This compulsory module forms part of the OU degree in social work in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. To enrol, you must meet formal entry requirements, have passed Foundations for social care and social work practice (K123), be employed in a practice setting and sponsored by your agency. You'll explore how social work knowledge applies to practice, addressing key roles and standards for social workers and relevant knowledge, values and skills for social work. It includes a supervised practice learning opportunity: 70 days (England), 85 (Northern Ireland) and 100 (Scotland), overseen by a practice assessor appointed by your sponsoring agency.
This is a compulsory module of the degrees in social work (England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland). It is one of two compulsory modules that make up the second stage of the three-stage degree in England and Northern Ireland. It is also one of the two compulsory modules for the degree in social work in Scotland that make up the third stage of the four-stage degree. The degree programmes have been approved by the nation-specific regulatory bodies for the profession. See Applied social work practice (KZW216) for information about the version of the module to be studied for the degree in social work in Wales.
The study materials provide you with case examples and illustrations of social work practice (using audio and video); original discussion of key social work concepts and theoretical debates; and reprinted articles introducing important theoretical and ethical issues. Activities in the learning materials help you to apply your learning to your current social work practice. The module is structured in three blocks of study:
Each block consists of four units, with an introduction and conclusion to the module forming two additional units, so that there are 14 in all.
This module will enable you to:
The module also helps you build on your skills in information and digital literacy, based on the requirements of the profession's regulatory bodies.
This module is not available for standalone study. To study this module you must:
The sponsoring agency will provide you with appropriate practice learning opportunities and undertake to allow you one day a week study time for 120 credits study each year while you are on the programme. (There will be a pro-rata reduction in the entitlement of study time allowed if you are studying less than 120 credits per year.) Further information for sponsoring agencies is available – speak to an adviser.
You will need to spend between seven and ten hours a week studying, in addition to the hours spent on the practice learning opportunity.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
You will need to have access to a practice learning opportunity organised by your sponsoring agency: 70 days in England, 85 days in Northern Ireland and 100 days in Scotland.
You will receive guidance of how to get started online in your first module mailing. This will provide you with information on using your computer for OU study and working with the Computing Guide. For example, it explains how to access and use your website and online discussion forums. If you have time before the module starts, you can work through this and explore all the online services available to you.
You will have two types of tutor on this module — a tutor and a programme tutor.
Your tutor will help you with the academic content of the module, mark and comment on your written work. You can ask them for advice and guidance. Your tuition is delivered online and contact with your tutor will be through email and online discussion forums, although phone communication may also be used.
Your tutor will run six compulsory practice skills workshops. Five of these workshops will be full day face-to-face workshops and one of these workshops will be held synchronously online. These provide essential support for you to apply module concepts to your practice learning setting and for you to prepare for academic and practice assessment. As well as the six compulsory workshops, you will be expected to participate in your online tutor group discussion forum for workshop-learning consolidation exercises.
Your tutor and programme tutor will provide an additional introductory online workshop as well as individual support in relation to your practice learning opportunity and your professional development. Questions of a professional social work nature should be directed to your programme tutor.
Student support can give general help and guidance with your studies.
Contact us if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Course work includes:
You’ll have access to a module website, which includes:
You’ll also be provided with three module workbooks and other printed materials.
Social work settings almost always require the use of Windows-based computers and Microsoft Office applications. Many digital literacy activities within the Social Work Programme are therefore based on the Windows operating system and on Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You should ensure that you have access to Microsoft Office (Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint) for the duration of the programme, and we strongly recommend that they are run on a Microsoft Windows-based computer.
For more details, refer to Digital Literacy and Use of Computing on the Social Work degree.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone, and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying K216 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our Disability support website.
Applied social work practice starts once a year – in February.
This page describes the module that will start in February 2027, when we expect it to start for the last time.
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