Preparing for practice: social work education in England

Published: 27 November 2025

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Executive summary
• 1. The shape of social work education in England
• 2. Reflections from regulating social work education
• 3. Experiences of our reapproval inspections
• 4. Innovation, inclusivity and student experiences
• 5. Looking to the future
• Appendix A

Foreword

Social work education sits at the heart of public protection, which is our overarching objective at Social Work England. This publication captures our unique perspective as the regulator for social work in England. It spotlights learning from our first full reapproval cycle of 257 qualifying social work courses. It shares data from our approval and monitoring of education providers and explores how social work education is evolving in response to changes across wider society. It reflects the shared responsibility we have, with educators and employers, to prepare social workers for practice.

We regulate every qualifying social work course in England against our education and training standards to ensure that students who successfully complete a course can meet our professional standards. The graduates who join our register go on to protect, support and empower some of society's most vulnerable people. The quality of their education and training must provide the very best foundation for students to enter the profession. They need to be ready to thrive in this rewarding yet challenging career, support individuals, families and communities, and able to continuously develop in their roles.

The insights and analysis from our regulation and our relationships with education providers are shaping our future directions in education and training. This includes our intended review of education and training standards and will inform our future approaches to inspections. We will continue to work with those across the education sector to ensure students develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for contemporary practice. We also understand that everyone supported by a newly qualified social worker must feel reassured that they will experience a consistent standard of practice, wherever that person qualified.

Our inspections have revealed inspiring stories of excellence and innovation within social work education. Despite financial pressures within the higher education sector and the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions have demonstrated creativity and adaptability. From embracing hybrid learning models to exploring the benefits and limitations of artificial intelligence (AI), the sector has shown that challenges lead to positive change.

There are also strong examples of involving people with lived experience of social work. Their insights are essential in helping students understand the impact of their future practice. Co-production supports social work's core values and ensures courses remain grounded in real-world experience. It is crucial that students and apprentices gain experience through practice based learning, supported by the vital role of practice educators in mentoring, teaching and assessing the next generation of social workers. Our research into practice education revealed how rewarding and motivating practice educators find their roles, while highlighting the challenges that may cause a social worker to step away from practice education.

Increasing the diversity of people applying for social work courses must continue to be a focus. Students from all backgrounds must receive the support they need to enrol on courses, qualify and stay in their careers. Valuing a breadth of experience amongst learners through a commitment to equality and inclusion can only strengthen our profession.

We acknowledge that there are challenges facing the higher education sector and social work employers, which may intersect and impact on social work education and training. Financial and staffing pressures can impact the availability of practice based learning opportunities, for example, and at the same time, social work courses are operating in a tight fiscal environment within the broader higher education sector. Through our Education and Training Advisory Forum (ETAF) and our close working relationship with course providers, we are ensuring that we remain live to these issues and can have honest conversations about the challenges that education providers face, providing support where we can within our regulatory remit. 

I want to thank everyone who contributed to this publication and who have worked with us to shape our regulation of social work education over the past 5 years. With particular thanks to education providers, students, practice educators, people with lived experience, our inspection teams and our ETAF.

Colum Conway
Chief Executive, Social Work England

The shape of social work education in England

A rich social work education and training landscape is vital for developing professionals with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to provide the best support to people and communities.

The variety of routes into the social work profession help to support people from different backgrounds and circumstances to consider social work as a career. This helps build a diverse workforce.

We know from our approved list of courses that there are currently 355 qualifying social work courses in England, delivered by 75 providers. While the number of courses has increased by 58 (19.5%) since we last reported in 2023, the number of education providers delivering courses has decreased by 8 (9.6%).

Calculating the exact number of social work courses and the balance of routes across an academic year can prove challenging. This is because we continue to approve and monitor courses that are coming to an end due to changes in provision, or because the course is planned for closure.

Overall, we can see that the number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses have both steadily increased since we first reported in 2021. Apprenticeships are driving this growth. In the past year we approved 44 undergraduate apprenticeship courses in total across England and 11 new postgraduate social work degree apprenticeships.

Although we do not register students or apprentices, we are exploring ways to use annual monitoring to understand the shape and size of social work cohorts. Our insights suggest that overall enrolments onto social work courses decreased slightly between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, by 3.14%.

However, enrolments onto undergraduate degree apprenticeships and fast-track routes increased during the same period. Our analysis of enrolment data is at an early stage. We will continue to explore ways for our annual monitoring of courses to gather useful data and intelligence, including being alert to any potential trends that may impact the future pipeline for the social work profession. 

Reflections from regulating social work education

The regulation of social work education has evolved and changed often over the past few decades. Since we became the regulator for social workers in 2019 our approach has focused on building relationships with social work course teams and organisations with an interest in social work education and training.

We are especially keen to promote the value of involving stakeholders in the design, delivery and continued improvement of social work courses. It is important for people with lived experience of social work, social work practitioners and employer partners to be meaningfully engaged in preparing the social workers of the future.

Between September 2021 and March 2025, we inspected 257 social work courses against our education and training standards as part of our reapproval cycle. Of the 257 inspections:

• 48 courses were approved (with no conditions)
• 207 courses were approved (with conditions)
• 2 courses had their approval withdrawn

By the end of the reapproval cycle, 255 courses were approved. From an analysis of our reapproval inspection data, we have been able to understand where conditions were most likely to be applied against specific education and training standards. Conditions generally fell into one of 6 themes:

• strategic engagement of partners
• administrative matters
• provision of learning opportunities
• process development and implementation
• ongoing training
• sufficient resourcing 

We have shared our reflections on why conditions were likely to be set, and the steps taken by education providers to meet conditions, in Appendix A. 

Experiences of our reapproval inspections

We wanted to better understand experiences of our reapproval inspection process. To do this we held interviews with education quality assurance inspectors and social work educators. This helped us to explore their perceptions and how they felt at different stages of the inspection process.

Educators reflected on some of the challenges they faced when preparing for inspections. For example the volume of evidence required and the logistics of accommodating an inspection alongside their existing academic commitments. Likewise, inspectors reflected on their experiences of participating in inspections online, or via a hybrid model, compared with onsite events.

Overall, educators and inspectors were positive about their experience of inspections. They reflected that they felt well supported by Social Work England staff. There was a shared feeling between inspectors and social work educators that inspections were focusing on the right areas, and that the decisions made by Social Work England seemed fair.

Innovation, inclusivity and student experiences

Social work educators have demonstrated innovation, adaptability and flexibility in response to changes in wider society. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the emergence of new technologies including AI and virtual reality. Change can also present new risks and challenges. As social work practice evolves, course providers must balance innovation with the need to ensure opportunities for real world experience and face-to-face contact between students and apprentices, social work educators, and people with lived experience of social work.

Social work courses also continue to demonstrate positive trends in terms of recruiting applicants from diverse backgrounds. They often attract more people from black, disabled and low socio-economic backgrounds than other university level programmes. This is beneficial for the profession and for the communities that social workers work with, as social workers should reflect the diversity of experiences, views and backgrounds within our society.

However, we recognise that challenges persist regarding equality, diversity and inclusion. Students and apprentices may experience multiple, intersecting disadvantages. This may impact course progression and attainment, particularly for people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, or for those with disabilities or who are neurodiverse. We are keen to ensure that regardless of background or circumstances, all social work students and apprentices receive the support they need to successfully join the profession.

