What our students say

Learning it, living it

James Hollingworth is currently studying for the postgraduate Social Work MSW. We asked him why he chose Kingston University. "One of the big attractions was the range of placements", he told us.

“Most of the universities I considered for the MSW course offered just one 200 day placement, whereas at Kingston there are three - of 70, 20 and 110 days each, so you can gain a broader range of experience.

“My first placement (of 70 days) was with a frontline child protection assessment team. My role was, following referrals, to undertake an initial and/or core assessment, basically deciding if there was risk, the level of risk and whether a case should be closed, passed on to another team (Locality, Children in Need, Looked After Children, Complex Needs) or signposted to other relevant services. I wanted to do this as I felt it was the hardest job in social work and I knew it would be very challenging. Having previously worked with the Youth Justice Service, I wanted to experience things from a different perspective.

“I was right - it was very challenging, but the experience there was really, really good. By the end of the placement I was much more comfortable in what I was doing, though in the first few weeks I had to really push myself. My practice teacher was so supportive and understanding, I think it would have been very difficult without her. She was just fantastic.

“The 20 day placement is a great opportunity to perhaps try something that you wouldn’t usually do. I did an international placement in Uganda. But even if you don’t go abroad, I’d definitely recommend using it to try something a bit different.

“At the moment I’m on my third placement (of 110 days) with an asylum support team, which works on a statutory basis with unaccompanied asylum seeking children. I came here as I had an interest in asylum seeking children but didn’t know anything about this area, and I'd heard good things about the team in terms of the support they provide. I’m treated as a real student here, and given time to learn. The big challenge is getting to grips with the asylum seeking process, the applications and the different stages you go through.

“Another big attraction for me in terms of choosing the course at Kingston was that you do the bulk of your academic work before you go on placement, which means that when you go on placement, you’re there full-time - you’re never doing university modules while you’re on placement. Most other universities I considered seemed to do a couple of days a week at university and the other days on placement, which I think is hard on the student in terms of workload and perhaps not ideal for the employers, having people there part-time so they’re not always available when something happens on a case. That was a really big thing for me in choosing Kingston.”

What our students say:

• Why choose a social work degree?
• Learning it, living it
• Dear diary: two days on placement
• An international perspective: sharing ideas in Uganda
• Continuing your professional development

Our strong links with local agencies enable us to offer a wide and creative range of student placements in the public, voluntary and private sectors.