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 regulated by the statutes on 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 thereafter. If a consecutive master's degree program is connected to the bachelor's degree, the time is extended to 4 years. Verified parental leave as well as time spent caring for relatives also extend the period. In each case, the statutory regulations apply.

As a "social worker:in recognition" you are subject to labor law. This means, among other things, that vacation and sick leave regulations apply to you in the same way as to any other employee. Granted vacation days as well as sick days do not have to be made up, as long as the total duration of the interruptions (summary calculation) does not exceed 128 hours (corresponding to four weeks with a working time of 32 hours per week). If interruptions of more than 128 hours occur, you must notify the BPS unit immediately. The BPS Commission decides whether, how and how much practice time must then 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.

You register the internship with the Department's Office for Practical Studies. The recognized internship must be completed in accordance with a contract concluded between you and the provider of the internship institution. The contract must also contain the objectives and content of your internship (training plan) and details of the supervisor (person with state recognition as a social worker) or these must be attached to the contract as an annex. It must be sent digitally to the BPS department at the following address before the start of the recognition internship: bps.ifs[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

The training contract for the professional internship for state recognition can only be countersigned by the University of Kassel, if the Bachelor's degreecan beverified in HISPOS by printing out the transcript of records (180 credits) . In exceptional cases, this form can be used in combination with the transcript of records if the assessment deadline (6 weeks after submission) of the last performance has already passed. This must be submitted together with the training contract and by e-mail.

Please choose an internship that has been recognized as suitable by the university.

The contract also contains the training plan that is agreed upon between the internship supervisor and the intern and sets out the binding content and objectives of the practical training. If your institution uses its own contract form, we would like to point out that the training plan required by the statutes  must also be attached. To ensure that this also contains all the necessary information, you can copy page 2 from our contract (§§ 3 and 4), fill it out and attach it to the contract form of the practical training center. The forms for the training contract can be found in the download area.

ATTENTION: If your practical training center uses its own contract form, under no circumstances may the University of Kassel form also be used. In this case, please add another sheet to the contract on which the training plan is noted, as well as who is responsible for the supervision and whether this person has state recognition as a social worker / social pedagogue, as well as their contact details. Under no circumstances may two parallel contract forms be submitted.

If you are already in an employment relationship, it is also possible to use and submit the current employment contract for the internship. In this case, an additional sheet with the above-mentioned mandatory information must also be enclosed.

In addition, you must apply for the "State Recognition - Social Work" course at the university in eCampus. This works in the same way as applying for other degree programs. The respective application deadlines are published on this page.

Social workers in recognition are entitled to remuneration during the professional internship in accordance with the internship rate.

In addition, accompanying events are held at the Institute of Social Work. Prerequisite for the examination registration is the participation in

• a study week
• a subject-specific event
• one accompanying event and
• a specified minimum number of supervision sessions.

The registration for the accompanying event and supervision takes place during the registration for the study week. If you are registered for this, you will receive all the necessary information in good time by e-mail.

Continuing education events offered by your practice center as well as conferences, congresses, etc. can also be credited as subject-specific events (and only as such). Please contact us before the event in order to clarify whether the type, content and scope are eligible for recognition and what evidence must be provided.

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

Supervision sessions (one session is 90 minutes) that you complete at your sponsoring institution and provide evidence of to the BPS office are counted equally. Accordingly, you will need fewer sessions at the university.

Since you are no longer enrolled at the University of Kassel as a social worker in recognition, it is currently not possible to register online for the above-mentioned events. The registration procedure is handled by the BPS department and will be announced on the homepage in due time.

Attention: If you have been granted a shortening of the recognition internship, you must also register for the study week. Please indicate in the mail which courses you need according to the approval notice.

If you are unclear about the study week or the events (supervisions, accompanying seminars) or if there are time problems regarding the events, please contact the BPS department!

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. A prerequisite for exam registration is the assessment

a)     of the practicum supervisor:

The assessment of the internship position consists of a written report on the intern's activities and a substantiated statement as to whether the services provided have met the requirements. In addition, a reflection form completed by the SiA and the practice supervisor should be submitted with the assessment.

b)   of the university:

The heads of the respective courses confirm

• participation in the study week,
• participation in a subject-specific event,
• participation in an accompanying event incl. the submission of a written report on the work placement.

The relevant assessment forms can be found in the download area.

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, PDF is preferable.
If this is not possible, submission by post is also possible. Please do not send both (by post and digitally).

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 check whether you have submitted all the documents yourself by attaching them to the registration form, as they are noted there.

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