Careers › People & society

How to become a Social Worker

Supports individuals, families and communities through crisis and change.

This needs more than the degree

Registration with the SACSSP (South African Council for Social Service Professions) is required to practise – check the current registration process directly with them.

What does a Social Worker actually do?

More about this career

Supports individuals and families through crisis – abuse, poverty, addiction, foster care – usually for the Department of Social Development, an NGO, a hospital, or a school. It’s emotionally demanding work with high demand and, honestly, stretched public-sector resources, so many social workers specialise (child protection, substance abuse, school social work) to focus their caseload.

Where this degree can take you

  • Child Protection Social Worker
  • School Social Worker
  • Medical/Hospital Social Worker
  • Community Development Worker

This is our general description of the role and related jobs, not from an official source – it’s here to give you a fuller picture, not as a careers-counselling guarantee.

Not from an official source

Subjects that usually help

  • English
  • Life Sciences or History (helpful)

This is our general guidance about which school subjects suit this career. It is not an admission requirement and not from an official source – the real requirements are on the degrees below.

Not from an official source

Where to check this yourself

What the degrees we’ve captured actually ask for

  • Life Sciences – asked for by 2 of 6 degrees

Counted from the requirements below (an “or” alternative counts for each subject named). Each degree links to the page it came from.

Degrees that lead here

6 degrees at 6 universities. More are added as we verify them.

University of Fort Hare

Partly verified

Bachelor of Social Work

Social Sciences and Humanities · 4 years

No points cut-off published for this one – see the note below.

  • English: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Another language – Another language at level 4.
  • Four more subjects – One further subject at level 3 and three at level 4 or better.
  • Life Orientation: level 4 (50% or more)

UFH does not state a numeric APS minimum on this programme’s own page, only subject-level requirements. 2027 undergraduate applications: opened 1 May 2026, close 31 October 2026 (from ufh.ac.za/admission).

Source: View the official page (ufh.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of South Africa

Partly verified

Bachelor of Social Work

Human Sciences

Unisa APS 21 points

  • English: 60%
  • Four content subjects – Four further subjects at 60% or better.

A police clearance certificate, two testimonials and an online screening test are also required before registration; registers with SACSSP. NSC with Bachelor’s Degree endorsement required. Maximum 10 years to complete. Confirmed current for the 2027 intake: Unisa’s own pages state its 2027 application window as 17 August - 9 October 2026.

Source: View the official page (unisa.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of the Witwatersrand

University of Venda

Partly verified

Bachelor of Social Work

Humanities, Social Sciences and Education · 4 years

Univen APS 35

  • English: 50%

From Univen’s 2027 Undergraduate Prospectus. We could not confirm the application closing date from the pages we read (applications opened 1 May 2026) - check the current date on univen.ac.za.

Source: View the official page (univen.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of Zululand

Partly verifiedFrom an older document

Bachelor of Consumer Science (Extension and Rural Development)

Science, Agriculture & Engineering · 4 years

UniZulu APS 28 points out of 48

  • English: 50%
  • Life Sciences: 50%

Community/rural development work specifically - filed under the closest existing career category. From UniZulu’s own 2026-labelled faculty handbooks, which contain no 2027-specific intake or closing-date information at all - do not assume a date, and treat this as the most recent official figures available rather than confirmed-current for 2027.

Source: View the official page (unizulu.ac.za) (opens the official page)

Walter Sisulu University

Partly verified

Bachelor of Social Work

Law, Humanities & Social Sciences · 4 years

WSU APS 26 points out of 48

  • English: level 4 (50% or more)
  • African language – Another African language at level 5.
  • Life Sciences: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Three more subjects – Any other three subjects at level 4 or better, excluding Life Orientation.
  • Character reference check – WSU conducts a character reference check for all admitted students; a negative result may lead to deregistration.

From WSU’s 2027 Undergraduate Information Brochure & Admission Requirements. We could not confirm the application closing date from the pages we read - check the current date on wsu.ac.za.

Source: View the official page (wsu.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Are your marks enough?

Put your subjects in once and we’ll check them against every degree above – scored each university’s own way.

What do I qualify for?