Course details

Summary

Social workers help people to overcome personal and institutional barriers to well-being and achieve their full potential. They work with individuals, families, groups and organisations in a wide range of contexts.

Students develop a strong academic foundation by studying a variety of courses from the social sciences and 毛利 studies, as well as specialist Social Work topics. Later on in the degree, a large amount of fieldwork practice takes place in the community. Combined, this academic and practical foundation equips students with the values, knowledge and skills for employment in the social work profession, as well as in people-related, social policy and research occupations.

PGCertArts students will be introduced to sophisticated subject matter and develop skills in the critical evaluation of academic literature in their discipline or area of specialisation. They will also foster high-level skills in critical thinking, problem solving, and communication.

Qualification structure and duration

To qualify for the Postgraduate Certificate in Arts, a student must complete at least 60 points from taught courses, as approved by the Head of Department and the Dean of Arts.

This certificate takes six months full-time or 12 months part-time to complete.

Further study

Subject to the approval of the Dean of Arts, a student may transfer courses passed with a B grade or higher for the Postgraduate Certificate in Arts to:

the Postgraduate Diploma in Arts

the Bachelor of Arts with Honours

the coursework section of a master's degree (there are a number of taught master's operated by the College of Arts)

Career opportunities

In New Zealand, social workers are employed in both the public and private sectors, providing direct and indirect services. Direct services include those for children, families, older people, those who have committed offences and people with disabilities. Indirect services encompass social sector planning, administration, policy and research.

Direct services may include the protection of children who have been abused, providing group or family therapy, educational programmes for at-risk adolescents, supporting adolescent parents, working with groups aiming to achieve community development, providing interventions for people who are experiencing mental health issues, providing assistance with housing needs, mediation and resolution of family conflict, facilitating access to benefits and other financial resources, and assessment of home and family support for older people.

Social Work graduates can work as community development workers, therapists, counsellors, case managers, field workers, youth workers, care and protection workers, probation officers, iwi social workers, school social workers, hospital social workers, service coordinators, educators, policy analysts and researchers.

Social Work graduates are highly employable overseas, especially in the UK and Australia.

Entry criteria

Candidates must have qualified for a Bachelor of Arts or an equivalent degree and satisfied the prerequisites for the subject concerned. Prerequisites vary between departments, but normally good grades in 300-level courses in that subject are required.

Other English language requirements: TOEFL PBT with a minimum score of 575 and TWE with a minimum score of 4.5; CCEL EAP Level 2 with a minimum B+ grade; CAE or CPE score of 176 with a minimum of 169 in reading, writing, listening and speaking; Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE with an overall score of 64 and no PTE communicative skills score below 58.