This is a self-financed programme with the aim to train professionals qualifying for recognized social work qualification (RSW) at the master’s degree level. It aspires to train students becoming ethically-oriented social work practitioners being competent, reflective and good in professional practice.

Graduates of the MSW Programme are eligible to apply for the status of Registered Social Worker (RSW) granted by the Social Workers Registration Board in Hong Kong.

To be eligible for admission, you must:

• hold a recognized bachelor’s degree from one of the universities in Hong Kong or from any overseas institutions recognized for this purpose by the University; or

• hold such other qualifications as deemed acceptable by the University as equivalent to the above; and

• pass an admission interview.

English Proficiency Requirements

Applicants whose entrance qualification is obtained from an institution where the medium of instruction is not English should fulfil the following minimum English proficiency requirement:

• a score of 79 (for tests taken prior to 21 January 2026) or 4 (for tests taken from 21 January 2026 onwards) (Internet-based Test) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)^@#; or

• an overall band score of 6.0 in International English Language Testing System (IELTS)^@#; or

• a score 450 in the new College English Test (CET-6) of Chinese mainland; or

• other equivalent qualifications

@TOEFL and IELTS scores are considered valid for two years. Applicants are required to provide their English test results obtained within the two years preceding the start of the University's application period. 'TOEFL iBT Home Edition', ‘TOEFL MyBest Score’, ‘IELTS Indicator’, ‘IELTS One Skill Retake’ and ‘IELTS Online’ are not acceptable. All TOEFL results must be sent directly by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) using CityUHK’s institution code 3401, while IELTS results must be sent via the IELTS Results Service e-delivery to 'City University of Hong Kong - Graduate School'.

#Applicants with an IELTS overall band score of 6.0 or a TOEFL overall score of 4 will be required to pass an interview for English proficiency conducted by the concerned academic unit. Applicants with a comparable overall score of 79 or above shown on the TOEFL report may be exempt from the interview requirement. Interviews for other applicants may not be required.

Admissions Interview

The interview schedule will be scheduled in early March 2027 tentatively. Shortlisted candidates will receive an email invitation with details to attend the interview.

Curriculum Design

The MSW programme consists of 15 core courses amounting to 49 credits plus another 2 electives carrying 6 credits, making a total of 55 credit-units in the programme.

• 900 fieldwork training hours (800 hours direct fieldwork placements plus 100 hours placement preparation or related activities);

• Strengthening of the training in social work values and ethics, theories and practice to three courses emphasizing working with individuals and families, groups, community work and macro-level social work practice;

• Addition of human behavior and social environment course subject areas, and social sciences theories for social work to those students without a social sciences training background;

• Legal knowledge and perspectives for social workers;

• Enhancing mental health training, practice-related electives and advocacy for social work students.

Integrative Social Work Seminar to train students becoming competent, reflective and good in professional practice.

The programme aspires to train students with ethical principles and foundations of social work practice, social work values and professional ethics, theories and practice skills in working with individuals and families, groups and community, social welfare policies, social welfare management, legal issues for the social worker and social work research methods. The curriculum of the year 2 of Full-time 2 years mode and the year 2 and year 3 of Part-time 3 years mode strives to equip students to have the required professional supervised fieldwork training hours and the 100-hour Practicum-related learning workshops, plus the study of Integrative Social Work Seminar and elective courses in practice-related social work practice settings: e.g. Assessment and Interventions in Mental Health Counselling, Cognitive-Behavioural Interventions, Group Counselling and Therapy, Counselling Children and Youth, Working with Families in Transition, Counselling Older Adults.

Students who (1) are non-social sciences graduates, or (2) have taken either psychology or sociology but not the other, are required to complete non-credit bearing Social Sciences Workshops SS5115 Social Sciences Theories for Social Work. These workshops are to be run in an intensive mode on Saturday within the first five weeks of the semester A of their first year of study.

Programme Requirement 

1. Core Courses (49 credit units)

2. Electives (6 credit units) ~   

            ~ Subject to the University's review if applicable

            * Core Elective (SS5115) for those who do not have social science background

Programme Descriptions
Course Syllabus
Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences