methods, informed by psychological and sociological theories, and research. You will develop core skills to analyse and explain situations, draw hypotheses about potential outcomes, and select intervention methods to achieve desired outcomes. You will also develop skills in communication and knowledge in building, maintaining and sustaining relationships as well as critical reflection and analysis in order to evaluate interventions' effectiveness. Learning will involve applying concepts from theory and research in lectures, interactive workshops, and role plays in the skills lab, investigatory experiences and through formative and summative assignments.
This module is a practice placement of seventy days, undertaken in an agency within the statutory or voluntary sector. We organise this placement for you, with the help of our Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership. You will be working alongside qualified social workers and social care staff and provided with learning opportunities. You will be supported and supervised by practice learning staff in your placement setting. You will be expected to evidence your developing practice throughout your placement, which will be assessed against the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF).
This module will enable you to gain an understanding of human development that is underpinned by the value of difference and diversity. A life course perspective will inform the content of the module, incorporating key theoretical frameworks and research findings. There will be a critical focus on the interaction of social, political, cultural, economic and environmental influences on people's lives. Ideas of normative development, including key milestones in childhood and adolescence, will therefore be underpinned by a critical understanding of structural inequalities, which may affect individual development and perpetuate the difficulties experienced by some groups and communities. Relevance to social work will be highlighted through case studies, targeted reading, and facilitated discussions. Experiential and reflective learning will be promoted through a structured child observation task and reflective seminars.
This module introduces law, ethics, and policy for social work, starting with a brief introduction to social work as a discipline and practice within global and national contexts. Understanding historical developments that led to changes to policy and legal frameworks is central to developing your appreciation for the role and professional responsibilities entrusted to social workers.
This module runs before your first practice placement. It focuses on skills, knowledge and reflection to prepare you for social work practice. It is an interactive module with skills workshops that enable you to work with People with Lived Experience, practice educators, and practitioners. You will learn about the role and tasks of social workers and develop professional skills in verbal and written communication, and in reflection. You will have the opportunity to receive formative feedback on your developing skills, knowledge, and reflection. People with Lived Experience provide simulated social work interviews with you.
You will explore existing research and analyse an area of inquiry that has relevance for social work. Through your capstone project, you are expected to contribute to existing research and social work knowledge concerning the topic selected. Following selection of your topic, you will read widely and build up a relevant literature review of research and publication in the area. You will link your literature review to relevant implications for the social work profession.
This module is a final practice placement of one hundred days, undertaken in an agency within the statutory or voluntary sector. We organise this placement for you, with the help of our Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership. You will be working alongside qualified social workers and social care staff and provided with learning opportunities to develop your autonomous practice. You will be supported and supervised by practice learning staff in your placement setting. You will build on your previous placement experience and knowledge and continue to evidence your practice to meet the requirements of the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) at the final placement level.
You will undertake an in-depth organisational study in a chosen area of special interest that has relevance to social work. Potential areas of study are specialist therapeutic interventions, rights, justice, promoting the wellbeing of service users, service user engagement; social work in allied health settings, social work and supra national organisations, management and quality assurance of services. These studies can be taken in a national or international context which will enable you to draw comparisons between different modes of service delivery and evaluate these.
4.1Kingston University is superbly placed for students to take advantage of London's many activities and attractions, as we...
