Social work students balance multiple roles and responsibilities alongside their educational journey, with recent research suggesting these challenges are exacerbated during practicum. The informal accounts of the pressures and strains on students on the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programme in Aotearoa New Zealand provided impetus for an exploration of the local issues compared with those reported internationally and in different institutional contexts. In 2018, Year three and Year four BSW students were invited to participate in focus groups exploring both the challenges and sustaining factors they encountered during the course of their studies. The findings reveal that, as described in the international literature, NMIT students experience multiple pressures and use a range of support systems to sustain themselves through their student journey. The findings from the study are now informing a review of the structure and delivery of the academic curriculum at NMIT and have led to the development of “He Arawhata”. This programme sits alongside the academic curriculum and is aimed at enhancing the health and wellbeing of students in preparation for the demands of both practicum and a career in social work.