We are mindful of the financial pressures facing many organisations, including higher education providers and local authorities. This can create challenges for course delivery, particularly practice based learning, as work-based opportunities are costly to organise and resource for both course providers and employer partners. At the same time, the rising cost of living has presented new challenges for social work students and apprentices. They may receive different levels of financial support and funding depending on their route into the profession. This means that the cost and overall experience of training to be a social worker varies widely.

Looking to the future

What we have learned, and are continuing to learn, about social work education in England will inform our approach to regulation in the years ahead. Working in partnership with providers and the social work sector, we will use our learning to improve the consistency and quality of courses, and the readiness of graduates for professional practice.

This includes reviewing our education and training standards where we propose to clarify and streamline some of our existing approach and guidance, based on the learning from our first reapproval cycle. Bringing our knowledge skills and behaviours framework (KSBs) into regulation will also strengthen consistency in how different courses are preparing students and apprentices to meet the professional standards and begin their practice. We’re also building a more in-depth knowledge of the practice education landscape to inform and support the critical role of practice educators, including exploring our role in regulating practice education.

We have been assured through the relationships that we have built with education providers, employers and educators that even during challenging times, social work education continues to evolve and strive to meet the needs of the profession and the public, but we also know that there is always potential for improvement and innovation which we are keen to support.

High quality social work education and training is essential to prepare students and apprentices for practice. It is also key to ensuring they can meet our professional standards when they enter the profession. Regulatory approval, and ongoing reapproval, of all courses in England assures the public that all social workers are receiving the best possible education and training in a supportive and inclusive environment. We do this by setting education and training standards for all social work courses in England.

In this chapter, we set out the history of regulating social work education, to show the journey and development of social work regulation over time. We then look at our current approach to regulation of courses. We set out the purpose of our standards and guidance and describe our approach to inspections.

Lastly, we share some of the results from our first reapproval cycle, including key themes and findings from the inspections. We expand on this more in the appendix, reflecting on areas where inspections have driven improvement, and which standards were more likely to have conditions and recommendations set against them. 

The history of regulating social work education

Regulation of social work is not a new concept. But what it looks like, and who delivers it, has changed a lot over the years. The timeline below gives a high-level overview of that journey. This provides context for where we are now, including how we learn from past experiences and make informed decisions about the future of regulation.

• 1970: The Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) becomes the statutory authority responsible for approving and assuring the quality of education and training for social work and social care staff across the UK.
• 2001: CCETSW is abolished and its functions taken over by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) in England. Social workers in England become regulated professionals and the government introduces the social work degree as the required qualification for practice.
• 2012: Following a review of arm’s length bodies in 2010, the Government abolishes the GSCC and transfers most of its regulatory functions, including approving and monitoring social work courses, to the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC). 
  • The College of Social Work (‘the College’), is founded with a mission to improve standards in social work, and runs a non-mandatory endorsement scheme for social work courses in England. 
• 2014: 2 independent reviews on social work education and training are published: David Croisdale-Appleby’s ‘Re-visioning social work education’ and Sir Martin Narey’s ‘Making the education of social workers consistently effective’. Both find regulation needs to be strengthened and duplication between the HCPC and the College needs to be reduced. They find that regulatory standards and processes need to improve to enable rigorous scrutiny of the quality of social work education. Both make recommendations about how social work education should be funded, structured, delivered and assessed. 
• 2015: The College of Social Work closes after facing financial challenges and struggling to attract enough support to become sustainable. The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) takes ownership of several of the College’s resources, including the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) and a continuing professional development (CPD) endorsement framework.
• 2016: The government announces its intention to set up a new specialist regulatory body for social workers in England. This body would be charged with raising the status of the profession and driving up standards in social work education, training and practice.
• 2018: Work starts to set up the new specialist regulator, Social Work England.
• 2019: The HCPC transfers responsibility for regulating social workers and social work education to Social Work England

That brings us to 2025 and to our role as the regulator of social workers and social work courses. It’s been a changing landscape, both from a societal, sector and regulatory perspective. So, while we have high ambitions for social work education, we also want to bring consistency and stability. The primary way we do this is through the setting, monitoring and maintaining of education and training standards.

Our approach to regulation of courses

Our standards and guidance

We developed our education and training standards in collaboration with education providers, social workers, employers and people with lived experience of social work.  

Our standards are supported by guidance. It is through our guidance that we’re able to provide further depth and context on the standards. In the guidance, we set out what we expect to see from education providers to evidence that their courses are meeting the standards. 

At the time of writing, it is our intention to review our standards for qualifying social work courses. The review of these standards, following our first reapproval cycle of all social work courses in England, presents us with the opportunity to make amendments based on the learning we have gathered and the feedback from the sector.

We’re also developing new guidance on ‘readiness for professional practice’. This will make explicit the specific knowledge, skills and behaviours that are required of courses to ready students to meet the professional standards.

Learning through lived experience

People with lived experience of social work play a vital role in informing and co-producing our approach to the regulation of social work education. We work with people with lived and learned experience through our National Advisory Forum (NAF), our ETAF and our PEDG.

We always meet with people with lived experience of social work as part of our course inspections and have invited those who are involved in social work courses to directly shape potential revisions to our education standards and guidance as part of our upcoming proposed review. We consulted people with lived experience during the creation of our KSBs and we have engaged this group in the development of our proposed readiness for professional practice guidance.

We recognise that people with lived experience of social work can provide unique insight and demonstrate the value of social work by sharing their personal experiences. This can empower students and help them understand the role they can play in people’s lives through best practice. With this in mind, when we introduced our education and training standards in 2021, we strengthened the involvement of people with lived experience of social work in the design and delivery of courses.

“Their experiences and insights have shown me the importance of active listening, empathy, and advocacy. This experience also strengthened my commitment to empowering clients in my future practice. Each time I listen to my clients’ stories and perspectives, I gain invaluable insights into the complexities and realities of social work practice.”

Social work student

“I found that listening to people with lived experience provided the most valuable learning opportunities during the course, particularly while in placement. These opportunities highlighted the importance of adapting my communication style and showing empathy. Building meaningful relationships made my experience as a social work student incredibly rewarding and purposeful; learning about other people's lived experiences broadened my perspective.”

Newly qualified social worker

“We had many people come and share their stories from adoptive dads to people with learning disabilities. I learnt that no matter how small of a difference you think you are making to someone’s life, to them it could mean the biggest impact.”

Newly qualified social worker

The guidance which underpins our education and training standards highlights the principle of coproduction. This recognises that people should be seen as equal partners in the design, delivery and review of social work education. Co-production is vital in ensuring that a course is current, relevant and provides social workers with the skills and knowledge to be able to support others. The involvement of people with lived experience can be seen across the whole student journey. Their involvement can include:

• helping education providers decide which applicants are suitable to study social work
• supporting preparation for practice
• shaping assessments
• engaging in teaching and learning
• sharing their expertise to improve course curriculums over time

Sally Parker, expert by experience and member of the ETAF:

The knowledge, skills and behaviours project involved people with lived experience of social work to a whole new level. The ETAF includes academics, tutors, social workers, practice educators and managers. Everyone has parked their labels at the door and has a safe space to say what social work education means to them.

There were 2 experts by experience from education providers on the ETAF, and we wanted to include more voices. We set up focus groups specifically for experts by experience involved in training social workers. I’m proud to say that the 2 sessions happened as a result of our input. Whilst they were modelled on the other sessions, they were facilitated by people with lived experience. I think this was really important for getting the focus right. They brought a real life aspect to how the new guidance should be written and implemented and have given us a foundation for doing more of this work in the future.

True co-production depends on creating the right tone, environment and culture for everybody to feel comfortable about getting involved. This is a good example of Social Work England bringing about change in the right way. It’s a true partnership to create authentic guidance, which will genuinely benefit social work students, higher education providers and most importantly those of us who have social workers in our lives.

Our relationship based approach

We have developed a relationship based approach to our quality assurance of education and training. Much of the impact of our inspection activity rests on the dialogue and discussion with education providers.

Our education quality assurance officers work closely with education providers. They are supported by our regional engagement leads, who are all experienced social workers. Good working relationships and open communication encourages honesty and transparency between us as a regulator, and the people who lead the courses that we regulate.

We want education providers to feel confident in approaching us for advice on how to meet our standards. We also want to collaboratively explore aspects of their course design and delivery, as well as how our regulation shapes and impacts social work courses.

“Where relationships with course providers are strong, the response to conditions is more positive and constructive. I hope that education providers found the team helpful and approachable."

Education Quality Assurance Officer

“Working collaboratively is key to the inspection process. I feel that the relationship based approach fits with the values of social work and those of the social work profession.”

Education Quality Assurance Officer

“The aim is to help course providers make their course better – I’m always willing to have constructive discussions with course providers. It’s important to be supportive.”

Education Quality Assurance Officer

We have built relationships with networks and organisations with an interest in social work education and training, including teaching partnerships and the:

• Education and Training Advisory Forum (ETAF)
• Practice Education Development Group (PEDG)
• Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group for Social Work
• National Organisation of Practice Teaching (NOPT)
• Joint Universities Social Work Association (JUSWA)
• Association of Professors of Social Work (APSW)
• Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
• Office for Students (OfS)

This helps us to keep up to date with what is happening on the ground for social work academics, employers and practice educators. It also, provides regular opportunities for collaboration and sharing information. 

We have built a close relationship with the Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group for Social Work, enabling us to work collaboratively on a number of changes to the apprenticeship, including:

• revising the end point assessment based on feedback from education providers, apprentices and employers
• supporting the introduction of a postgraduate option for apprentices
• considering how Social Work England’s knowledge, skills and behaviours can be embedded in the apprenticeship standard, to reduce duplication and streamline requirements between regulators

The reapproval cycle

One of the most ambitious pieces of work we have undertaken as a regulator is the reapproval of all qualifying social work courses in England. We are required to re-approve courses every 6 years. However, we chose to complete our first reapproval cycle in 3 and a half years. This shorter period allowed us an early opportunity to consider any learning from the delivery of the cycle, and set our ambitions for next one. It has involved a huge amount of effort not only from our education quality assurance colleagues and inspector partners, but also from every social work education provider in England.

As at March 2025 we had concluded 257 inspections of social work courses as part of our reapproval cycle. Of the 257 inspections:

• 48 courses were approved
• 207 courses were approved with conditions
• 2 courses had their approval withdrawn

Of the 2 courses that had their approval withdrawn, one course was initially approved with conditions. The other course had their approval withdrawn without conditions being set.

Of the 207 courses approved with conditions, all were able to provide satisfactory evidence following their inspection outcome that the conditions were met.

By the end of the reapproval cycle:

• 255 courses were approved
• 2 had their approval withdrawn

Withdrawal of approval

When we propose withdrawal of approval, we notify the course provider in writing. We also give them the opportunity to make any final observations before a regulatory decision is made. We make a final decision after considering any observations. During this period, we set up regular meetings with the course provider to progress next steps. While not compulsory we encourage joint stakeholder meetings with the OfS and the Office for the Independent Adjudicator. These meetings help us to understand the intricacies of appropriately timed communication with the different parties involved. For example, applicants, students, apprentices, course staff and local employers.

We work to support anyone who may be impacted by the course closure where possible, within the remit of our legislation. This can involve liaising with other local social work course providers, who may be able to accept students or apprentices onto their programmes so that they can continue their studies. Ensuring that any disruption to students and apprentices is managed, and minimal, will always be at the forefront of any arrangements made to transfer cohorts to other programmes. We will agree a date for withdrawal with the course provider, and strive to mitigate the impact on stakeholders where possible. In both cases where course approvals were withdrawn during this first cycle of inspections, students were successfully transferred over to different courses so they could continue and complete their students.

Supporting education providers

We recognise that people may feel anxious about an inspection. We have regular contact and conversations with course teams in the lead-up, helping people to understand the inspection process and the decisions that we can make.

We plan inspections closely with education providers and work together to shape the agendas. We provide feedback on any evidence we receive from education providers before an inspection takes place. This gives course staff the opportunity to provide additional evidence ahead of their inspection.

What we have learned from our reapproval inspections

From an analysis of our reapproval inspection data, we can understand where conditions were most likely to be applied against specific education and training standards.

We have reviewed the conditions set to better understand why conditions were more likely to be set against certain standards, and what this can tell us about social work education. We have also explored where recommendations were more likely to be made against some standards over others. We have provided an overview of what we found here. The full findings from our analysis can be read in appendix A.

A recommendation is made when a standard is met, but the inspection team wants to offer further advice or feedback which may improve the delivery of the course. Education providers do not have to provide any further evidence or response if a recommendation is set.

A condition for approval is set if there are areas of a course that do not currently meet our standards. The education provider must meet the conditions within the agreed timescales.

Key themes and findings

This was the first time many social work courses had been inspected against our new education and training standards. We therefore expected that we would approve many providers with conditions. A condition may indicate minor issues such as gaps in paperwork, or more substantive issues such as processes that are working ineffectively or are absent. It is not unusual for a course to be ultimately approved even if many conditions are set. This is as long as the course provider takes the appropriate steps to adjust or make improvements to their provision.

Given this was our first reapproval cycle, we do not have enough data to determine whether courses of a particular route (for example fast track routes, or apprenticeships) are more or less likely to meet our standards than other routes. This is because we may apply conditions to a course for a wide variety of reasons, regardless of how it is structured or funded. As we conduct more inspections in the future, we may be able to compare inspection data by route in ways which could indicate wider trends. 

A total of 664 conditions were applied across 257 inspections. One course had its approval withdrawn without conditions being set. Our education standards address aspects of course provision including:

• admissions
• the learning environment (with a focus on practice based learning)
• course governance, management and quality
• curriculum and assessment
• supporting students
• level of qualification to apply for entry onto the register

Conditions were applied against most areas of our standards, but some standards attracted more conditions than others.

664 conditions were applied across 257 inspections.

Standards most likely to have conditions set against them

No conditions applied

• Standard 2.6: 159
• Standard 3.5: 188
• Standard 2.1: 190
• Standard 4.2: 196
• Standard 4.1: 202
• Standard 5.5: 205
• Standard 2.2: 225
• Standard 3.9: 225
• Standard 3.2: 226
• Standard 3.1: 227

Conditions applied

• Standard 2.6: 97
• Standard 3.5: 68
• Standard 2.1: 66
• Standard 4.2: 60
• Standard 4.1: 54
• Standard 5.5: 51
• Standard 2.2: 31
• Standard 3.9: 31
• Standard 3.2: 30
• Standard 3.1: 29

We have provided a detailed analysis of the standards most likely to have conditions set against them in Appendix A. This includes our reflections on the potential reasons for this. We recommend reading this analysis to further understand the drivers behind conditions. It also offers insight into the improvements made in areas such as engagement with practice educators, enhancement of skills days, and involvement of key stakeholders in the design and delivery of social work courses.

