Social worker education and training update

Social Work England has published a report sharing its reflections on social work education and training from the last five years of regulating qualifying social work courses.

The report has been published following Social Work England’s completion of its first reapproval cycle, with the review of 257 social work courses in England.

Key reflections within the report include:

• Education and training standards maintained – After reviewing all courses, 99.2% were approved. Over 664 conditions were applied across 80.5% of courses to drive continuous improvement. Conditions involving process development and implementation, administrative matters and effective strategic engagement of partners were most prominent
• An evolving education landscape – The number of courses has increased by 58 or 19.5% since 2023, while the number of education providers delivering social work courses has decreased by 9.6% over the same period. This shift is largely driven by a growth in apprenticeships. In the past year, Social Work England approved 44 undergraduate apprenticeship courses and 11 new postgraduate apprenticeships
• Innovation and challenges -Course providers have demonstrated adaptability in response to societal changes, including the COVID-19 pandemic and emerging technologies like AI. Financial pressures on higher education providers and local authorities, combined with rising living costs for students, present ongoing challenges
• Diverse experience - Social work students are more likely to be mature and female than typical student cohorts. Social work courses also attract more people from black, disabled, and low socio-economic backgrounds than other university courses.

Sarah Blackmore, executive director for professional practice and external engagement, said: “It has been extremely rewarding to work with course providers, students, practice educators, and people with lived experience to complete our first reapproval cycle.

“High-quality social work education directly protects the public. What we have learned will inform our approach to regulation in the years ahead as we work in partnership with providers and the social work sector to improve consistency and quality.

“We also hope this report provides a useful contribution to broader discussions around the future direction of social work education and training in England so it can continue to support social work students to thrive.”