Master of Social Work (Qualifying)

Applicants must provide evidence of at least the equivalent of two (2) years full-time work experience in the human and community services over the past seven (7) years. Both paid and unpaid work experience may be included, but irrelevant employment should not be included. Applicants must provide a statement of employment or voluntary service from the employer/organisation.

Candidates must complete 1000 hours of work-based training during the MSW(Q), which involves two placements over 72 days each. Placements are allocated by the Field Education Team at the University of Sydney to ensure students undertake new learning as per the requirements of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). Students may also apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) after being accepted into the program, which may result in full or partial credit for Practice Learning 1 (the first placement).

For domestic applications, applications open on the last Friday in August of the preceding year and close on 15 December of the preceding year. For international applications, the closing date is 1 December of the year prior to commencement. Separate deadlines apply for scholarship applications.

Before commencing an online application, applicants must download and complete a supplementary form, a referee report, and a supporting documents checklist. Domestic applicants must provide at least one referee report and international applicants must provide at least two referee reports. A personal statement of no more than 500 words is also required; applications without a personal statement will be rejected.

If you are a graduate from a university or institution for which English is not the teaching medium, or if you completed the majority of your undergraduate study in a country where English is not the first language, you must submit results from an English language proficiency test conducted within the last two years. The IELTS requirement is 7.5 or above overall, including a minimum of 7 for all bands. Further information on requirements for other proficiency tests is available on the University of Sydney website.