Social Work

Social work serves to relieve and resolve social problems which confront the community, social groups, and individuals. The course of studies prepares students for professional employment in the sphere of social work and equips them with the requisite scientific and specialist skills, expertise and methods.

Throughout the course of studies, the programme is divided into two areas of study which facilitate the acquisition of fundamental expertise and skills whilst also fostering the competences relating to social services. The central focus of the General Principles area of studies is competence development, social and legal studies and research methods, whereas the subject-specific area of studies familiarises students with the central concepts of professional social work and provides them with expertise from the underlying disciplines of pedagogy, sociology, political science, medicine, psychology and law.

The Social Work degree programme accommodates individual choices of emphasis with a broad selection of specialisation options, such as the political dimension of social professions (reflection of political framework conditions, analysis of social movements, development of strategies for action), their socio-psychological foundations (e.g. with regard to the areas of addiction, psychiatry and prevention) or their relevance to particular age groups (early childhood pedagogy, youth work, working with old people).

The Social Work degree programme maintains various contacts with social work agencies, which prove their worth when it comes to arranging internships, designing project studies and helping graduates to choose their professions.

The course includes two practical semesters, each of 20 weeks, in the fourth and seventh semesters.

A higher education entrance qualification is a general prerequisite for admittance to the programme of study. International applicants must provide proof of educational qualifications that permit study in Germany (school-leaving certificate, certificate of university attendance).

The DAAD database on admission requirements allows international students to check whether they meet the requirements for the degree programme of their choice in Germany.

The language of instruction is German. Foreign applicants must prove they have adequate knowledge of German. Evidence of the necessary German language skills can be provided in the form of:

• Goethe Certificate C2
• DSD II
• DSH II
• TestDaF (minimun 16 total points & minimun level 3 in the examination modules)
• TELC Deutsch C1 Hochschule
• ÖSD C2
• evidence of having passed the entrance examination at a preparatory college

Applicants who are unable to fulfil the specified admission requirements may contact a preparatory college (‘Studienkolleg’). These specifically prepare foreign applicants for a course of study in Germany. Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences does not have its own preparatory college. The state-run preparatory college responsible for our institution is located at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Köthen.
An overview of all preparatory colleges in Germany can be found here.
In Magdeburg you can find a private preparatory college: Europäisches Studienkolleg der Wirtschaft (ESKW)