Through our analysis, we found 6 key themes in the conditions set. We explore these themes in more detail below. In some cases, the reasons for a condition to be applied were highly unique and localised to an individual course. We have therefore focused on examples where conditions were applied repeatedly to different courses, but with the same core focus.

Headline findings from reapproval inspection analysis

*1% of conditions were outside these categories, but didn't constitute a significant theme.

Process development and implementation

• Improving the monitoring of course attendance, systems for ongoing course monitoring and evaluation, or how course teams would collect and monitor data in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion (228 (34%) of all conditions applied).

Administrative matters

• Updating course documentation for accuracy and currency, or providing clearer information on specific topics for applicants, students and apprentices (178 (27%) of all conditions applied).

Effective strategic engagement of partners

• Involvement of employers, students and people with lived experience of social work in course design and delivery (127 (19%) of all conditions applied).

Provision of learning opportunities

• The organisation, delivery and quality assurance of practice based learning (80, (12%) of all conditions applied).

Sufficient resourcing

• Ensuring that courses have adequate staffing and support (including from practice educators), and placement capacity (29 (4%) of all conditions applied).

Ongoing training

• Ensuring sufficient training and development opportunities for course staff, and people supporting course delivery such as practice educators and people with lived experience of social work (22 (3%) of all conditions applied).

Administrative matters

We applied 88 conditions (13.2% of all 664 conditions set) requiring improvements to course documentation. These usually highlighted minor changes that education providers needed to make to ensure that information on their websites, virtual learning environments and in student handbooks was up to date. In many cases this could be as simple as updating a single webpage.

There were 89 conditions applied (13.8%) which referenced providing information to students. This often involved the additional step of ensuring that information on key policies and processes was clear, accessible and signposted to students throughout their time on the course. For example, this could relate to information about reasonable adjustments, or the academic regulations for course assessments.

Within 12 of the conditions applied (1.8%), we asked education providers to provide evidence relating to the appointment of suitable (registered) external examiners for the course. This is because, in some cases this wasn’t available at the point of inspection.

Provision of learning opportunities

We applied 27 conditions (4.1%) which specifically requested further evidence in relation to placement capacity. Often in relation to placement capacity, inspection teams were seeking clarity that course recruitment was linked to regional demand for newly qualified social workers and supply of suitable placements by employers. Inspection teams felt that this could sometimes be improved if the course provider could develop stronger working relationships with key local and regional partners.

There were 15 conditions applied (2.3%) which were more broadly concerned with the delivery of practice based learning such as ensuring that the requirement for 200 days of practice based learning, including learning in contrasting settings, was clearly evidenced by the course provider.

Process development and implementation

Inspection teams seek evidence to demonstrate that the course team understands and consistently implements processes or policies.

Attendance was discussed within 39 conditions we applied (5.8%), normally in relation to attendance monitoring processes and whether these were felt to be effective. Social work education providers need to make it clear to students and apprentices which parts of the course are mandatory, and what will happen if they are absent during mandatory parts of the course.

Another common theme in this area was practice education. In particular, the need for education providers to ensure, each year, that practice educators remain registered with Social Work England. 60 conditions we applied (9%) were linked to this theme.

Strategic engagement of partners

All social work courses involve people with lived experience. In most cases conditions were seeking to ensure that this involvement was effective, sustainable and evidenced across a range of areas beyond teaching and learning.

We applied 49 conditions (7.4%) referencing the need to better involve people with lived experience of social work in aspects of course delivery, such as admissions processes, course design, assessment and course evaluation.

There were 56 conditions applied (8.4%) which addressed the involvement of employer representatives and partners, often in areas such as admissions and course evaluation. Inspection teams needed to be assured that employers were sufficiently involved in conversations linked to placement capacity, and of the availability of suitably qualified practice educators in the local area.

A further 56 (8.4%) conditions were applied in relation to course evaluation. Inspection teams identified that course teams should take steps to ensure that external stakeholders were included in annual reviews, and offered regular opportunities to feedback on what was working well, or what could be improved.

Ongoing training

We applied 56 conditions (8.4%) which referenced equality, diversity and inclusion. In most cases these highlighted the need for course staff and stakeholders to participate in training on inclusive practice, particularly in relation to activities such as course admission and assessment. For example, it is not uncommon for education providers to involve social work practitioners and people with lived experience of social work in admissions interviews. Inspection teams were sometimes concerned that training was not offered to volunteers before interviews. For example, discussing how to mitigate bias in decision making, how to score fairly, and the different kinds of reasonable adjustments which may be offered to applicants.

Sufficient resourcing

There were 29 (4%) conditions applied which focused on aspects of course resourcing. This could indicate vacancies within the course team, or recent changes in academic staffing. It could also show issues in relation to sufficiency of practice educators, or practice learning opportunities in the local area. Inspection teams may also pick up on aspects of course sustainability. For example, contingency planning for staff absences which could disrupt the delivery of key areas of the programme.

Social work education, much like social work practice, is shaped by society. Changes in public policy, legislation, the economy, our communities, and technology, all converge to impact social work. This influences practice, causing it to evolve and grow. In the earlier chapters, we described the shape of social work education in England, reflected on our regulation of social work education, and shared our and other’s experiences of reapproval inspections.

We want to consider what this means for the future of social work education and training. In this chapter we share some of our observations of social work education today, exploring how it’s evolving, and how changes in technology are shaping new ways of teaching and learning in social work. We highlight some of the ongoing issues around equality, diversity and inclusion, and celebrate what’s being done to address them. We then reflect on some of the broader challenges facing social work education, and the potential implications for education providers, employers and people studying social work.

Progress and innovation in social work education

Social work education is rich in examples of innovation, experimentation and imaginative approaches to course delivery. Driven initially by the need to adapt courses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most social work programmes now successfully embrace hybrid models of teaching and learning. This can enable more flexible approaches to providing support to students. For example, offering remote pastoral meetings or academic tutorials while students are off campus on placement.

Changes in technology are enabling further innovative approaches to teaching and learning in social work education. We have observed increasingly creative uses of ‘simulated learning’ within social work courses. This can help students and apprentices to practice their skills safely before working directly with the public. While many education providers have used physical spaces to help simulate environments, such as mock court rooms and living spaces, new technologies such as virtual reality and digital training simulations are enhancing what is possible.

Multidisciplinary learning at the University of Bedfordshire

The University of Bedfordshire has a state of the-art ‘SIM Street’, an immersive set of facilities designed to enhance the training of students across different programmes. It offers realistic learning spaces which gives students an insight into their future careers. It includes a hospital ward, operating theatre, police custody suite, nursing home bedroom and community based clinic spaces. There is also a street layout featuring simulated flats fully equipped with furniture. Finally, there is an immersive room, where walls transform to simulate diverse environments, where students can practice in a ‘real life’ setting.

Social work students and apprentices often get the chance to engage in real life role plays or activities. They do this with people with lived experience of social work, who have volunteered to take part in teaching or assessment. However, there can be limitations to these experiences. There are ethical and safeguarding implications associated with the involvement of children, or people with significant mental health issues. Here, simulated and virtual learning can bring the voices of these people into the classroom, without risk of distress or harm.

