The Bachelor of Social Work with Honours (UNSW BSW Hons) offers you an innovative and accredited program leading to eligibility for membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). The UNSW BSW Hons includes studies in the areas of social work practice, social and behavioural sciences, and contextual studies. The program includes a number of courses aimed at the development of research skills, including research design and methodology, and every student completes a piece of independent or directed research or a professional practice portfolio as part of the Honours requirement.

The UNSW BSW Hons draws on the extensive expertise and experience of qualified Social Work practitioners to deliver a unique combination of scholarly and practice-based courses. Students also undertake two separate field placements in Years 3 and 4 of the degree to gain the necessary practical experience.

The UNSW BSW Hons can be completed full-time in Single mode (normally 4 years) or in Dual mode (the equivalent of 3.5 years full-time). The BSW Hons program is offered as a full-time program of study. Part-time variation is not recommended due to course sequencing and the number of course pre- and co-requisites in the program. The basic requirements of the program are simple. The BSW has a depth component and a breadth component. Students enrolled in Single mode do both the depth and breadth component while students enrolled in Dual mode only complete the depth component.

The Depth component (Blue Zone) is:

The Breadth requirement (for students completing the program in Single mode) (Green Zone) are:

At the end of the program, students should have achieved all of the following learning outcomes:

The basic requirements for the degree are:

Single mode (192 UOC) made up of:

Dual mode (168 UOC) made up of:

Dual mode is available in 4045 Social Work (Honours)/Arts, 4034 Social Work (Honours)/Criminology & Criminal Justice, 4044 Social Work (Honours)/Social Research & Policy, and 4787 Social Work (Honours)/Law.

Directed or independent research is integrated into SOCW4014 to meet the requirements of both AQF Level 8 Bachelors degree with Honours and the AASW.

Field Education

An integral aspect of the program core is organised learning in the field and this is a basic requirement for the professional recognition of the degree. In the field education courses, a field educator, usually in a social welfare agency, is responsible for a student learning to apply the principles of professional practice in an actual practice setting. From level 3, a total of 140 seven-hour days are taken up in this way. Forty of these days are scheduled during academic recess periods. A student's two field education placements are in more than one type of practice setting. The settings vary and can include medical, psychiatric, local government, community health, community, family and child welfare, services to groups with disabilities, services to the aged, services to migrants, income security, and corrective services. Non-government social welfare agencies and all levels of government are utilised. For some students, their second field education placement may be located outside the Sydney metropolitan area. SOCW3011 and SOCW4014 are the designated field education courses.

Free Electives

A Free Elective is any course offered either within or outside UNSW Arts and Social Sciences in which the student is able to enrol.

ARTS2050 Academic Writing for the Humanities (6 UOC)
HUMS1005 Personalised English Language Enhancement (6 UOC)

These courses, ARTS2050 and HUMS1005, can be counted as UNSW Arts and Social Sciences Prescribed Electives or Free Electives.

General Education requirement for Internal Dual Mode programs

Because both Dual programs are internal to UNSW Arts and Social Sciences the General Education (GE) Exemption for dual programs does not apply.

University Medal

An honours student in this program may be nominated for a University Medal in line with the University Medal Policy http://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/policy/documents/medalspolicy.pdf and Procedures http://www.gs.unsw.edu.au/policy/documents/medalsprocedure.pdf.

TAFE Credit Transfer

Students admitted to the Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) who have completed an approved TAFE diploma are eligible for credit transfer. Slightly different credit transfers apply to students enrolled in dual degrees. For further information see https://socialsciences.arts.unsw.edu.au/disciplines/social-work/tafe-credit-transfer/.

Participation and Enrolment Requirements

Working with Children Check

The Working With Children Check is valid for five years. It is a requirement for all students and is specifically designed for people who work or volunteer in child-related work. It involves a national criminal history check and a review of findings of workplace misconduct. The result of a Working With Children Check is either a clearance to work with children for five years, or a bar against working with children. Cleared applicants are subject to ongoing monitoring and relevant new records may lead to the clearance being revoked. The Working With Children Check is fully portable so it can be used for any paid or unpaid child-related work in NSW for as long as the worker remains cleared.

You can apply for their Working With Children Check (WWCC) number on the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian website. To be eligible for a WWCC you will have to show proof of identity to a NSW Motor Registry or Council Agency. For more information you may access the online tutorials and fact sheets at http://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/Working-with-children/working-with-children-check

National Criminal Record Check

A National Criminal Record Check is valid for three years. You must undergo a National Criminal Record Check and provide an original copy of the Check results to the Work Integrated Learning Unit. The result of a Working With Children Check is either that there are ‘no disclosable outcomes’, or that there are ‘disclosable outcomes’ which are then detailed in the certificate. If you have a disclosable outcome(s) on your criminal record check you will need to undergo a risk assessment. Please contact the Work Integrated Learning Unit for further information about this.

All placement students are subject to ongoing monitoring and must disclose new ‘disclosable outcomes’ to the Work Integrated Learning Unit. Some agencies (e.g NSW Health) only accept National Criminal Record Checks obtained through specific accredited agencies.
Compliance with NSW Health Vaccination Requirements (NSW Health funded placements)

In order to undertake placement in a NSW Health funded facility, you need to demonstrate evidence of protection against the following diseases:

• Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough)
• Hepatitis B
• Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
• Varicella (chickenpox)
• Tuberculosis (TB) - As specified on the Vaccination Card, this check is only required if you were born in a country with a high incidence of TB, or you have lived or travelled in a high risk TB country cumulatively for 3 months or more.

Evidence of protection against these diseases must be recorded on the NSW Health vaccination card by a GP and serology reports must be provide for some diseases (reports from your doctor where protection is measured in your blood).

Green P Drivers Licence

Many agencies require that students have a Green P Drivers Licence or above. Although it is not compulsory to have a NSW Drivers License to undertake placement, it is an essential requirement for social work tasks in most agencies. Not having a Green P or unrestricted Driver’s License will significantly limit student placement options.

Single Mode

To qualify for the award of the degree at Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) level, a student must:

Dual Mode

To qualify for the award of the degree at Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) level, a student must:

Honours

Honours will be awarded in the following classes, based on the student's WAM rounded to the nearest whole number:

The award will be calculated on the basis of the WAM for Level 3 and 4 Program Core courses in Social Work, with the selected Honours course (SOCW4015 or SOCW4016) weighted as 24 units of credit to recognise integration of learning with professional practice in SOCW4014.

Exit Strategies

Students unable to meet the requirements of either SOCW3011 or SOCW4014 may exit the program and enrol in the Bachelor of Welfare Studies. It should be noted that this program does not provide eligibility for membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers.

Professional Recognition

Graduates with the degree of Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) from UNSW are eligible for membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  UNSW Fee Website.

The Academic Rules for the UNSW BSW Hons and the online enrolment facility provide students with a wide range of course choices. The online enrolment facility checks that students meet the enrolment requirements for individual courses but not that a course complies with Program Rules. Students are responsible for ensuring they are enrolling in accordance with the Academic Rules outlined above. Students should not assume that because they have enrolled in a course online that the course is automatically credited to their degree program.

Contact the UNSW Arts and Social Sciences Student Centre for advice.
Tel: + 61 2 9385 2289
Email: arts@unsw.edu.au
Location: Room G1 Ground Floor, Morven Brown building (C20)
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
Frequently asked questions