Studying social work at the University of Plymouth will enable you to commence a rewarding career within the health and social care sector. With an ongoing demand for social workers across the UK, employment prospects for graduates remain very good.
Social work graduates work in a variety of settings, with a diverse range of service users including adults, children, people with mental health difficulties, people with learning difficulties, young offenders, refugees and asylum seekers, carers and many others. Employers include NHS Trusts, Local Authorities, GP practices, children’s homes, private sector nursing homes as well as voluntary and independent agencies.
As your career progresses, you could develop a specialist role. Specialisms exist in a range of settings, for example in mental health, child protection, homelessness, fostering and adoption or education welfare. With experience you could progress into a leadership role; it is not uncommon to secure senior practitioner or team manager roles within 3–5 years of qualification. Alternatively, you could work as a practice educator, leading on the supervision and management of placement students or newly qualified staff.
A small number of graduates develop their career in the regulation and audit of social care providers through working for the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Other options include working in a self employed or freelancing capacity.
*Data is from the Graduate Outcomes Surveys covering the three years of 2019/20 – 2021/22. Graduates were surveyed 15 months after graduating. Data displayed is for UK-domiciled, first degree, full-time graduates who are working, studying or looking for work.