Simulation based training at the University of Kent

The Centre for Child Protection at the University of Kent creates immersive, research informed simulations that mirror the real world complexity of safeguarding work. These simulations can be used to enhance teaching for social work students They can also provide training and continuing professional development opportunities for social workers in practice. Using gaming technology to create ‘serious games’, their simulations allow people to explore emotionally challenging work safely. In doing so, students and practitioners can reflect on practice, explore decision making and build confidence. Current simulations address scenarios such as online grooming and sexual exploitation of young people, child abuse, family court processes, criminal exploitation, and radicalisation.

The use of virtual and digital simulations can offer great opportunities for social work learning. Still courses must balance this with direct, face to face contact with people with lived experience. Use of these technologies builds on years of innovation by educators. Many have used videos, voice recordings, theatre, music, poetry, photographs and artwork involving people with lived experience to bring social work learning to life.

Virtual reality simulation at Manchester Metropolitan University

The CAVE is an interactive room that can replicate any physical environment virtually. Using 360 degree sight and sound, the CAVE can support learning by simulating everyday environments students might encounter in their future career.

Scenario based learning can include working with someone at risk of displacement due to climate-related issues (such as flooding) and interacting with people with lived experience in a variety of environments. For example, in home, schools, hospitals and courts. Students can also use virtual reality equipment and headsets to create an immersive learning experience.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in social work education and practice is another area which may drive innovation. Social work students and apprentices are increasingly exposed to AI enhanced digital technologies. These may make routine tasks such as note taking, transcription, record searching, proofreading, generating ideas or templates, and undertaking preliminary research more efficient.

Most education providers are at an early stage of exploring how teaching on the use of AI in social work should be incorporated into course curriculums. We have seen examples of teaching on the ethical implications of using AI in social work, exploring issues such as informed consent, bias and the importance of critical thinking.

It is possible to use AI appropriately and ethically, in line with our professional standards. We are keen to encourage social work education providers to explore the opportunities, risks and challenges of new technologies with students and apprentices. We’ll continue to work with course providers as these new areas of social work education develop and evolve in the future.

Celebrating and supporting equality, diversity and inclusion

Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) previously published insights on undergraduate student applications. Their analysis showed that social work is the only subject that has more students from disadvantaged backgrounds applying, than from the most advantaged backgrounds. Research indicates that social work courses consistently host higher proportions of students who have a disability, as well as students from ethnic minoritised populations, than non-social work courses. This speaks to the attractiveness of social work as a profession to people from all walks of life, and the accessibility of social work as a career, which is something to be celebrated.

We are however aware of ongoing equality, diversity and inclusion challenges in social work education in England. In particular, challenges around race and career progression, as well as challenges in ensuring effective support for disabled and neurodiverse students and apprentices.

Research has also indicated that the following students may be more likely to fail elements of the course:

• male students
• disabled students
• students from global majority (non-white) backgrounds

Further research suggests that practice based learning can be particularly challenging for students from black or ethnic minority backgrounds and those who have experienced intersecting disadvantages. However, understanding the reasons for this are complex. These decisions may be influenced by the individual dynamic between student or apprentice and their practice educator. A student’s experience, and attainment, may also be impacted by wider structural inequalities within the higher education system.

“As a single parent to a child with additional needs and disabilities myself, I have found myself struggling and burned out and my position not understood by professionals on the course who just expect me to function as if it is my only job- when it is one of multiple jobs for me and I have to study as well. My disabilities have not been understood throughout my experience at university and placement and having to keep explaining myself and requesting adjustments is exhausting.”

Student social worker

“I found that the course was not well adapted for neurodivergent people, and the tutors struggled to know how to provide support for students like me.”

Newly qualified social worker

We also recognise that students and apprentices may experience multiple, intersecting disadvantages. For example, a Black male student with a learning difference may face unique barriers in accessing equitable feedback and support. Embedding an intersectional approach is essential to fostering genuinely inclusive educational environments. Embedding anti-racist, anti-oppressive values in education also means ensuring that course content reflects diverse perspectives. This includes valuing community knowledge, lived experience, and culturally relevant models of social work.

Other issues with regards to widening participation and representation also persist, such as lower numbers of men entering the profession. There have also been debates around academic entry requirements for social work courses, the level of prior experience an applicant should have of working with children or vulnerable adults, and students’ readiness for the professional expectations of a work environment. Course providers are looking for applicants who have the capability and suitability to become a registered social worker on completion of their course. This must be balanced with what employer partners will expect from their future workforce, as well as the views and needs of people who use social work services. 

Our standards around admissions require that course providers develop a holistic and multidimensional assessment process to decide whether an applicant is suitable to study social work. This includes testing their command of English, their potential to develop the knowledge and skills needed to meet the professional standards and their capability to meet academic standards. Course providers will consider applicant’s prior relevant experience, which could be drawn from their work history or their own experiences of social work. It also involves assessing an applicant’s conduct, health and character, including criminal conviction checks. 

In recent years, we have noted that entry requirements for postgraduate fast-track routes have changed. Courses such as Step Up to Social Work and Approach Social Work have relaxed the need for applicants to always demonstrate a maths qualification or a minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree award. This indicates efforts to widen access to the profession. It encourages applicants who can demonstrate their suitability for social work training through relevant experience and transferable skills. Beyond access, we recognise the need to focus on the retention and wellbeing of students and apprentices throughout their journey. A sense of inclusion, belonging and psychological safety within both academic and practice environments is essential for academic success. 

Ensuring that social work education embeds anti-racist, anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice is a key area of focus for us over the coming years. The ability for social work students and apprentices to practice inclusively, in line with the values and professional standards of social work, should be tested throughout their journey from application to graduation. We will progress this by embedding our knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) in course curriculums, which include an explicit focus on anti-discriminatory practice.

Social work students and apprentices need to be mentored and nurtured by educators and practitioners who can effectively role-model inclusive practice. In turn, placement providers and course providers must be willing and able to act on experiences of racism, discrimination and prejudice within their own organisations. We are keen to further research the experiences of students and apprentices from traditionally marginalised groups, with a focus on their perceptions of practice based learning.

Support through one-to-one coaching by Approach Social Work

Approach Social Work offers confidential one-to-one coaching sessions for people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. These are individuals who may have experienced trauma associated with racism and other types of discrimination. These sessions are targeted at those at risk of withdrawing from the programme. Coaching calls are also available for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, proving enhanced support throughout the application and assessment centre process.

Operating in a complex landscape

In addition to the challenges experienced by individuals, we’re aware that education providers and employers can be operating in a complex and, at times, challenging economic climate.

The cost of training a social worker is shared by many organisations and agencies. We are aware from our engagement with education providers and local authorities that some organisations are experiencing financial pressures. This comes from a combination of declining incomes, inflationary pressures and rising operational costs. In May 2025 the Office for Students reported that based on their analysis, 43% of universities and colleges were forecasting a deficit for 2024 to 2025. Likewise, the Committee of Public Accounts reported that despite real terms funding increases, local government finance remains under pressure.

Within this context, social work courses are not immune from institutional cost reduction programmes, aimed at improving resilience and financial stability. We know from our engagement with social work course teams that social work courses can be costly to run compared to other programmes. This is due to the high staff to student ratios required to provide effective supervision, the coordination of practice based learning, and enhanced pastoral support. We work closely with providers, through our annual monitoring and inspections, to understand where there have been changes to programmes or staffing. Our aim is to support where possible, and safeguard against any potential impact of course delivery and compliance.

