The winners for the 2025 competition have been selected!
Congratulations to Wisdom P. Mensah of Liverpool John Moores University, Leith Greig-Connor of Oxford Brookes University, Fatima Ishaq of Dundee University, and Samantha Ncube of Greenwich University who wrote the winning essays!
Each year the Social Workers Union seeks to challenge and engage students and apprentices with the SWU Assignment — an essay competition for World Social Work Day in which we pose questions about current issues in social work.
The competition is open to Social Work Students undertaking an Undergraduate or Post Graduate Social Work Degree in the UK and to Social Work Apprentices. All completed assignments are judged by a Panel. Up to four of the most compelling arguments within the word limit of 750-1000 words win a grant of £500 each.
The 2025 SWU Assignment question was:
“What are the most important things social workers should get from their professional training? What type of social work practice would they like to be involved in as they begin their professional careers, and why?”
Click here to download the four winning essays as a PDF.
Click here to learn more about student membership with SWU and BASW – the specialist trade union and professional association for social work in the UK have a fantastic joint membership offer to support you through your social work journey!
We are thrilled to have had three brilliant judges on our panel this year and invite you to meet the markers for the SWU Assignment 2025. Click here to read quotes from the four winners and remarks from the markers.
Previous SWU Assignment winners
Are you interested in reading the brilliant essays that have impressed the panel judges in previous years? Here is a list of all the winning SWU Assignment essays to date: