Purpose: This paper aims to understand the social work curriculum as perceived by the learners of the master's degree programme. The study compares the perception as held by students' originating from the same and different faculties regarding the curricular aspects of social work education in India. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a qualitative approach. It is a case study-based paper whereby the participants were selected using multi-phase sampling, universities were selected using purposive sampling and 106 students were selected using quota sampling. Semi-structured online interviews were taken using an interview guide and transcribed. Inter-coder reliability was tested using Cohen's kappa. The paper used grounded theory to analyse data. Findings: The study suggests a significant difference in the perception of curriculum between those originating from the same discipline and other faculty. It was found that the learners perceive the curriculum to be obsolete in addressing contemporary concerns and needs serious reframing. Research limitations/implications: As the study uses the case study method, it has been limited to four universities of Madhya Pradesh state of India to analyse the cases effectively. Further, only the domain of social work has been explored in the study. Thus, the results may lack generalizability. Further studies can also be conducted to test the propositions suggested. Even similar studies can be carried out with other disciplines. Also, the study being cross-sectional leaves scope for future comparative and longitudinal studies. Practical implications: The paper presents some interesting perceptions of the student community, which can be used for redesigning and revising the social work curriculum. Such appraisals if done by every educational institute can bring significant reforms in the present education system of India and make it at par with the global standards and responsive to the contemporary needs of the society. Further, with such training, social workers can be true change agents. Social implications: The study can play a significant role in the redesigning of social work education in India. Thus, directly or indirectly benefit the entire society. Originality/value: The paper addresses the concern to include the current student community in curriculum design to ensure quality curriculum.