Declaration

For the attention of Applicants to the BA (Hons) / MA Social Work

Social work degrees in England are approved by the Health and Care Professions Council, which requires us to screen all applicants to our BA and MA Social Work degrees to ensure that they would be ‘fit to practise’ as qualified workers in terms of both health and character. This is based on the principle of ‘professional self-regulation’.As a social work student you will be expected to adhere fully to the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics

andto be committed to working towards the HCPC Standards of Proficiency for Social Workers in England

The screening process entails not only proof of academic and practice skills but also scrutiny of any personal issues that may indicate that the applicant is unsuitable to work with vulnerable children and adults.

These include the following,

  • Any criminal convictions (spent and unspent), except a protected conviction*,
  • Any cautions (spent and unspent), except a protected caution*,
  • Pending prosecutions,
  • Reprimands, final warnings, binding overs,
  • Finding of fact against you,
  • Injunctions taken out against you for personal violence against others,
  • Disciplinary proceedings against you in paid or voluntary work,
  • Convictions in military courts,
  • Anti-social behaviour orders made against you,
  • Decisions undertaken that list you on the register that bars you from working with children and/or vulnerable adults (POVA, POCA or section 142 or the Education Act 2000)
  • Child protection or similar investigations involving you or your household.We do not need to know about investigations where you were a child.
  • Traffic offences (excluding parking tickets)

You must provide us with details of any and all of the above and failure to do so, at this stage, will result in you being required to leave the course, immediately. If you cannot remember exact dates or details of the above please return to the relevant sources for accurate information. In the case of criminal convictions you may obtain a copy of your official record via your local police station.

You, also, need to be aware that the information you provide will be revealed to practice placement agencies and, if deemed appropriate, may be used in the compilation of references. In both instances agencies will check the accuracy of this information and compare it with your declaration.

*You are not legally required to disclose certain old and minor cautions and convictions. To determine if your caution or conviction is protected and whether or not you need to disclose it, you need to refer to the relevant legislation, including the offences listed in The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amended) (England and Wales) Order 2013. (A list of offences which will never be protected has been derived from the legislation and is available here

It is important to stress that the university requires you to complete the attached declarations before you can be made a formal offer of a place on a social work course.

You will also be required to immediately inform the Course Director of any criminal convictions, warnings, cautions and reprimands, pending prosecutions, bindings over, finding of fact against you, injunctions taken out against you for personal violence against others, disciplinary proceedings against you in paid or voluntary work, convictions in military courts, anti-social behaviour orders made against you and child protection or similar investigations involving you or your household, which take place during the period you are a student on the course or in the period between completion of these declarations and starting the course.

If you have criminal convictions or similar (see list above), you will be asked to provide a written statement of the circumstances relating to the offence(s) or event(s). The admissions tutor and course director will consider your statement and, depending on the nature and timing of the conviction, this information may also be shared with agency partners. This is to ensure that they would consider you as being suitable to be offered a practice placement and / or for future employment.

We acknowledge the potentially sensitive nature of such material, and undertake not to reveal any such information without the consent of the person concerned in any circumstances other than the negotiation of placement arrangements and the provision of references.

Failure to complete these declarations accurately or attempts to hide subsequent relevant events will result in you being required to leave the course, immediately.

Consideration of such information is a processwhich is separate from the standard selection processes. For this reason, interviewers will only have the information contained on your application form. If there are any issues arising from your declarations and disclaimers or any additional support needs that you wish to discuss, there will be opportunities to do so once you have completed the standard selection processes.

