The MA Post-Qualifying Professional Practice has been designed to support the continuing professional development of qualified practitioners who are out in the field practising as social workers.

This is a programme with a flexible structure, based on professional standards, qualified practitioner CPD and employer stakeholder partnership needs. This is for qualified practitioners working with children and young people or with adults or people in mental health settings. It incorporates introductory modules of study towards the consolidation of practice and of the Practice Educator Professional Standards. This programme enables eligible social workers and allied professionals to achieve post graduate diplomas at the level of experienced professional practice and to complete a full Masters programme at the level of advanced professional practice.

The MA Post Qualifying Professional Practice offers several exit points and offers specialist awards, including a new PG Certificate in Practice Education, and specialist PG Diplomas in Work with Children and Families, and Work with Adults.

Once you have qualified as a social worker, you may decide to develop areas of specialism and complete various professional practice short courses such as Practice Educator 2 and Best Interest Assessor Depravation Of Liberties Safeguards. These can be stand-alone courses, but we have also come up with the notion of building them into a master’s qualification framework. In this way, the courses are considered as modules within the MA.

For Practitioners with a PG Diploma in Social Work (e.g. Step-Up to Social Work), the Professional Practice Innovation Project module offers the opportunity for the student to delve into their chosen area of specialist practice and top up to a MA in Post Qualifying Professional Practice with this 60 credit research project.

It is open to you if you have been in post-qualifying social work practice for at least 18 months for ASYE Consolidating Social Work Practice, and 2 years of experience for more advanced specialisms such as Practice Education.

The Practice Educator courses are for social workers who wish to supervise students qualifying for their BA Social Work or MA Social Work degrees when they are on placement. The fees for this module are £0 if a UEL student is offered a placement. We run these courses in partnership with our placement opportunities. It is a regulatory body requirement that our practice educators are qualified to an appropriate level.

The Best Interests Assessor: Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards (BIADOLS) course qualifies you to assess people in certain situations, such as in residential care or hospital, where their liberty may be in question, as well as their mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. Demand for this important qualification has grown as the result of a change in the law.

Another short (postgraduate diploma) course is the Approved Mental Health Practitioner course, runs externally by the University of East London in partnership with the London Borough of Enfield. This will also give you 60 credits towards your master’s qualification.

The Practice Educator courses are for social workers who wish to supervise students qualifying for their Social Work, BA or Social Work, MA degrees when they are on placement. The fees for this module are £0 if a UEL student is offered a placement. We run these courses in partnership with our placement opportunities. It is a regulatory body requirement that our practice educators are qualified to an appropriate level.

The Best Interests Assessor: Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards (BIADOLS) course qualifies you to assess people in certain situations, such as in residential care or hospital, where their liberty may be in question, as well as their mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. Demand for this important qualification has grown as the result of a change in the law.

Another short (postgraduate diploma) course is the Approved Mental Health Practitioner course, runs externally by the University of East London in partnership with the London Borough of Enfield. This will also give you 60 credits towards your master’s qualification.

Not every social work practitioner wants further qualifications in their specialised field, but they can help your career progression. Moving on to the Practice Educator courses is often viewed as a step towards a management post. This means that we are constantly looking to train new Practice Educators who can supervise our Social Work students out on their placements.

The course thrives on and feeds into the partnership that we have with our service users, local authorities and practitioners, all of whom are involved in the teaching and development of students.

You will benefit from a uniquely east London experience that will help your progression in social work posts locally.

Many of our qualified social workers find jobs in the London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest. We are proud of the continuing contact we have with our former students and we invite them to come back and supervise our qualifying students.

The course has been designed to take you forward in your social work practice. In addition to the short courses, there is a specialist children and families or social work with adults module that will give you insight into that field.