The School of Social Sciences and International Studies offers a five-year double degree leading to the award of Bachelor of Social Work Bachelor of Arts. The BSW BA provides an opportunity for students to undertake all the courses required for the Bachelor of Social Work program, as well as 60 units of credit from the Bachelor of Arts program, including an approved major sequence of 42 units of credit (see List A of the BA rules).

The Bachelor of Social Work is designed to prepare students for the professional practice of social work including work in the wider field of welfare. The essence of social work is working with people, including individuals, couples, families, groups, organisations or communities and this will span people of any age, from any walk of life, or from any ethnic or racial background.

The program is as follows:

Pass Degree
To qualify for the award of the degree at Pass level, a student must obtain, normally over five years of study, a minimum of 240 units of credit in approved courses including:

1. the prescribed sequences in Social Work courses and electives;

2. a total of 48 Level 1 units of credit;

3. no more than 12 Level 1 units of credit in any one sequence of study, from Lists A, B or C of the BA Rules, other than SOCW courses;

4. a major sequence of 42 units of credit from List A of the BA Rules;

5. 12 units of credit from the General Education program.

6. The Pass degree Bachelor of Social Work Bachelor of Arts may be awarded with Distinction where a candidate has achieved a weighted average mark (WAM) of at least 75% in all courses completed since enrolment at UNSW which are credited towards the degree.

Honours Degree
To qualify for the award of the degree at Honours level in the Bachelor of Social Work or Bachelor of Arts, a student must have satisfactorily completed a prescribed period of extra study.

The Honours degree is awarded in three classes (Class 1, Class 2 in two Divisions and Class 3). Students who fail to obtain one of these classes may proceed to graduate with the Pass degree.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html

An integral aspect of the program 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 Year 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.

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

It is a requirement that students who are undertaking placements in certain government departments and related organisation undergo a security check.