If you are unclear about any of the above please contact the relevant Admissions Tutor,

BA - Jones Adu-Gyamfi ()

MA – Elaben Mistry-Jackson ()

BA (Hons) /MA Social Work: Conviction Declaration

Applicants are required to inform the department of any criminal convictions, cautions, pending prosecutions, bindings over, finding of fact against them, injunctions taken out against them for personal violence against others, disciplinary hearings in paid or voluntary work, convictions in military courts, anti-social behaviour orders made against them and child protection or similar investigations involving them or their household. Please note that, while, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, the University cannot insist that ‘spent’ convictions are revealed, social work agencies are required to obtain such information from the Police on students undertaking placements and failure to disclose it is likely to result in suspension and/or termination of a student’s training as a social worker. This includes material, which would otherwise be excluded under the 1974 Act.

*** Please complete this declaration IN FULL ***

“I……………………………………………………………………………………………………...... (full name of applicant)

(date of birth) …………………………

of……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………(address)

declare that I have received (or been a subject of) the following criminal convictions, cautions, pending prosecutions, bindings over, finding of fact, injunctions, disciplinary hearings, convictions in military courts, anti-social behaviour orders, child protection investigations, placed on the child protection register, been subject to a child protection plan, placed in care or similar investigations involving me or my household.

(If there are none, please write “None” below)

Court/Place/ Date Offence/Event Outcome

Agency/Employer

I understand that, if I become a student on the BA(Hons) / MA Social Work

1.This information will be shared with agencies in connection with practice placements and may be disclosed in connection with references.

2. I must inform the Course Director in writing and before the course begins of any criminal convictions ('spent' and 'unspent'), any cautions, any pending prosecutions, any bindings over, any findings of fact against me, any injunctions taken out against me for personal violence against others, any disciplinary hearings in paid or voluntary work, any convictions in military courts, any anti-social behaviour orders made against me or any child protection or similar investigations involving me or my household.

3. I must inform the Course Director immediately in writing of any criminal convictions, any cautions, any pending prosecutions, any bindings over, any findings of fact against me, any injunctions taken out against me for personal violence against others, any disciplinary hearings in paid or voluntary work, any convictions in military courts, any anti-social behaviour orders made against me or any child protection or similar investigations involving me or my household, which take place during the course.

4. Failure to declare information about criminal convictions, cautions, pending prosecutions, bindings over, finding of fact against me, injunctions taken out against me for personal violence against others, disciplinary hearings in paid or voluntary work, convictions in military courts, anti-social behaviour orders or child protection or similar investigations involving me or my household will lead to me being required to withdraw from the course, immediately.

Signed: ………………………………… Date: …………………

AGENCIES REQUIRE STUDENTS TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING DECLARATIONS

DECLARATIONS

•I realise that enquires may be made about me to the police and/or other agencies regarding criminal convictions, warnings, cautions and reprimands, pending prosecutions, bindings over, finding of fact against me, injunctions taken out against me for personal violence against others, disciplinary proceedings against me by an employer and convictions in military courts.

•I undertake to inform the relevant social work course director of any criminal convictions, warnings, cautions and reprimands, pending prosecutions, bindings over, finding of fact against me, injunctions taken out against me for personal violence against others, disciplinary proceedings against me by an employer and convictions in military courts of which I am the subject, now or in the future.

•I understand that criminal convictions etc. will not necessarily result in placements being refused, but, failure to declare criminal convictions, warnings, cautions and reprimands, pending prosecutions, bindings over, finding of fact against me, injunctions taken out against me for personal violence against others, disciplinary proceedings (current or previous) against me by an employer and convictions in military courts may lead to refusal or immediate suspension of a placement, regardless of the nature of the offence or events giving rise to them.

Signed: …………………………………....……Date: ………………………….……

BA (Hons) /MA Social Work: Health Disclaimer

Social work degrees in England are approved by the Health and Care Professions Council, which requires us to screen all applicants to our BA and MA Social Work degrees to ensure that they would be ‘fit to practise’ as qualified workers in terms of both health and character. This is based on the principle of ‘professional self-regulation’. As a social work student you will be expected to adhere fully to the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics

andto be committed to working towards the HCPC Standards of Proficiency for Social Workers in England

The screening process entails not only proof of academic and practice skills but also scrutiny of any personal issues, character and health that may indicate that the applicant is unsuitable to work with vulnerable children and adults as outlined within this document

We therefore ask that you inform us of anything which may possibly affect your ability to either carry out your studies, or undertake the practice placements which are an essential part of the social work degree.

