You’ll do two placements as part of your course at Manchester.
We’re committed to raising the standards of social work practice. By doing a placement you’ll gain practical experience of the day-to-day life of a social worker.
As part of your course, you’ll be offered:
- placements in at least two practice settings providing contrasting experiences;
- a minimum of one placement taking place within a statutory setting, providing experience of sufficient numbers of statutory social work tasks involving high risk decision making and legal interventions.
Statutory placements offer experience in one or more of following areas:
- The Children Act (1989) s.17
- The Children Act (1989) s.47
- The Care Act (2014)
- The Mental Capacity Act (2005)
About your placements
Your first placement will be 70 days long and your final placement 100 days.
Placements are sourced by the University on your behalf – so you don’t need to find your own placement.
Our students are well respected, and many are offered jobs in the agencies they do their final placements.
70-day placement
The first placement in Year 1 is usually in the private or voluntary sector.
Here, you will get an excellent grounding in underpinning aspects of good social work practice, and how social workers function in organisations.
100-day placement
This placement is in the statutory sector, usually within a local authority or agency.
You’ll be supported by experienced social workers and practice educators, both at your placement agency and at the University.
From our students
How placements have shaped my career
Thomas explains how the MA’s placements have helped him in his role as a social worker specialising in child protection.
Read Thomas's blog post How placements have shaped my career.
My placement with Trafford Council Early Help
Charlotte takes us through a day on her placement at Trafford Council.
Read Charlotte's blog post My placement with Trafford Council Early Help.
Locations and hours
Placements are located in Greater Manchester.
We’ll consider requests from students who may require a placement outside this area on an individual basis. Placements will be in a variety of local authority, voluntary or private agency settings.
Placements take place in the second semester of teaching, and students attend placement four days a week. This means that you will normally be on placement from February onwards during the first year and from January onwards during the second year. You will normally be on placement Monday to Thursday, with some skills days held on a Friday.
Placement opportunities
A variety of organisations to learn with.
Placement organisations benefit greatly from our students' impact on delivering the work of the organisation. Many students continue to volunteer for the organisations and are offered sessional work following their placement.
All placements for students are carefully negotiated with students, agencies and the University.
These are some of the organisations we work closely with where students have enjoyed successful placement experiences recently:
- Revive UK - An independent community project which provides free support to refugees and people seeking asylum.
- New Beginnings - An organisation that works closely with parents whose children are at risk of being removed into care.
- Gaddum - A large advocacy agency in Manchester that has a strong connection with our programme and students.
- Women in Prison - A national charity providing specialist support services for women by women.
- Children Heard and Seen - Supporting children with a parent in prison.
- GMYN - Enabling young people to have a positive impact on their lives and the wider community.
- Manchester Action on Street Health - Working with women who sex work to support health, safety and emotional wellbeing.
- Together Dementia Support - Support services for those impacted by dementia.
- Signpost Stockport for Carers - A local charity supporting carers in Stockport.
- Young Lives vs Cancer - Helping children and young people with cancer get the right support at the right time.
- n-compass - Helping people regain control of their lives, providing hope and a sense of purpose, through the provision of carers, advocacy, wellbeing, counselling and volunteering services.
Skills days
More opportunities to boost your skills.
In addition to the placements, there are 30 skills days spread over the two years of the course, which aim to help you develop your professional social work skills.
Skills days are part of practice placement and focus on developing your:
- communication skills;
- assessment skills;
- knowledge of different areas of social work practice.
They are interactive and use a range of teaching methods, including workshops, online sessions and simulation suites.
There are 20 skills days in the first year and 10 skills days in the second year.
In Year 1, you’ll work on your assessed readiness for direct practice before you go out on your first placement. You’ll be supported in developing your direct communication skills and will practice doing interviews with people with lived experience of social work, social work practitioners and academics.
Other skills days across the two years will focus on developing specific aspects of your practice. For example, you will work alongside law students in a moot court and simulate giving evidence in court as a social worker.