Social Work in England: Emerging Themes report published

Social Work England has published the second instalment of a significant publication into the profession it regulates. Social Work in England: Emerging Themes is for anyone with an interest in social work in England and brings together a range of reflections, data, insight and research. Featuring the voices of people with lived and learned experience of social work, the report provides a platform to highlight and understand local and national challenges, encourages further improvement to practice, and aims to inform innovation to promote positive change.

The report covers the period of 1 December 2020 to 30 November 2021, over which time Social Work England accepted thousands of new social workers to the register, launched new standards for those entering the profession, reviewed social workers’ ongoing learning, and investigated and resolved concerns into social workers’ fitness to practise.

Alongside insight into Social Work England’s second year of operations, the report considers the key issues social workers are grappling with, as well as the continued impact of COVID-19 both on professionals and the millions of people they support. Moreover, it explains why a properly trained and regulated profession is vital to society’s recovery from Covid-19 and its fundamental role in tackling inequality and exclusion.

What do we know about social workers in England?

• There are 99,191 social workers in England (as at 30 November 2021). Anybody can check an individual’s details on Social Work England’s online register.
• 82.6% identify as female and 17.3% identify as male, and the average age of a social worker in England is 45.
• After British, the most common nationalities of social workers in England are Zimbabwean and Irish.
• The North East has the highest ratio of social workers to the local population with a ratio of 1 social worker to every 519 people, and the South East has the lowest with a ratio of 1 social worker to 685 people.
• There are 294 higher education courses offering training as a social worker in England.
• Social workers recorded 205,432 pieces of continuing professional development (CPD) last year – an average of 2.2 pieces of CPD per social worker.

Colum Conway, Chief Executive of Social Work England, said:

“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, social workers continued to show great resilience with all those who work in health and social care. Our Social Work in England report sets out our regulatory perspective and explains what we’ve learned from our work in our first two years as the specialist regulator for social workers in England. We hope this insight will continue to encourage quality conversations about social work.”

At the heart of Social Work England’s vision to gather and share more insight into the social work sector has been co-production. The report itself was co-produced with the organisation’s National Advisory Forum, a group of people with lived and learned experience who advise the regulator on all aspects of its work.

Jillian Brannan from the forum said:

“Co-production is about giving the people who are affected by your work the opportunity to participate in and influence it. When co-production is done well, people should feel heard and like you have listened to their experiences. Being part of the steering group that led the production of this important publication allowed myself and fellow members of the forum to really influence the type of information gathered and shared.”

Social Work in England: Emerging Themes is the second report from Social Work England in a series of 3 detailed explorations of the sector. The final report in 2023 will serve as a landmark overview of social work and its crucial role in society.

View the report.