Program Overview

Adult Support and Protection

Key Facts

• Module code: APSPG11
• Start date: 22 Sep 2025
• Application deadline: 8 Sep 2025
• Duration: 10 weeks
• Credit value SCQF: 40
• SCQF level: Level 11
• Fees: Home: £2,111; International: £4,578
• Mode of study: part time
• Delivery: blended

Overview

Adult Support and Protection is a course designed for practitioners and front-line managers working in diverse roles within adult social care. The course aims to provide a valuable space for health and social care practitioners and managers to engage with the complexity of law, policy, and service structures, widen their knowledge of relevant theory and contemporary research, and share practice experiences with professionals from across Scotland.

Entrance Requirements

• Working as a qualified practitioner in the third sector, social work, or health sector with some experience of or interest in Adult Support and Protection.
• Able to study at Postgraduate level.

English Language Requirements

• IELTS Academic or UKVI 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each sub-skill.
• Pearson Test of English (Academic) 62 overall with 60 in each sub-skill.
• IBT TOEFL 80 overall with 18 in reading, 23 in writing, 19 in listening, and 21 in speaking.

Objectives

• To explore the process and context of adult support and protection through consideration of key concepts: harm, abuse, and risk, vulnerability and resilience, multidisciplinary working, institutional harm, and power and participation.

Structure and Content

• Social, legal, and political context of adult support and protection
• Critical analysis of the impact of harm and abuse on people's lives
• Decision-making theory and its application
• Critical review of the concepts of risk, resilience, vulnerability, consent, capacity, and choice
• Service user and carer participation in support and protection processes
• Partnership working and collaborative relationships in supporting and protecting adults

Delivery and Assessment

• Mainly delivered online through a mixture of live and self-directed learning
• Induction session is face-to-face, and some other teaching sessions may be face-to-face after discussion with the group
• Assessment is via a peer-reviewed article analysis and a 4,000-word end-of-module assignment

Module Coordinator

• Vicky Soutar, Lecturer in Social Work

Employability

• Many NHS and local authority employers regularly sponsor practitioners to undertake this module, due to the skills development and growth it facilitates
• Practitioners with this module will be able to evidence a high level of critical understanding in the ASP field.