Doing it for the kids!

Of late social work as a career has come in for some bad press.  Anna Tims writing in the Guardian on the 21st March 2010 put it most succinctly when she reported,

'In the good times social work is ignored by the comfortable majority.  In the bad, it is relentlessly, damningly publicised!'

The Oscar nominated actor, Samantha Morton spoke last year of the 'wonderful' social workers who supported her as a child as she helped to launch a national campaign aimed at recruiting more people into the profession. She is backing a campaign to recruit more than 5,000 social workers for vulnerable children, adults and families. The Help Give Them a Voice TV campaign is being fronted by a number of leading celebrities, and comes amid fears that recent bad press will deter people from choosing social work as a career.The Children's Secretary wants a more confident, better resourced, and better trained profession.


Entry to the profession requires a degree in social work or two years' postgraduate qualification.  Either way your study will include at least 200 days of assessed practice in social work settings.  Bursaries of up to £5,000 are available for students on these courses.

The recent sacking of six Birmingham social workers, broadcast nationally, will have done little to gild its image. And yet a recent government pilot scheme hopes to persuade bright graduates to offer their skills to children's services.

The Step Up to Social Work programme offers an annual bursary of £15,000 to graduates of any age with a degree of 2:1 or higher and some experience of working with children. Read more who want to re-qualify as a social worker.  The scheme is part of the government's £37 million ambition to reform the recruitment and training of social workers and the aim is to remove any psychological and financial barriers that might prevent high calibre candidates from making the switch.

The government funded project is entitled the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC).  Since 2003 new social workers have had to hold an undergraduate or post graduate degree in social work, with bursaries of up to £4975 available to fund them through their study. Successful applicants for the 200 Step Up places will receive three times that in living costs, and their tuition will be paid for by the government.

To fast track the qualifications, the eight local authorities in the pilot will train candidates on the job, tweaking the length and content of the syllabus to reflect their academic, professional or volunteering experience. The resulting Master's degree will be awarded by Manchester Metropolitan and Salford universities.

The salary - newly qualified social workers earn about £18,000, rising to £30,000 for experienced employees - is unlikely to be a bait for career-swappers since the job tends to involve high stress levels and heavy workloads. The rewards of helping struggling families are, however, so exhilarating that CWDC's Be the Difference campaign has prompted 52,000 to register interest in the profession and a 41% increase in UCAS applications has elevated social work to the top 10 university courses this year.

Most social workers go on to specialise, for example, in working with drug abusers or foster carers, and there is a definite career ladder culminating in management, academic or political adviser posts.

Over 40,000 people are currently employed in Social Care, Children's and Young People's services in Northern Ireland. This includes children's homes, care homes, domicillary care and support services, nursery and early years work.

This sector represents almost 7% of the NI workforce and is forecast to grow by 2.2% a year over the next decade. Skills for Care and Development is the UK Sector Skills Council responsible for promoting training and skills development for the sector.  It is represented in NI by the NI Social Care Council (NISCC).Read more

Northern Ireland has the fastest growing and youngest population of all UK countries, with over 20% of the population under 18 years of age and 16% of pensionable age (NISRA 2009). It is vital that the sector has sufficient number of workers with the right skills ready to meet the increasing demand for services over the next few years. Read more