Consultation response on plans for new education guidance

Social Work England has today published the outcome of its first public consultation on its new approach to social work education and training in England.

It launched the consultation into ‘readiness for professional practice’ last summer as the starting point of a long-term plan to improve the way social workers are prepared for their vital roles. The organisation, which is responsible for the regulation of all social workers and social work courses in England, believes its proposed changes will give the public more confidence that graduates can practise safely and consistently when they join the profession.

Sarah Blackmore, Executive Director for Professional practice and external engagement, said,

“We want to provide greater assurance that social work students are ready for professional practice. To do this, we’re developing ‘readiness for professional practice’ guidance to help course providers make sure that students can demonstrate the knowledge, skills and behaviours they will need to meet our professional standards. Anyone who wants to become a social worker must meet these standards in order to register with us and be able to practice.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this consultation, which was the initial step in our ambition to assure consistency in outcomes for students. We will now work with the sector to develop the full guidance, which will eventually be used in our regulation of course providers.”

The full consultation response can be seen on Social Work England’s website. The regulator received 63 responses to the consultation, 28 of which were from organisations with an interest in social work education. It also collated feedback from 5 public events, email correspondence, meetings with sector leaders and its regional engagement leads.

Respondents generally felt that the knowledge, skills and behaviours statements set out in the consultation captured what a student should be able to demonstrate by the end of their initial education in order to meet the professional standards.

There was clear feedback on the need to streamline the current landscape of frameworks that inform course curricula and content, to ensure consistency and clarity in how students should demonstrate that they are able to meet the professional standards. It was acknowledged by many respondents that this should be approached collaboratively and that as the professional regulator for social work, Social Work England should show leadership in creating a less crowded landscape of requirements for students, practice educators and educators.

Sarah Blackmore continued,

“Whilst the formal consultation has now closed, this is just the start of an ongoing conversation with education providers, practice educators, students, people with lived experience of social work and the sector.

We were grateful to receive feedback from a number of organisations on the content of the statements, offering their expert advice for strengthening specific areas. We are now reviewing this, along with feedback on the structure of the statements. We will continue to explore the issue of the ‘crowded landscape’ in social work education and training, and will use our influence as the specialist regulator to seek to streamline requirements in line with our professional standards and our regulatory approach.”

To progress its new approach to education and training, Social Work England:

• Has appointed an associate advisor in education and training, Associate Professor Dr. Kevin Stone, who is a registered and practising social worker.
• Is recruiting to a Social Work Education and Training Advisory Forum to provide independent, expert advice and links with the sector. An opportunity to submit expressions of interest for this forum will be published very shortly.
• Has advertised a tender opportunity for research into models of practice education and the role of practice educators.

Social Work England intends to publish the new readiness for professional practice guidance in the autumn, however it will not be implemented as regulation until after the end of its current education quality assurance approval cycle in 2024. It will work closely with course providers to agree a plan for implementation.