Funding for social work education is split between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education. Both departments support a diverse range of access to social work education and training. They also foster partnership working between employers, education providers and people with lived experience of social work. For example, the government provides funding via the Education Support Grant. This grant supports the delivery of high quality practice based learning opportunities and promotes the involvement of people with lived experience in social work courses.

We have heard through our engagement with education providers this complex funding landscape can be challenging for course teams, applicants and employer partners to navigate. This is because funding comes from multiple sources depending on the social work route, resulting in different fees and financial support for student social workers as well as for aspects of course delivery such as practice based learning. As an example of this, apprenticeship providers cannot access the Education Support Grant, which we have heard can create tensions between employers and course providers over who should bear the cost of supporting practice education. Navigating eligibility creates an administrative burden, particularly for education providers running multiple courses. This is set to evolve further, with the Department for Work and Pensions taking on responsibility for apprenticeships, skills and adult learning.

From 2016 to 2023 the government provided funding for teaching partnerships to stimulate regional partnerships between social work education providers, employers and placement providers. While many teaching partnerships are exploring ways to continue their work, this can be challenging at a time when both higher education and local authority budgets are strained. We see the benefits of formal partnership working between education providers and employers, through teaching partnerships or other local networks, particularly in relation to practice education. We encourage stakeholders to look for ways to sustain these strategic relationships, building on the existing infrastructure and relationships.

We acknowledge the challenges that many social work education providers and employers are facing in light of financial pressures within their institutions. But despite these challenges, we know that the majority of education providers and their partners continue to provide the best support possible for social work students and apprentices.

Social work courses also provide essential links between academics, researchers, practitioners and educators. This supports evidence informed practice. It also provides opportunities for social work practitioners and people with lived experience of social work to help shape the next generation of social workers.

The West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership

The West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership is made up of 22 partners, including universities and local authorities. It supports the entire social work career pathway. By strengthening links between academia, practice, and people with lived experience of social work, the partnership ensures social workers are well prepared and supported to thrive throughout their careers.

The partnership promotes a research led, evidence based curriculum. It offers continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities aligned with workforce needs. Their CPD offer includes:

• an annual practice educators conference, celebrating practice educators from across the region with a day of speakers and workshops
• a social work supervisors programme, to ensure future managers have the skills to provide effective supervision to practitioners
• a valuing social work course to support the retention of experienced practitioners
• research seminars, people with lived experience seminars, and training covering social work policy and theory

The partnership also recruits and supports social workers to become ‘practice consultants’ in partner universities. Practice consultants deliver 6 days of teaching that align professional realities with the curriculum. In 2025, the partnership provided 35 social work consultants to teach at 8 universities, enhancing student learning while supporting their career development.

The student experience

Increases in the cost of living since 2021 have impacted people across society, including students. In 2023 the Office for National Statistics reported that 78% of students were concerned that the rising cost of living may affect how well they do in their studies. 91% were either somewhat or very worried about the rising cost of living.

We know from enrolment data published by Skills for Care that social work students are also more likely to be mature and female than typical student cohorts. This may present additional financial pressures. For example, if students have dependents to provide for while they are studying. This is reflected in the provision of a Childcare Allowance for postgraduate students as part of the Social Work Bursary. It is also common for people studying social work to have additional costs, such as needing access to a car to travel for placement opportunities, particularly in rural areas.

We know from our engagement with social work students and apprentices that personal experiences of poverty, housing insecurity and lived experience of social work are not uncommon among social work cohorts. Overcoming these experiences can often be a powerful motivator for people to pursue a career in social work. It can also bring valuable diversity to the profession. However, the financial strain of undertaking a social work degree may act as a barrier to bringing more people into the profession.

“As a mature student with over 15 years of work experience, not being able to work due to being a student, in addition to the cost of living crisis, is not just a double whammy for me but a multiple one. My already very slim income (totally reliant on the money from student finance and social work bursaries) meant I was constantly calculating the cost of every step I took. I missed a lot of classes due to challenges around childcare.”

Social work student

“As a single parent, it affected me massively. Had I known how difficult this would be, I wouldn't have opted to take the course. I was told that the placements are "flexible" so I would have plenty of time to work- this is not the case. My time to work is severely restricted, my income has been majorly affected and the rising costs of living has just exacerbated these struggles.”

Student social worker

“I had to work a part time job, some days I would start at 6:30am to do a short shift and then I would have to travel to university for 10am. I struggled to afford my driving lessons, this led to me not getting a job in social work until the following year after I got my degree as I had to save for lessons, a car, pay my rent, bills, food costs, and me and my partner were in the process of putting down a deposit for a house.”

Newly qualified social worker

We have worked with education providers to ensure that they are proactive in signposting applicants and social work students to potential sources of financial support. For example, for care leavers and students with disabilities. We also encourage course providers to be transparent about potential hidden course costs. This can include transport for placements, as well as the difficulty of managing part time work alongside a course which involves significant periods of practice based learning.

Grants, salaries and bursaries

Financial support is available for social work students and apprentices. However, there are ongoing challenges with levels of support and availability of bursaries. This varies based on a range of factors including where a student lives, the course they choose to study, their level of study, and their personal circumstances. Beyond student finance, the main source of additional funding for social work students comes from the social work bursary. The value of the social work bursary in England has not changed since 2014.

Undergraduate students can only apply for the social work bursary once they have completed the first year of their studies, if they progress to the second year of their course. Postgraduate students may be eligible for additional funding from the childcare allowance, parents learning allowance, adult dependents allowance or disabled student allowances (all elements of the social work bursary).

Undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled on traditional, university based social work courses will pay tuition fees for each year of their studies. Fast track students and apprentices do not pay tuition fees and are not eligible for the Social Work Bursary. Instead, fast track students receive a bursary linked to their route of study. Meanwhile social work apprentices receive a salary, decided by their employer.

“As an apprentice social worker in adult social care, I was already employed in a hospital social work team as a social care assessor. I joined this team in 2021. My salary has not changed and therefore I feel lucky to be able to study while earning a living wage. I could not have studied social work in any other route due to my finances.”

Social work apprentice

“I gave up a well-paid senior support worker role for 16 years in a London borough to study social work. I am relying on weekend work to pay my bills. This has not been easy, as I am on my own. I am having to go without luxuries, no takeaways or seeing friends, but I know it will all be worth it in the end.”

Social work student

“Managing my finances during the course was challenging. While I received a bursary, the amount I received did not seem to reflect the rising cost of living and barely covered my expenses and bills. On several occasions, I needed to draw on my savings to cover unexpected costs, such as car repairs. Additionally, being a student made me ineligible for some support, including access to free childcare, which added further stress to my financial situation.”

Newly qualified social worker

The route a student or apprentice takes into the profession can significantly shape the financial support available during their studies, and the student debt they may incur. What is less explored is the impact that this may continue to have for social workers throughout their careers.

Social workers who are repaying student loans will have this deducted from their monthly salaries, once they have met a salary threshold. This means that for a substantial part of their career, they could have less take home pay per month than a colleague who qualified via a fast track course or a social work degree apprenticeship.

As a regulator we do not have control over the funding available to students or apprentices. However, we have an interest in ensuring that people receive adequate funding to fully engage in and successfully complete their course. We want to engage more with students, apprentices and newly qualified social workers to hear more about their experiences, so that their insights can inform government policy and support workforce planning in the future.

We have reviewed all the conditions set in the inspections form our first reapproval cycle. This helps us to better understand why we were more likely to set against certain standards. We have also explored where we were more likely to provide recommendations against some standards over others.

