Research

Perceptions of practice placements on social work courses

We are commissioning independent research to strengthen our understanding of practice based learning across qualifying routes into social work in England. This work supports our role as the regulator of social work education and training in England, and will inform future regulatory standards, guidance and quality assurance activity.

The requirement is for the design and delivery of a mixed methods research study exploring perceptions and experiences of practice based learning, including statutory and non statutory placements. The research will examine issues of placement quality, placement sufficiency and variation across regions, qualifying routes and workforce contexts.

Further information on this opportunity, which ends on Wednesday 6 May 2026 at 5pm, can be found on the GOV.UK Find a tender website.

Previous published research

You can see our previous research on practice education on our publications web page.

As an organisation we are committed to learning about social work and to gathering data and intelligence about the profession and people's experiences. We want to make a unique contribution to the evolution of regulation, inform our work as the new specialist regulator and provide a detailed picture of social work in England. Research is an important aspect of this work.

Research areas we are interested in

• The voices of the public and people with lived experience of social work
• Raising standards in social work education and training courses
• Supporting the sector to build an intelligence picture of social work in England and providing resources to support social workers
• Assessing the effectiveness of our specialist regulatory processes, including evaluations of our work

How we commission research

We’re committed to working with the people who have an interest in our work. Research proposals are considered by a scrutiny panel, which includes people with lived experience of social work and social workers. The scrutiny panel advises on:

• the suitability of research proposals, including the objectives and research questions
• the scope, time and value for money of any project
• ethical risks or considerations and managing the oversight of ethics in projects

Research and ethics

All bidders must complete a research ethics checklist. Checklists are considered by the research scrutiny panel to ensure that ethical considerations are given due review and approval.

Get involved

All commissioned research is subject to open and fair competition. After posting a research opportunity, we will allow a minimum of 4 weeks for researchers to submit their bids. Those who are successful at the shortlist phase will be invited to discuss their proposals.