Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Bachelor of Social Work (Hons)

Programme Code

JS2660


Year of Entry

JUPAS - HKDSE: Year 1

Mode of Study

Full Time

Duration of Study

4 Years

Medium of Instruction

The medium of instruction for classroom teaching (in all forms) at HKBU is English, except for those courses that are granted exemption.

Fund Type

Government Funded

First Year Intake Number

30

Class Start Date

September 2025

Annual Tuition Fees

HK$44,500 (local); HK$175,000 (non-local) i

Credits Required for Graduation

128

Programme Requirements

HKDSE Core Subject(s) Minimum Level
CHINESE LANGUAGE 3
ENGLISH LANGUAGE 3
CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Attained
MATHEMATICS COMPULSORY PART 2
Elective Subject(s) Minimum Level
ANY 2 SUBJECTS Notes 3

Notes for elective subjects:

1) One of the electives must be any Category A subjects (excluding Extended Part of Mathematics (Module 1 or Module 2));

2) The other elective can be any of the following subjects:
    a) Category A subjects (including Extended Part of Mathematics (Module 1 or Module 2));
    b) Category B (Applied Learning) subjects with "Attained with Distinction (I)" or above;
    c) Category C (Other Language) subjects.

Please refer to the following link for the details of General and Programme Entrance Requirements:
http://admissions.hkbu.edu.hk/ug/jupas_requirement

 

Remark on other requirements:

1) High choice banding in JUPAS application is preferred.
2) Applicants with language skills in addition to English and Chinese (e.g., also speaking Urdu, Nepali, Hindi) may be invited to attend interviews. 
 

Programme Description

The Department of Social Work is one of the leading providers of social work training and education in Hong Kong. The four-year Bachelor of Social Work (Hons) Programme aims to equip students with knowledge and professional values in social work so that graduates can effectively meet the social service needs of the community in a flexible, realistic, creative and professional yet critical manner.

In the four-year curriculum, students are required to study a total of 128 units, including 4 units of Social Sciences common core, 78 units of Social Work Major courses (including Honours Project and Major electives), 31 units of General Education courses and 15 units of Elective courses. The Social Work Major courses are structured into four areas, namely (a) Human Behaviour and  Social Environment, (b) Social Work Theory and Practice, (c) Social Policy, Research and Administration, and (d) Fieldwork. Graduates of our Bachelor of Social Work (Hons) Programme are recognised by most social work professional bodies at the international level. They can register as Registered Social Workers (RSW) with the Social Workers Registration Board in Hong Kong.


Unique Features

Students are required to attend another 100 hours of non-credit bearing pre-placement activities, a growth group, and four levels of integrative tutorials over four years. Following the University’s internationalisation strategy, there are growing opportunities for student exchange, overseas placements, visits from overseas scholars and other related activities to substantiate experiential and academic learning.

 

Transdisciplinary Second Majors / Second Majors

The University envisions the importance of transdisciplinary innovations in response to the global challenges and offers a flexible curriculum structure that is much more agile and fits the present and yet-to-known future needs. Students of designated programmes will have the opportunity to opt for a transdisciplinary second major (TSM) / second major (SM) on top of their major. TSMs are geared for particular talent needs in Hong Kong and prepare students to pool knowledge from disciplines to excel in multiple careers, whereas SMs prepare students to gain in-depth knowledge from another discipline to complement the first major. This approach equips students not only for their careers, but also the future development of their respective fields. Seven TSMs and two SMs will be launched in the 2025/26 academic year.  More details will be available in due course.

 

Student Learning Experiences

All social work students are required to undertake two fieldwork placements in their Year 3 and Year 4 study.  Each supervised fieldwork placement is of 400 hours, thus adding up to 800 hours in total plus another 100 hours of pre-placement work.

All students are given an opportunity to consider applying for pursuing an exchange programme either in Year 2 or Year 3 study. Students may be able to finish the programme within 4 years if they pursue the exchange programme in semester 2 of Year 2 study and follow through the study plan provided. If it lasts for two semesters, the eligible ones will need to finish the whole Programme in five years.


Career Opportunities

Graduates holding a Bachelor of Social Work (Hons) degree are qualified to apply as Registered Social Workers (RSW) in Hong Kong according to the Social Workers Registration Ordinance 1997. They are eligible to be employed as Assistant Social Work Officers in the Social Welfare Department or non-governmental organisations in Hong Kong. 
 

Remark

i. Subject to University annual review.

Extended Part of Mathematics (Module 1 or Module 2) can be recognised for fulfilment of the second elective requirement.

The Programme will consider Category B subjects (Applied Learning) with “Attained with Distinction (I)” or above for fulfilment of the second elective requirement.

The scores for Category B subjects are converted as follows:

Attained with Distinction (II)=4, Attained with Distinction (I)=3

 

The Programme will consider Category C subjects (Other Language) at Grade C or above for fulfilment of the second elective requirement.

The scores for Category C subjects are converted as follows:

Year of Entry

HKDSE Category C Subjects

Conversion Scores

7

5.5

4

2025

Japanese

N1

N2

N3

French, German and Spanish

C1, C2

B1, B2

A2

Korean

Level 6

Levels 4, 5

Level 3

 

  1. Upon score calculation and compilation of interview results (if any), eligible applicants will be given a rank in the Merit Order List to the JUPAS Office. The Merit Order List will be generated according to the priority given to the list of Tie-breakers. During the admissions process, the following are the most commonly used tie-breakers by the programmes offered by the University.
     
    The most commonly used tie-breakers by the programmes offered by the University
    Tie-breakers Remarks
    HKDSE Academic Score (plus interview score, if any) Derived from the score formula of individual programme
    (The programme will consider the best 5 HKDSE subjects in Academic Score calculation.)
    Interview Performance Applicable to School Principal's nominees / applicants with a disability / OEA applicants / regular applicants with interview
    Band Band A applicants will be ranked first then Band B, and so on.
    A (Prog. Choice 1 - 3) >
    B (Prog. Choice 4 - 6) >
    C (Prog. Choice 7 - 10) >
    D (Prog. Choice 11 - 15) >
    E (Prog. Choice 16 - 20)
    HKDSE English Score Take the best score of HKDSE English Language Result
     
  2. If a programme ranks the tie-breakers as: '1' to 'HKDSE Academic Score', '2' to 'Band', '3' to 'HKDSE Standard + 1 best X Subject Score', applicants with highest HKDSE Academic Score will be ranked first. If there are two applicants having the same HKDSE Academic Score, the one who places the programme in a higher band choice will be ranked higher. If the two applicants are the same on the first 2 tie-breakers, their HKDSE Standard + 1 best X Subject Score will be compared, the one with higher HKDSE Standard + 1 best X Subject Score will be given a higher rank, and so on.

 

 

Note:

As programmes select students not only on the basis of the HKDSE results, the actual results of the students admitted to each programme may vary from year to year (depending on the overall results achieved by applicants in a particular year, the number of applicants applying to the programme, changes in selection criteria, etc.). Please be reminded that information listed above is for reference ONLY and is subject to change, and should NOT be used to predict the chance of admission to any programme.