Program Overview
- Social work is a profession that works with individuals, families, groups, and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being.
- Trent’s Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) is a four-year, full-time undergraduate degree program and fully accredited by the Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE).
- This program prepares students to be generalist social work practitioners; students will acquire a comprehensive set of knowledge, values, and skills that are transferable across a range of fields of practice and a range of social work roles.
- Trent graduates are eligible to register with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
Program Breakdown
A student pursuing a Bachelor of Social Work at Trent is required to complete:
General Years (Years 1 and 2)
Social Work courses in years 1 and 2 are open to any student. Any student may declare a Social Work major. Declaring a major does not guarantee admission into the Professional Years.
Professional Years (Years 3 and 4)
All Social Work students may apply for admission into Year 3, the first of two Professional Years. Admission to the Professional Years is limited, and is a competitive process. There are a maximum of 30 full-time spaces available on each campus (Peterborough and Durham).
Please see our Curriculum Information for a breakdown of each year. For our full list of courses please see Trent's Academic Calendar or go to our course list.
Field Placement Overview
Students complete a minimum of 700 hours of supervised field placement, during their third and fourth years:
- Year 3: 3 days a week in the Winter, total 240 hours.
- Year 4: 3 days a week in the Fall and Winter, total 460 hours.
Placements typically occur within an hour of the student's assigned campus. Students are assigned their placements based on criteria that will maximize their learning as a generalist social worker, while meeting the demands of the overall program and participating agencies.
Field placement is overseen by the Field Education Coordinators, Travis Peck (Peterborough) and Avery Comeau (Durham).
Application Details
If applying to Trent's BSW Program via the Ontario University Application Centre (OUAC):
- Program Title: Social Work (BSW)
- Program Code: RSW
Preparing to Apply
The Trent Bachelor of Social Work program is considered a Professional Years Program - this means students apply in to the program for Years 3 and 4.
Information on how to apply to Trent can be found on the Trent Future Students page. More detailed information on applying to the Professional Years can be found on our Program overview.
We understand that it may seem daunting to have to apply into the program. The more experience you have being engaged in community, and the greater understanding you have of your role within the community, the stronger your application will be.
Things you can do to strengthen your application and become better prepared for the program include:
- Volunteering with community organizations (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, community centres, etc.)
- Understanding how your work relates to the ways you engage with, actively listen to, and support the people you work with.
- Exploring the pre-requisite courses in Years 1 and 2, and taking the opportunity to begin questioning and unpacking your understanding of the world and your relationship to it.
- Taking additional courses in areas such as psychology, sociology, or statistics to deepen your understanding of the social sciences and social science research.
Inquiries related to course sequencing, application to the Professional Years, and academic advising in the Bachelor of Social Work program are overseen by the Academic Coordinator, Carolyn Mallory.