The Undergraduate Degree in Social Work at Universidade Católica Portuguesa was created in 1996, and was the first degree in this area to be taught at a Portuguese university.

With one of the highest employability rates in the country for this area (official data from the General Directorate of Education and Science Statistics), the Degree in Social Work focuses on theoretical teaching underpinned by current practices and on tutorial teaching, transforming our graduates into competent professionals, capable of responding to the challenges of today’s rapidly-changing society.

The undergraduate degree in Social Work trains social workers able to act on social and human development in Portuguese society and in Europe or in the area of cooperation. Our graduates are endowed with knowledge and ethics and social and cultural sensitivity, through:

• Training in social and human sciences, fostering understanding of contemporary social transformations and their consequences in the lives of individuals, families and communities;
• Scientific and technical training for intervention in social work in individual, family, group, community and institutional contexts that shape the task of social workers in Portuguese society and in Europe;
• Longthy practical and experiential training through four-term internships supervised by university lecturers and social workers in public and private organizations in the areas of Justice, Community Intervention, Health, Child and Youth Services, Corporate, Senior Citizens, Mental Health, and Immigration, among others.
• Ethical training committed to the respect for human dignity, individual freedom, citizenship, solidarity, equity and social justice.

During their Social Work degree, students benefit from:

• Student-centred teaching and learning;
• Complementarity between theoretical training and practical work;
• Seminars and curricular units with guided laboratory practice;
• Tutorial support scheme;
• Pedagogical practices that combine individual and group work, research and internships in social institutions;
• Experience, throughout the degree, of the problems of the social environment and professional practices through specific curricular units and internships.