Social Work and Community Studies

This is a good time to he considering social work as a degree. For all the blame, usually fanned by the media, that gets attached to those in the profession each time a highly publicised tragedy occurs, this is still a extremely rewarding profession.

Social work training is also going up in the world. In England, in the biggest reform in social work training for more than a decade, the main professional accreditation for social workers - the two-year diploma - is now being replaced by a three-year vocational degree. The new qualification, which will give greater emphasis to practical experience, puts social work graduates on a par with the professions they work closely with, such as nurses, teachers and physiotherapists and, it is to be hoped, will raise the profession's low status and transform the largely negative public image of those working in it.

The qualification remains, though, a highly practical one - you'll do a general course for the first two years, specialising in a particular area in the final three terms. Compared to the old diploma, the number of days you'll spend on practice placement on the frontline will rise from the 130 to 210, so you'll know exactly what you're letting yourself in for and that, according to the General Social Care Council, will improve the competence of newly qualified social workers. As part of the strategy, you'll be put through "skills laboratories"; which are being set up around the country to rehearse social work procedures, and develop communication and other professional skills.

More than 65 universities have aready been accredited to offer the new degree and, to further encourage people into the profession, the government - for the first time - is offering social work students a non-means-tested bursary worth about £3,000, which is administered by the General Social Care Council.

And once you've graduated, the fact that there is still something of a recruitment crisis in the profession will work in your favour - it means the prospects of employment straight after graduation look excellent. In addition, and in order to improve recruitment rates in "crisis" areas, social work graduates could be eligible for the reimbursement of their student loans if they sign up to work in boroughs affected by shortages of suitably qualified workers.

Community studies is a markedly different degree, a more academic and less vocational approach to similar issues. It is mainly concerned with concepts of culture and community and cuts across various disciplines, such as sociology, psychology and anthropology. As such, it can give the analytical and problem-solving skills for a range of jobs post-graduation. A community studies course is rather more reliant on traditional methods of teaching - lectures, seminars and so on - than the more hands-on approach of the social work degree. It's a qualification for those concerned with the issues of societ...

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