Professional internship and state recognition

These pages are intended to make it easier for you to organize your internship and provide information on applying for state recognition.

The 768-hour internship module (BPS) integrated into the Bachelor's degree course has already familiarized you with the specific requirements and opportunities for action in the fields of social work.

The law on state recognition stipulates a professional internship of one year. You will therefore receive state recognition upon application if you successfully demonstrate your professional qualification in a further 768-hour internship supervised by the university following your studies. Details are governed by the Statutes on Professional Practical Studies and the Professional Internship, Part 2 (see "Legal basis" on our homepage).

Please note that in many areas of activity it is necessary to submit a current police clearance certificate. This currently costs between 13 and 17 euros. Information on a possible exemption from fees can be found here.

We would also like to point out that it is highly recommended that you have valid liability insurance (e.g. for damage to company vehicles or loss of company keys).

Measles Protection Act

Due to the Measles Protection Act, people who work in community facilities (such as daycare centers, schools, asylum seeker and refugee shelters) and in healthcare facilities (such as hospitals) must now have the measles vaccination or an existing immunity against measles.

This also applies to internships!

Please get vaccinated against measles in good time before starting your internship (according to the recommendation, there should be 4 weeks between the first and second vaccination). Proof of vaccination must be provided before the start of the internship. Please also consider timing the vaccination to coincide with a possible vaccination against COVID-19 (buffer between vaccinations) Please discuss the vaccination schedule with your doctor and ask your internship office about the requirements.

(Further information: https://www.masernschutz.de/beschaeftigte-in-einrichtungen/.Accessed on 25.09.2023).

The professional internship comprises 32 hours per week for a period of 6 months. As a rule, it should immediately follow the Bachelor's examination and be completed no later than 3 years later. If a consecutive Master's degree course follows the Bachelor's examination, the period is extended to 4 years. Proven parental leave and time spent caring for relatives also extend the period. The statutory regulations apply here.

As a "social worker in recognition", you are subject to employment law. This means, among other things, that vacation and sick leave regulations apply to you just as they do to any other employee. Granted vacation days and sick days do not have to be made up as long as the total duration of the interruptions (total accumulation) does not exceed 128 hours (corresponding to four weeks with a working week of 32 hours). If there are interruptions of more than 128 hours, you must notify the BPS department immediately. The BPS Commission will decide whether, how and how many hours of practical work must be made up.

Part-time work is possible, but the internship must be completed within one year and the time spent at the internship site must not be less than 16 hours per week.

In addition to registering for the study week and submitting the contracts to the BPS department (everything as before), all those who wish to start the state recognition from 2024 must apply to the university for the "State Recognition - Social Work" degree program. This works in the same way as applying for other degree programs.

Important: Please apply shortly before or directly after the BA. If you apply while you still have the UK address, this can be done very quickly and with just a few clicks. If the UK account has already been deleted, you will have to re-enter all documents as you did when you first applied for a place, which is quite time-consuming.

A prerequisite for admission is the successful completion of the BA Social Work program at the University of Kassel, proven by uploading the transcript of records in the application process. If the required 180 credits have not yet been booked at the time of application, you must submit the transcript of records by e-mail (bps.ifs@uni-kassel.de) as soon as this has been done. Please do not upload any proof of less than 180 credits during the application process. You can and should also register without the transcript of records - activation will then take place after the 180 credits have been verified by email.

You can then continue to use Moodle and access the library's online resources. We have been striving for these opportunities for social workers in recognition (SiA) for many years and are now very pleased that this has been achieved with the support of the Student Secretariat, ITS and the President's Office of the University. Enrolment does not make you a student. Accordingly, you do not have to pay a semester fee (you can simply ignore the corresponding message in the registration process).

Please note: After you have registered, you will be admitted by the BPS department and will receive an automatic e-mail - you must then register, otherwise you will not be enrolled on the degree program! If you are enrolled for other degree programs (e.g. a Master's degree program), you must select "Parallel studies" in the process. If you are only completing the state recognition, please select "Change of degree program".

You must register for the professional internship with the Department of Professional Studies in your academic division. The internship for academic credit must be completed in accordance with a contract entered into between you and the host organization. The contract must also include the objectives and content of your internship (training plan) and details regarding supervision (a person with state certification as a social worker); alternatively, these must be attached to the contract as an appendix. It must be sent digitally to the BPS Office before the start of the accreditation internship to the following address: bps.ifs[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

The training contract for the professional internship leading to state certification can only be countersigned by the University of Kassel if proof of the Bachelor’s degree is provided in HISPOS by printing out the transcript of records (180 credits). In exceptional cases, provided that the grading period (6 weeks after submission) for the last course has already expired, this form be used in combination with the transcript of records. It must be submitted together with the training agreement via email.