Please answer the following questions and sign this form:

Do you have any health related, physical or mental health condition that may affect your ability to undertake your work in social care?

Yes No

Do you know of anyissue related to your condition or anyother issues which may affect your ability to either carry out your studies or to undertake practice placements?

Yes No

Do you have any additional medical/support/ access needs?

Yes No

If you have answered ‘Yes’to any of these questions, please provide details below. Please note that we may ask for further information at a later stage.

How do you manage your condition?

Do you receive any treatment from outside professionals?

Do you agree to discussing your condition and/or any developed through the course of your training, seeking appropriate management and/or treatment, which may lead to delays or result in not undertaking your placements if you unwell or unfit to practise?

Yes No

Name:

Signed:Date:

BA (Hons) /MA Social Work: Professional Study Disclaimer

Have you ever been a registered student on any course leading to a professional qualification (e.g. social work, medicine, nursing, law, teaching, occupational therapy, counselling, dentistry, etc.) either in the United Kingdom or overseas?

*YES / NO

*Please delete as appropriate

If ‘YES’, please give details:

(If you have been a registered on more than one such course, please request a form for each)

Course / Qualification: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

College / University: ...………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Awarding / Accrediting Body: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Dates: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Did you complete the course and obtain the qualification? *YES / NO

*Please delete as appropriate

If ‘NO’, please give details / reasons for your departure: ......

......

I agree/do not agree to information being sought about me from the college / university name above and from the relevant awarding / accrediting body at any point throughout my degree, should there be a need.

Please supply a name and details of individual contact:

I confirm that the information given above is correct.

If I become a student on any such course, before starting my degree in social work at the University of Bradford, I shall immediately inform the admissions tutor or the course director.

Signed: ……………………………………………… Date ………………………………………
Course requirements and preference:

The Social Work course includes the requirement to complete two placements during your course of studyand both will be expected to be with our local authority partners and within a 30 mile radius of the University. We will not be able to accommodate students wanting placements in their home town or beyond what our placement partner agencies can provide. Some placements will also run outside the academic calendar. Normally the BA programme contains two placements that run from January for 70 days in the second year and from September for 100 days in the third year. The MA programme placements run from May for 70 days in the first year and January for 100 days in the second year.

Although it is not a requirement of the course to be a car driver and have access to a vehicle for placement, please be advised that being a car driver will improve your chances of securing a placement as it often an essential requirement in many social work settings.

The programme requires student to undertake professional elements within the course which will require additional attendance over and beyond the academic timetable. You will be expected to complete an additional 30 days of preparation for practice sessions and other opportunities, both within and outside the University during the programme, which may run outside the traditional academic calendar.

Please can you indicate your preference as to what area you would like to specialise in:

Adults

Children(please tick)

On accepting an offer to undertake the course at Bradford, you are agreeing to this condition.

Signed: ……………………………………………… Date ………………………………………

Please note:

If there is anything we need to follow up on these disclaimer forms, the Admissions Tutor will contact you within 10 working days of the interview. We may need to ask you for further information. We may also ask your permission to contact other professionals (such as a GP) for further information. This process may take several weeks, depending on how quickly the information we request is sent back to us. We recognise that this period of uncertainty can be very difficult for students and if you wish to check on the progress of your application, please contact the relevant admissions tutor.

As an applicant on a professional course, the admissions team will continue to make an assessment about your suitability for the coursethroughout the disclosure process which will be taken into account when making the final decision.Behaviour that is deemed to contravene the professional regulations of the profession will inform the final decision.

BA - Jones Adu-Gyamfi ()

MA – Elaben Mistry-Jackson ()

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CONFIDENTIAL