This section shares the findings from this analysis. It focuses on the more significant issues alongside our own reflections. We present this under the 6 areas of the standards.

Where percentages are given, these are the number of courses as a percentage of the total number of inspection reports considered (256) across 257 inspections. This is because one course had its approval withdrawn without conditions being set.

Standard 1: Admissions

We expect education providers to demonstrate to us that admissions processes are robust, transparent, ensure that applicants meet course entry requirements and involve a range of stakeholders. 

Within standard 1, courses were most likely to have a condition set against the following standards.

Standard 1: Number of courses which had conditions set, by standard

No conditions applied

• Standard 1.1: 240
• Standard 1.2: 243
• Standard 1.3: 227
• Standard 1.4: 238
• Standard 1.5: 229
• Standard 1.6: 183

Conditions applied

• Standard 1.1: 16
• Standard 1.2: 13
• Standard 1.3: 29
• Standard 1.4: 18
• Standard 1.5: 27
• Standard 1.6: 73

1.3 Ensure that employers, placement providers and people with lived experience of social work are involved in the admissions process.

11.2% of courses received a condition against standard 1.3. Conditions often required further evidence of how stakeholders would be meaningfully involved in the design and delivery of the admissions process. For example, evidence of a single episode of involvement, such as a person with lived experience participating in an interview panel, is less compelling. Evidence of a coherent approach to ensuring that people with lived experience of social work will be involved in interviewing candidates each year, is more compelling. Conditions were also likely to highlight the training and support needed for external stakeholders involved in admissions processes.

Our reflections on this standard

Education providers inspected early in the reapproval cycle were still navigating the impact of COVID-19  to deliver aspects of teaching and learning remotely. COVID-19 adjustments also impacted admissions processes. Events previously delivered in person, such as interviews for candidates or assessment days, had to be delivered online.

This also presented some challenges for inspection teams. They had to assess evidence of an adjusted admissions process, the previous process, and how it may change in the future. Education providers which had made adjustments to continue involving stakeholders in the admissions process were less likely to receive a condition against this standard.

We positively noted a number of education providers taking steps to mitigate the impact of digital exclusion or poverty on potential applicants. They, offer access to laptops so that candidates could fully participate in the admissions process under these circumstances.

1.6 Ensure that the admissions process gives applicants the information they require to make an informed choice about whether to take up an offer of a place on a course. This will include information about the professional standards, research interests and placement opportunities.

For standard 1.6, 28.4% of courses received a condition, while 20.1% received a recommendation. These conditions were often related to administrative issues within material aimed at potential applicants. This material is essential to enabling students and apprentices to make fully informed choices. To meet this standard, information regarding the admission process and course documentation must be clearly presented, including around placement details. It was common for conditions to require education providers to update their web pages for social work courses. It is essential that material on the university website is correct and up to date and makes direct reference to Social Work England as the regulator. 

Our reflections on this standard

Ensuring that information provided to applicants is accurate and up to date can become more complicated when courses are delivered in partnership with other organisations. For example, the admissions process for Step Up to Social Work courses is initially delivered by the Department for Education. This can mean that applicants receive information about their course from different sources at different points in the admissions journey. 

Apprentices are often reliant on their employer or sponsor organisation to provide information about their apprenticeship. This is because they have less direct contact with the higher education provider during the admissions process. Even in these circumstances, the education provider must ensure that the information provided to applicants is clear.

As part of our reapproval inspections we have spoken with applicants to apprenticeship and Step up to Social Work courses. Some did not know when applying for their social work course where they would be studying, that their course would involve travel to a university campus, or that they would be studying for a degree level qualification. These are extreme examples to illustrate that even getting basic information to applicants can become complicated when they are not directly applying to a university based course. 

Standard 2: Learning environment

The learning environment must provide education and training opportunities that enable students and apprentices to develop their skills and knowledge across all areas of social work. They must gain experience and meet the professional standards in supportive, supervised and safe practice settings.

Within standard area 2, courses were most likely to have a condition set against the following standards.

Standard 2: Number of courses who had conditions set, by standard

No conditions applied

• Standard 2.1: 190
• Standard 2.2: 225
• Standard 2.3: 230
• Standard 2.4: 238
• Standard 2.5: 240
• Standard 2.6: 159
• Standard 2.7: 246

Conditions applied

• Standard 2.1: 66
• Standard 2.2: 31
• Standard 2.3: 26
• Standard 2.4: 18
• Standard 2.5: 16
• Standard 2.6: 97
• Standard 2.7: 10

2.1 Ensure that students spend at least 200 days (including up to 30 skills days) gaining different experiences and learning in practice settings.

Placements

For standard 2.1, 25.6% of courses received a condition, while 15.1% received a recommendation. These high figures reflect the complexities around providing practice based learning opportunities and skills days for social work courses.

Conditions and recommendations applied to this standard often focused on the operational delivery of practice based learning. In some cases, more evidence was required to show how placements were sourced and arranged with employer partners. Education providers are also needed to demonstrate that robust quality assurance processes were in place. For some courses, further evidence of how education providers would ensure sufficient contrast between placements needed to be strengthened. For example, apprenticeship providers needed to evidence that apprentices would have the opportunity to move between teams within their local authorities. 

Skills days

The delivery of skills days formed a strong theme in the conditions and recommendations applied. As with placements, how skills days were counted, and attendance monitored were a common issue. The role of skills days in topping up placement days also needed to be communicated clearly to students and apprentices.  Inspectors also reported some exemplary examples of skills days. These provided opportunities for students and apprentices to learn from people with lived experience of social work, explore interdisciplinary working, learn directly from local social workers, or prepare for practice based learning. 

Provision for students and apprentices who had missed skills days was sometimes found to be insufficient. There were examples of course providers not having clear contingency plans in place for a missed skills day. Inspectors highlighted an example of positive practice in this area, where an education provider had scheduled over 30 skills days across the course to provide choice and variety to students and apprentices, as well as opportunities to make up any missed learning.

Our reflections on this standard

Placements

It continued to be a challenge for some education providers to give clarity on how all students would have access to practice based learning opportunities. This included opportunities in statutory settings or those involving suitable statutory tasks. This particularly applied to providers delivering traditional undergraduate and postgraduate routes.

We have noted throughout our reapproval inspections that education providers may make assumptions about the requirements in our standards around the delivery of practice based learning. Although it’s common to have a 70 day and a 100 day placement, plus 30 skills days, the standards allow for flexibility and innovation in the design of practice based learning. This is as long as a minimum of 200 days of practice learning is embedded within the course. We set out specific requirements for these days in our practice placement guidance.

2.6 Ensure that practice educators are on the register and that they have the relevant and current knowledge, skills and experience to support safe and effective learning.

More courses had conditions set against this standard than any other across all the standards (37.7% of courses had a condition applied, and 12% of courses received a recommendation). 

Conditions related to this standard almost always related to ‘how’ and ‘where’ the course retained evidence about practice educators. We looked for evidence that practice educators were both registered and appropriately trained and skilled. Often the relevant database existed but was kept within one or more partner organisations. It is important, as we only approve an education provider, if this information is accessible and quality assured by the education provider. Given the key role of practice educators in the assessment and learning of social work students and apprentices, it is important these databases are well maintained and regularly updated.

Records around practice educators often focused on evidencing registration. To meet this standard, some course providers needed to place greater emphasis on the practice educators’ experience and evidence of training they had undertaken. 