Please select a practicum site that has been recognized as suitable by the university.

The contract also includes the training plan, which is agreed upon between the practicum supervisor and the intern(s) and bindingly defines the content and objectives of the practical training. If your institution uses its own contract form, please note that the training plan required by the bylaws must also be included. To ensure that it contains all necessary information, you can copy page 2 of our contract (§§ 3 and 4), fill it out, and attach it to the internship site’s contract form. The forms for the training contract are available in the download section.

ATTENTION: If your practicum site uses its own contract form, the University of Kassel’s form must not be used under any circumstances. In this case, please attach an additional sheet to the contract that includes the training plan, the name of the supervisor, whether that person holds state certification as a social worker or social pedagogue, and their contact information. Under no circumstances may two parallel contract forms be submitted.

If you are already employed, you may use and submit your current employment contract for the professional internship. In this case, you must also include an additional sheet containing the mandatory information listed above.

In addition, you must apply to the university via eCampus for the “State Certification – Social Work” program. This process works the same way as applying for other degree programs. The respective application deadlines are published on this page.

Recognized social workers are entitled to remuneration in accordance with the internship rate during their internship.

In addition, the Institute of Social Work offers accompanying courses. To register for the exam, students must participate in

• one study week
• a subject-specific course
• a supplementary course, and
• a specified minimum number of supervision sessions.

Registration for the accompanying course and supervision takes place as part of the registration for the study week. If you are registered for the study week, you will receive all necessary information in a timely manner via email.

Continuing education events offered by your practice, as well as conferences, congresses, and similar events, may also be credited as subject-specific events (and only as such). Please be sure to contact us before the event to clarify whether the type, content, and scope are eligible for credit and what documentation must be provided.

Please submit your internship final report to the director of the accompanying program.

Supervision sessions (each session lasts 90 minutes) that you complete through your sponsoring organization and document to the BPS Office are counted as equivalent.

Since you, as social workers in the recognition program, are no longer enrolled at the University of Kassel, it is currently not possible to register online for the above-mentioned courses. The registration process is handled by the BPS Office and will be announced in a timely manner on the website.

Please note: If you have been granted approval to shorten your recognition internship, you must also register for the study week. Please specify in your email which courses you need based on your approval notice.

If you have any questions regarding the study week or the events (supervision sessions, accompanying seminars), or if there are scheduling conflicts with the events, please contact the BPS Office!

The study week can also be completed during the internship or afterward. In this case, please register for the study week you wish to attend, as well as for the one that takes place immediately before your internship, and indicate that you only need one accompanying course and one supervision session. Otherwise, you will not be able to enroll in the required courses!

We strongly recommend that you make an appointment 2 - 3 months before you officially register for the exam in order to avoid long waiting times. (during telephone consultation hours at 804-2905)

The internship concludes with an examination. The relevant form can be found in the download area. The prerequisite for registering for the examination is the assessment

a) of the professional supervising the internship:

The assessment of the internship consists of a written report on the intern's work and a statement, to be substantiated, as to whether the work performed has met the requirements. In addition, a reflection form completed by the SiA and the internship supervisor should be submitted with the assessment.

b) the university:

The heads of the respective courses confirm

• participation in a subject-specific event,
• participation in an accompanying event including the submission of a written report on the internship.
• participation in supervision

The relevant assessment forms can be found in the download area. Accompanying events and supervisions are reported directly by the course leader. They do not require a signature. For external supervisions, please use the second part of the relevant form.

At the same time as registering for the examination, you also submit the application for state recognition. State recognition is granted by the University of Kassel on behalf of the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art.

Please also read our information sheet. (See download area).

ATTENTION: All documents (application, supporting documents, report, examination registration form, etc.) must be received by the BPS department by e-mailat least 14 days before the agreed examination date.
The documents must be submitted as complete package (no individual mails!!!). Signatures must be original and then scanned. The report must necessarily be sent as a single file(not as a single mail, only as a single file within the mail!), PDF is preferable.
If this is not possible, submission by post is also possible. Please do not send both (postal and digital).

Important: You will not receive no confirmation of receipt of the documents. If they are not complete, the BPS department will contact you before the examination so that you can submit any missing documents. You can use the registration form to check yourself whether you have submitted all the documents, as these are noted there.

Unless otherwise communicated, the examinations will take place in room 0107 at Arnold-Bode-Straße 10.