The origins of the School can be traced back to 1975 when Professor Martin Davies was brought from Manchester to design and launch a new Graduate Program in Social Work.
In the late 1980s there began a series of collaborations with local authority and probation departments in East Anglia which lay the foundations for a burgeoning program of post-qualifying courses in social work.
To support the development the Elizabeth Fry Building was built, which has been occupied by all social work and psychosocial sciences staff and students since January 1995.
[citation needed] The quality of the teaching received by social work students was also given the highest possible ranking by the Funding Council.
The program was able to draw on the teaching and research skills of existing members of faculty and to attract new appointments to strengthen the School's expertise in psychology.