In-person practice education forums 2026

Do you have a view on what a positive future for practice education in social work education and training looks like? We're holding 3 in-person discussion forums in February and March to hear your ideas, experience and expertise.

Thank you to everyone who has signed up. Attendance is by ticket only.

Who are the forums for?

• Social workers who are current practice educators or former practice educators
• Social workers with an interest in practice education or those in closely related roles (e.g. workplace supervisors) 
• Employers who provide social work student placements 
• People with lived experience who support higher education courses
• Higher education providers (including apprenticeships and fast-track) 
• Representatives from teaching partnerships or academies 
• Members of national social work or social work education organisations   
  

What is the format of the sessions?

There are informal, facilitated group discussions and opportunities to network and meet senior leaders from Social Work England. Social workers can reflect on the sessions for their CPD.

We recognise the importance of retaining and supporting existing practice educators, giving them the credit and status they deserve, and encouraging others into the role. As part of our work to explore how we can enable this as the regulator, we want to meet with more people directly involved or impacted by practice education. These discussion forums will help us plan the next steps as we work with the sector to consider different strands of this work.

We will be listening to views on:

• how continuing professional development (CPD) could support the increased recognition of practice education, and help embed it as an area of specialist practice
• the role of Social Work England’s professional standards in the work of practice educators
• the value of Social Work England adding information about practice educators to the register, and what purpose this would serve

If you have any questions about a forum, please email practice.education@socialworkengland.org.uk 

How will my information be used?

By registering your interest to attend a discussion forum, you agree that Social Work England may use the information you provide to:

• manage your attendance and participation
• support accessibility and inclusivity
• evaluate and improve future events

We will use the email your provide on the expression of interest form to let you know whether you are invited to a forum and send reminders around relevant event information. All data will be stored securely and accessed only by Social Work England staff involved in organising or analysing the event. We will not share your personal data with third parties unless necessary for event delivery (e.g. venue access).

After the event, we may contact you to request feedback and invite you to complete an optional diversity and inclusion survey. Any feedback or diversity data collected will be anonymised where possible and any consultation responses you share during the event will be combined with others and analysed as a group.

At the end of the expression of interest form, there is an option to receive further emails from us if you would like to be kept updated about our upcoming practice education work and other opportunities to get involved. Providing your email on this form to express interest in discussion forum attendance does not automatically sign you up for these further emails unless you opt in at the end of the form. 

For more information on how we use personal data and your rights, please read our full privacy notice on our website.

Questions

If you have any queries about the events, please email practice.education@socialworkengland.org.uk.