Social work education review recommends 22 areas of improvement
A DH commissioned review of social work education has made 22 recommendations, including increased specialisation and fast-track entry routes for top graduates into adult services.
The review, carried out by David Croisdale-Appleby, also called for the regulation of social work education to be made more coherent, seamless and more rigorous in terms both of standards and processes.
Professor Croisdale-Appleby advised that the future direction of social work education and training should be directed at developing three skill elements: practitioner, professional and social scientist.
The review included a strong defence of the profession’s work in dealing with difficult challenges and that there was a great deal that is good about social work education, indeed some of it is world-leading.
The recommendations include:
- Social work qualifying education and CPD should equip social workers to play a much greater role in major transformational developments such as the closer integration of healthcare and social care, so knowledge about the capabilities and perspectives of other, related professions should be introduced into both curricula as a clear signal of this direction of travel of the profession in utilising the skills of other professions in social work and contributing social work skills to working in inter-professional partnerships
- A reduction in the number of social workers trained and the development of a new strategic workforce planning system so that supply of practitioners meets demand
- Bursaries should be retained, but means-tested, for postgraduate students but reduced, and if necessary phased out, for undergraduate students, given higher funding priorities, such as in improving practice placements.
- Student numbers should be rebalanced towards postgraduate entry, in line with the evidence from international comparisons as well as in recognition of the challenging nature of both qualification and practice
Brian Walsh, of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services workforce network, said: “We welcome the generic focus on professional social work training although workforce planning remains a challenge for councils in terms of numbers of qualified social workers we will require in the future.”
The College of Social Work said it supported many aspects of both reports, which it believed would lead to a renewed drive for higher standards in social work education.
TCSW chair Jo Cleary said: “Professor Croisdale-Appleby rightly emphasises that social workers are professionals who grapple with some of society’s greatest challenges and it is vitally important that we attract the best students on to social work courses that are themselves of the highest quality.”
“His report is focused on social work with adults, but there are important areas of overlap with Sir Martin Narey’s recent report as both call for more rigorous qualifying course entry standards, closer scrutiny of course content and improvements to practice placements.”
She added: “We will want to hear the views of our members, as well as employers, academics and other partners, including people who use social work support, as we consider the implications of the two reports.”
