Doctor of Social Work
The professional doctorate is aimed at managers and a wide range of practitioners who are experienced and who are working at senior and middle levels of their professions and organisations. It offers the opportunity to examine contemporary leading theories and research evidence, and to apply these within the professional context.
The Doctor of Social Work is currently being revised, with new entrants starting in October 2026. Please email the graduate office in the School of Social Sciences, if you would like further information: graduateoffice@cardiff.ac.uk
The professional doctorate is a part-time doctoral research degree. It is fully equivalent to the PhD, but substantially different from it in that it is strongly professionally oriented, focussing on ‘applied’ rather than ‘pure’ research.
While the PhD generally prepares candidates for a research-based career, the professional doctorate is a more in-service orientated degree, addressing the career needs of practising professionals, particularly those in or who aspire to senior positions within their professions. The linkages between research-based knowledge and its application in a wide range of professional settings are central to this doctorate.
We offer an integrated professional doctorate scheme within which education, health, social work and social policy professionals engage together in integrated learning for some of the taught modules. This unique inter-professional learning allows you to reflect on what is shared across professional boundaries and what is distinctive to their own occupational traditions.
Above all, a professional doctorate is an opportunity to examine contemporary leading theories and research evidence, and to apply these within the professional context.
The social work taught modules facilitate considered reflection on social work practice. Cutting-edge debates about what constitutes good practice, as well as strategies for undertaking research in social work contexts inform the modules. Contemporary debates about the politics of social work; anti-discriminatory practice; evidence-based and reflective practice; social work theory; social work ethics and values, and changing legislation in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are covered. It is recognised that many candidates will be managers or teachers of social work practice rather than practitioners and module assessment reflects this.
The other distinctive pathways within the professional doctorate scheme are:
Key facts
| Mode of study | Part-time |
|---|---|
| Qualification | DSW |
| Part-time duration | DSW 5-7 years |
| Start dates | October |
| Application deadline(s) | Applications are welcomed until 1 June annually. |
Your studies with us consists of two elements:
- Part one: completion of six taught weekend modules, each with a 4,000-word assignment or equivalent tasks. Students are required to submit a draft of the assignment(s) for feedback. The pass mark for each module is 50% and you are required to achieve an overall mark of no less than 60% for all modules collectively in order to progress to the thesis stage of the programme.
- Part two: research thesis of between 35,000 to 50,000 words in length. The research thesis may focus on any approved topic and is individually supervised by academic staff.
There are two different types of taught modules: four core and two specialist. Your specialist modules will depend on your chosen pathway.
Core modules
- Changing Modes of Professionalism
- Research Design
- Qualitative Research Methods
- Quantitative Research Methods
Specialist modules
- Social Work Research in Action
- Advanced Social Work: Engagement and Practice
Teaching methods
Each taught module is delivered over the course of a weekend: teaching starts on Thursday evenings and continues throughout Friday and Saturday. Professional doctorate teaching is carried out through lectures and smaller seminars and workshops where the emphasis is on discussion. Teaching also places emphasis on directed independent study.
Skills acquired
By the end of the programme, you will have acquired research skills, theoretical capacities, and will have experience of deploying them in a manner appropriate to your particular professional context. These skills include:
- The ability to analyse practices and policies which affect agencies and client groups in your professional field;
- The ability to manage innovation and resourceful change in your chosen area;
- Communicating and working effectively and constructively with other professionals in other disciplines across organisational and service boundaries;
- The provision of clear leadership, supervision and consultation in your field based on your extensive knowledge, interpersonal skills, explicit values and acknowledgement of the responsibilities within your role;
- The ability to work independently and be accountable and make constructive and innovative use of consultation and management processes.
Duration
The scheme provides a maximum period of candidature of seven years. However, students many complete in as few as five years. This will depend on student’s flexibility and availability for study.
Alternative exit awards
You will be encouraged and supported to complete your full doctoral degree. However, we do offer alternative exit awards for students who are unable to complete their programme of study. These are:
- Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice Studies upon completion of three taught modules;
- Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Practice Studies upon completion of six taught modules; or
- MSc in Professional Practice Studies upon completion of six taught modules and submission of a 20,000-word research-based dissertation.
The School of Social Sciences is recognised nationally and internationally as a leading centre for theoretically informed, empirical research, combining inter-disciplinaryworking, impact on policy and practice, and innovative methodological approaches, both qualitative and quantitative. Our expertise encompasses a broad range of topics and themes and we encourage applications in the following areas:
- Science, technology and risk
- Crime, security and justice
- Knowledge, learning and pedagogy
- Culture, interaction and everyday life
- Children and young people
- Education, skills and labour markets
- Inequalities, division and diversity
In the most recent Research Excellence Framework exercise (2014), we ranked 3rd and 5th in the uk for the quality of our research in sociology and education respectively. We have the highest per capita external grant capture of any social science school or department in the country.
