Bachelor of Social Work
Course details
| NZQF Level | 7 |
|---|
About the course
Our Bachelor of Social Work will prepare you to work with people and their environment. You’ll learn about people through their life span, societies and helping traditions from western and indigenous perspectives.
When you study this programme, you’ll learn about people through their life span, societies and helping traditions from both western and indigenous perspectives.
It is designed for people who want to study full-time or part-time by distance learning. It will prepare you to become a confident, analytical and critically reflective practitioner. You will gain the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to work in social services in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Career opportunities
A social worker can be employed as a generic social worker or within a specialist area such as:
- drug or alcohol addiction
- child protection
- schools, disability
- crisis response
- violence
- community development.
As part of this qualification you need to attend a number of compulsory workshops, noho marae and practica. These include:
- 3-day noho marae for 77120 – Te Ao Mäori and Social Work Practice
- 3-day workshop and 1 week voluntary work for 77221 – Exploring Professional Practice
- 5-day workshop in 77225 – Becoming Professional: Practicum I
- 3-day noho marae in 77330 – Culturally Relevant Social Work Practice
- Two 3-day workshops in 77335 – Critical Practice: Practicum II Work Experience.
The initial noho marae and all workshops are expected to be held in Wellington. Any workshops held at Open Polytechnic are at our campus in Lower Hutt.
If you need to travel to attend noho marae and workshops, you need to cover your own travel costs. Accommodation is provided for the noho marae, but you need to cover your accommodation costs for workshops.
Registration
Upon successful completion of this qualification, you will have met the academic requirements to apply for registration with the Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB).
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Entry requirements
Applicants must be a minimum of 17 years of age on the programme start date. They must also satisfy the following academic requirements. University entrance qualification comprising: Approved subjects 42 credits at Level 3 or higher, made up of: 14 credits in one approved subject for university entrance 14 credits in another approved subject for university entrance 14 credits from one or two additional domains or approved subjects for university entrance Literacy requirements -8 credits in English or te reo Maori at Level 2 or higher, made up of: 4 credits in reading 4 credits in writing Numeracy requirements -14 credits in Numeracy at Level 1 or higher, made up of: credits in Mathematics or Statistics and Probability or Pangarau or unit standards 26623, 26626, 26627.
Applicants who do not meet the above requirements may nevertheless be considered for provisional admission. In such cases admission will be dependent on whether applicants demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of success in the programme. Continued enrolment of students admitted under the special or provisional admission is dependent on successful completion of the courses on which they were enrolled.
If English or M-üori is not the applicant's first language, or if the applicant did not undertake their secondary schooling in English, candidates will need to have passed an English language proficiency test with an Academic IELTS score of at least 6.5 in all categories.
Access to the internet is required for this programme.
Applicants who meet the academic requirements will be required to participate in an admission process. Candidates are required to: Submit an application package including a written statement Provide two confidential referees as per application package In some cases, a candidate may be asked to attend an interview
Applicants are required to provide permission for the Polytechnic to obtain any records of criminal offences from the Ministry of Justice.
Candidates should be aware that some types of criminal conviction may limit their ability to secure practicum placements, and thus to complete the programme requirements, and, or may prevent them from gaining registration as a social worker. These include issues of trust, professionalism and misconduct or issues which impact the student's ability to work with client's physical, emotional, psychological or medical well-being. When determining whether an applicant's criminal convictions impact on their ability to meet the Social Workers Registration Boards' Entitlement to Registration - Fit and Proper Person Policy will be taken into consideration".
About the provider
Open Polytechnic is New Zealand's leader in online and distance learning.
What’s our distance learning difference? It’s the almost 30,000 students who join us each year to study and achieve their career and personal goals.
It’s Open Polytechnic being New Zealand’s specialist distance learning provider for over 70 years.
All our students study by distance.
Distance learning is what we do.
Our programmes are designed exclusively for distance learning. Our online courses include a range of rich content to engage you – readings, videos, interactive elements, case studies, quizzes and activities, and forums.
Our academic staff are experts at teaching by distance learning. It’s what they do.
They will be with you every step of the way to encourage you, and ensure you understand the course content. They will help you gain the skills and knowledge you need, so that you can succeed.
If you need other support or help, we’ve got a range of people here for you.
With Open Polytechnic, you’re not alone.