Subjects · Health and care
∞ Social Work
Law, theory and placements, mapped to the capabilities you are assessed on.
Start a free Social Work trial BA Social Work · https://social-work.degreemargins.com/
The toolkit
- Chronology builderAvailable
Dated entries drawn as a timeline by agency and theme, with gaps, clusters and missing sources picked out; import pasted lists; print or export.
- Statutory timescalesAvailable
Deadlines for child protection, assessments, looked-after reviews, court, Mental Health Act, DoLS, homelessness and information rights, counting working days and bank holidays.
- Capacity and best interestsAvailable
A decision-specific capacity assessment in the order set out in JB [2021] UKSC 52, then a best interests record with a balance sheet of options.
- Care Act eligibilityAvailable
The three eligibility conditions for adults and carers, outcome by outcome, with a draft written rationale.
- Ecomap builderAvailable
Map the people and services around a person or family, and the strength, stress and direction of each connection.
- Recording checkerAvailable
Flags vague, judgemental or stigmatising language, unattributed concerns, jargon and identifying details, and shows the balance of fact and analysis.
- Capability evidence mapperAvailable
Placement evidence tagged to the nine PCF domains and Social Work England standards, with coverage and gaps.
- Practice learning daysAvailable
Placement blocks and skills days against the 200-day requirement, with contrasting and statutory settings.
- Practice worksheetsAvailable
Twenty-two templates: assessment, safeguarding and information-sharing decisions, case notes, reports, supervision, reflection models, placement and research.
- Legislation guidePlanned
Children Act 1989, Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Mental Health Act 1983 and more, section by section.
Skills you build
- Critical reflection
- Assessment and planning
- Applying legislation
- Values and ethics in practice
How you are assessed
- Placement portfolios
- Reflective essays
- Case studies
- Exams
Referencing: usually Harvard. Your department's handbook has the final word.
Learn: 144 teaching pages
Social Work has 144 teaching pages, a full course, topic by topic. Each page has a plain-English explanation with the key idea in a box, figures and worked examples where they help, check-your-understanding questions with model answers, and a reference list.
- Adult social care assessment
- Adult safeguarding practice
- Self-neglect and hoarding
- Learning disability and social work
- Autism, neurodiversity and social work
- Physical disability and independent living
- Older people and ageing
- Carers' rights, assessment and support
- Advanced risk assessment and uncertainty
- Coercive control and complex domestic abuse
- Complex adult safeguarding enquiries
- Trafficking, modern slavery and exploitation
and 132 more.
Key terms, theorists and reports
144 teaching pages with figures and self-test questions, plus a starter map of 101 topics in 17 areas, with 38 key terms, 18 theorists and 10 key studies that students can add to their notes in one click. Written for Degree Margins and checked against current sources.
The profession and its regulation
What social work is · Histories of social work · Social Work England and the Professional Standards · The Professional Capabilities Framework · Professional identity and use of self · Social work across the UK
Values, ethics and rights
Social work values and ethics · Ethical decision making · Power, authority and boundaries · Human rights · Anti-oppressive practice · Service user voice and co-production
Social policy and welfare
The welfare state · Policy making and implementation · Poverty and the cost of living · Housing and homelessness · Welfare rights and advocacy · Organisations and marketisation
Human growth and development
Lifespan development · Attachment · Trauma and adverse childhood experiences · Child and adolescent development · Adulthood and family transitions · Ageing, loss and bereavement
Sociology for social work
Social class and exclusion · Communities and social capital · Family and identity · Gender and intersectionality
Psychology for social work
Psychological perspectives on behaviour · Cognitive and behavioural approaches · Psychodynamic ideas · Motivation and change
Law and legal literacy
Legal literacy and statutory powers · Children Act 1989 · Care Act 2014 · Mental Capacity Act 2005 · Mental Health Act 1983 · Human Rights Act 1998 and Equality Act 2010 · Court skills and evidence · Data protection and information sharing
Theories for practice
Systems and ecological theory · Psychosocial practice · Relationship-based practice · Strengths-based practice · Critical and radical social work
Methods of intervention
Task-centred practice · Crisis intervention · Solution-focused practice · Motivational interviewing · Narrative practice · CBT-informed work · Groupwork and community work
Assessment, planning and recording
Assessment frameworks · Risk, strengths and protective factors · Planning and review · Recording and report writing
Children and families
Children in need · Child protection · Neglect · Domestic abuse and children · Child sexual abuse and exploitation · Looked-after children · Fostering, kinship care and adoption · Care leavers
Adults
Adult social care assessment · Adult safeguarding · Self-neglect · Learning disability · Physical disability and independent living · Older people and dementia · Carers
Mental health and capacity
Mental health and social work · The AMHP role · Capacity and best interests · Deprivation of liberty · Substance use · Suicide and self-harm
Diversity, equality and anti-oppressive practice
Anti-racist practice · Race and institutional practice · Faith and culture · LGBTQ+ affirming practice · Refugees and asylum seekers · Gender, power and intersectionality
Communication and relationship skills
Active listening · Interviewing children · Communicating with adults · Working with interpreters · Accessible communication · Working with hostility and resistance
Research and evidence-informed practice
Research-minded practice · Qualitative and quantitative research · Critical appraisal · Research ethics · The dissertation
Practice learning and professional development
Placement preparation · Supervision and reflection · Home visiting and professional curiosity · Multi-agency working · The placement portfolio · Fitness to practise · Registration and the ASYE
Accreditation and professional routes
- Social Work England (qualifying course approval and registration)
- BASW Professional Capabilities Framework (nine domains)
Our teaching pages and tools are a study guide to support your degree, not a replacement for your lectures, seminars, reading or university materials. We take great care over accuracy, but where anything differs from what your course teaches, follow your course.