Amongst our academic staff we have the winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Sociological Association and a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry.
Research environment
We are a large School with over 160 academic staff and over 1000 students studying across a number of disciplines, including sociology, education, criminology, social policy, health and social care. Interdisciplinary research training is a particularly strong feature of our postgraduate research student programme and our teaching is informed by our research. You will exposed to the latest ideas in the social sciences and enjoy face-to-face contact with internationally recognised scholars shaping the future of their respective fields.
Our home is the historic Glamorgan Building in Cardiff’s prestigious Civic Centre. The building boasts excellent teaching and learning facilities, including computer labs, lecture theatres with the latest audio-visual technology, a suite of tutorial rooms and social space for conversation and the exchange of ideas.
Doctoral students are vitally important to the School’s overall research profile and culture. First-class facilities for independent postgraduate study are offered in a friendly and supportive atmosphere, with most academic members of staff directly involved in working together with, and supervising, doctoral students.
All postgraduate students are encouraged to take part in our academic and research activities. These include annual series of large public lectures by high profile speakers, which are complemented by the seminars organised throughout the year by individual research groups and research centres. Our PGR Café, a student-led initiative, also provides a unique intellectual forum and support network.
You can visit our website for further information on our research groups, projects and impact.
Typically professional doctorate candidates are employed when they study with us, although current employment is not a condition of entry.
Graduates are able to further their careers within their employment settings or move beyond these into, for example, Higher Education, policy and planning, and/or research development and management.
UK government postgraduate doctoral loans
Candidates for the Professional Doctorate programme may be eligible to apply for a UK government postgraduate doctoral loan.
Find out more about UK government postgraduate doctoral loansFunding
See our latest PhD studentships and projects and find out more about other funding opportunities.
Tuition fees
The fee structure for the professional doctorate programme consists of sixteen modules in total: six taught modules and the equivalent of ten taught modules for the thesis stage. Funding for professional doctorate candidates is typically provided by employers, though some students are self-funded.
Students from the UK
Get the latest information on postgraduate fees.
Students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland
Get the latest information on postgraduate fees.
Students from the rest of the world (international)
The Professional Doctorates are currently being revised, with the next admission date starting in October 2026. The application process will remain as following.
The Professional Doctorate scheme has an annual admission date in October and applications are welcomed until 1 June. Late applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. As part of the application process, applicants are required to provide two references, evidence of qualifications, a personal statement and also a research proposal regarding the research topic they intend to pursue for the thesis stage of their studies.
The module stage of the programme is designed to equip students with a doctoral-level understanding of research design and research methods, and so it is acknowledged that initial ideas about a research topic may well change significantly by the time students progress to the thesis stage. Even so, an outline proposal remains a key part of the application, helping the School to establish the suitability of an applicant for doctoral-level study and to identify the availability of an appropriate personal tutor and prospective supervisors.
In addition to their application form, applicants are required to provide:
- a personal statement
- a research proposal to supplement the summary proposal in the application form
- qualification certificates and transcripts, with translations if needed
- evidence of meeting the English Language entry requirements
- two academic references to be requested by the applicant.
Personal statement (approx. 500-800 words)
When planning the structure of your personal statement please consider the following:
- What are your reasons and motivation for applying to undertake doctoral study? This could include some comments and expectations on doctoral study.
- What is the relevance of your previous academic and professional learning and experience for a doctoral programme of study? This could include your assessment of the strengths and personal skills that you would bring to your study.
- Why would now be the right time for you to embark on your doctoral study? This could include information regarding your work and/or personal circumstances and how these would facilitate engagement with study.
Research proposal (approx. 500-1500 words)
The outline description of the proposed research should include:
- an indicative title for the proposed study
- a brief summary of research that has already been undertaken in the field, addressing key relevant literature and research, and demonstrating engagement with a diverse range of sources
- a statement of the aims of the proposed research within the context of 2 above
- potential specific research questions to be addressed by the study, ideally no more than two or three
- an outline of the proposed research design and methodology, including information on prospective research access, sampling, and methods of data collection - try to include a plan for a three-year timetable
- an indicative bibliography.
You must possess a good first degree and usually have completed a master’s degree. You should also have two or more years’ professional experience in a field appropriate to your chosen pathway.
Much of the module learning and associated assignments aim to support applied professional development and you are expected to have experience of - or current access to - professional settings in a field appropriate to your doctoral degree.
English language requirements
A score of 600 on TOEFL (250 on computer-based marking) or band 7.0 on IELTS is required where English is not a first language or for those who have not had a substantial part of their education taught in the English language.
Please read our English language requirements for more details.
Contacts
Administrative contact(s)
Professional Doctorate programmes
Apply
This course uses a non-standard application process.