Our reflections on this standard

Where conditions were not set against this standard, we observed clear commitment from education providers to maintaining relationships with practice educators. This included keeping up to date and current records. It also included providing opportunities for practice educators across the academic year to engage in refresher training, peer networks, and learning opportunities through conferences or events.

We acknowledge the effort and resource that this requires. We observed that these arrangements were often more sustainable when delivered in partnership with local employers and teaching partnerships.

We recognise that practice educators play a pivotal role in supporting social work students during their practice placements. We are also aware of some of the challenges facing practice education and the broader education sector. There are many opportunities for Social Work England to use tools at our disposal to build a more robust understanding of practice education. Creating regulatory frameworks will help to ensure quality and consistency in social work training. With additional funding from the Department for Education (DfE), we are working with sector stakeholders to develop our understanding of this part of the workforce and consider supporting frameworks. 

Standards 3: Course governance, management and quality

Social work courses must be governed, resourced and managed using effective and transparent processes. Course providers must do this in collaboration with employers and people with lived experience of social work. There must be processes to monitor and manage the quality and delivery of courses.

Within standard area 3, courses were most likely to have a condition set against the following standards.

Standard 3: Number of courses who had conditions set, by standard

No conditions applied

• Standard 3.1: 227
• Standard 3.2: 226
• Standard 3.3: 227
• Standard 3.4: 230
• Standard 3.5: 188
• Standard 3.6: 236
• Standard 3.7: 253
• Standard 3.8: 241
• Standard 3.9: 225
• Standard 3.10: 237

Conditions applied

• Standard 3.1: 29
• Standard 3.2: 30
• Standard 3.3: 29
• Standard 3.4: 26
• Standard 3.5: 68
• Standard 3.6: 20
• Standard 3.7: 3
• Standard 3.8: 15
• Standard 3.9: 31
• Standard 3.10: 19

3.5 Ensure that regular and effective monitoring, evaluation and improvement systems are in place, and that these involve employers, people with lived experience of social work, and students.

26.4% of courses had conditions set against this standard, while recommendations were applied for 11.6% of courses. This standard typically attracted conditions related to effective stakeholder engagement with programme development and quality assurance. 

The standard ensures that programmes examine the data they have about their effectiveness with employers, students and people with lived experience. It’s important that courses can evidence meaningful engagement with each of these groups.

Additionally, stakeholder engagement needs to be of a suitable depth. Routine monitoring, such as gathering student feedback after a module, is important. More importantly regular engagement with different stakeholders should be a driving force shaping and maintaining high quality course delivery.

Standard 4: Curriculum and assessment

Courses providers must design course which enable students and apprentices to develop the required behaviours, skills, knowledge and understanding to meet the professional standards.

Within standard 4, courses were most likely to have a standard set against the following standards.

Standard 4: Number of courses who had conditions set, by standard

No conditions applied

• Standard 4.1: 202
• Standard 4.2: 196
• Standard 4.3: 245
• Standard 4.4: 252
• Standard 4.5: 251
• Standard 4.6: 236
• Standard 4.7: 237
• Standard 4.8: 232
• Standard 4.9: 242
• Standard 4.10: 238
• Standard 4.11: 227
• Standard 4.12: 253
• Standard 4.13: 253

Conditions applied

• Standard 4.1: 54
• Standard 4.2: 60
• Standard 4.3: 11
• Standard 4.4: 4
• Standard 4.5: 5
• Standard 4.6: 20
• Standard 4.7: 19
• Standard 4.8: 24
• Standard 4.9: 14
• Standard 4.10: 18
• Standard 4.11: 29
• Standard 4.12: 3
• Standard 4.13: 3

4.1 Ensure that the content, structure and delivery of the training is in accordance with relevant guidance and frameworks and is designed to enable students to demonstrate that they have the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the professional standards.

For this standard, conditions were applied for 21% of courses. Most focused either on mapping of learning outcomes to professional outcomes, or attendance monitoring. This is a complex standard which interacts with all elements of the course.

Our reflections on this standard

Mapping learning outcomes to professional standards

Broadly, conditions relating to this standard were about making direct links between what students were taught and how learning outcomes in the programme linked to our professional standards. Social Work England, in this time period, did not provide detailed guidance or direction around curriculum. Social work courses typically constructed grids linking module content to the professional capabilities framework (PCF) and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Benchmarking Statements for Social Work. A greater focus on mapping directly to professional standards here would create more clarity and reduce duplication of activities.

Monitoring attendance

An area that commonly resulted in conditions for 4.1 was around attendance monitoring. This, particularly related to attendance (and completion) of skills days. This requirement has strong links with standards 2.1 and 5.6. We dealt with it in more detail in the discussion of standard 2.1.

4.2 Ensure that the views of employers, practitioners and people with lived experience of social work are incorporated into the design, ongoing development and review of the curriculum.

For this standard, conditions were applied for 23.3% of courses, while recommendations were applied for 14.7% of courses. Like standard 3.5, this standard emphasises the importance of ensuring key stakeholders are involved in the curriculum from its initial design.

Sometimes providers needed to involve people with lived experience in curriculum development at a strategic level. Similarly, employers have a very important contribution to make to the design of a local social work curriculum. This is essential given that they may recruit from the graduate pool. Conditions might also be set where we felt that the arrangements for incorporating such views were irregular or consistent over time.

Standards 5 and 6: Supporting students

Students and apprentices must receive appropriate educational and pastoral support. Within standard areas 5 and 6, courses were most likely to have a condition set against the following standards:

Standards 5 and 6: Number of courses who had conditions set, by standard

No conditions applied

• Standard 5.1: 249
• Standard 5.2: 243
• Standard 5.3: 229
• Standard 5.4: 242
• Standard 5.5: 205
• Standard 5.6: 228
• Standard 5.7: 244
• Standard 5.8: 255
• Standard 6.1: 256

Conditions applied

• Standard 5.1: 7
• Standard 5.2: 13
• Standard 5.3: 27
• Standard 5.4: 14
• Standard 5.5: 51
• Standard 5.6: 28
• Standard 5.7: 12
• Standard 5.8: 1
• Standard 6.1: 0

5.5 Provide information to students about their curriculum, practice placements, assessments and transition to registered social worker including information on requirements for continuing professional development.

For this standard, conditions were applied in 19.8% of courses, while recommendations were applied in 13.6% of courses. Conditions typically related to the clarity and sufficiency of detail in the programme handbook (or similar) for students and apprentices. It’s important that such documents include all the information needed by students and apprentices, including information on how they would progress through the course. 

We have also set conditions in areas where insufficient detail was provided around how social work qualifying programmes enable student social workers and apprentices to become eligible to register as social workers. We have also asked some courses to provide more detail on the professional landscape of CPD. Others needed to ensure students and apprentices had information about the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) and other post-qualifying learning opportunities and requirements. This is an area that will continue to be monitored to ensure that course providers continue to adapt to changes within the post-qualifying space.

6.1 The threshold entry route to the register will normally be a bachelor’s degree with honours in social work.

We have reported on standard 6.1. However, as the stipulation is that the threshold entry route to the register will normally be a bachelor’s degree with honours in social work, course providers cannot fail this standard.

What happens next?

Following their inspection, all 207 course providers which were approved with conditions were able to demonstrate to us that they had met any conditions set as part of the reapproval process. They provided further evidence to show how they had taken steps to address the actions required to meet our standards. When a course provider meets all conditions, we approve their course and their inspection report is updated to reflect this. All inspection reports are publicly available on our website.