New post-qualifying standards proposed for children’s social workers

The Department for Education (DfE)has opened a consultation on new standards for practitioners working with children in the first two years after qualifying.

The Department says the aim is to create a new two-year Social Work Induction Programme (SWIP) will replace the current Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE).

The proposed standards would replace the current standards, which were first published in November 2015, and updated in 2018.

The DfE says the new post-qualifying standards have been designed to be compatible with the statutory national framework for children’s social care, outlined in December 2023, which in turn shapes the practice framework a local authority is using, and the practice of child and family social workers in their various roles within the organisation.

The Department says that the new rules will clarify the professional outcomes expected for new social workers working with children.

“We are consulting on the post-qualifying standards and induction for child and family social workers and are seeking views on replacing the current post-qualifying standards at practitioner level with new ones which are clearer in the professional outcomes expected of new social workers and include descriptors of what they should understand and be able to do by the end of the second year in their role.

The DfE says it is also seeking views on how it can support employers to provide a new two-year induction for their new social workers based on these post-qualifying standards.

“The early experience of social workers sets the groundwork for practice which improves the lives of children and families, since developing professional confidence and competence supports social workers to stay in practice for longer,” the Department said in the published guidelines.

“The social work workforce play a crucial role in delivering the help, protection and care that children and young people need, which is why we want to replace the current set of post-qualifying standards: knowledge and skill statements to match the ambition set out in the national framework. These new standards provide a clearer set of professional outcomes and provide more granular detail on what a new social worker should know.”

The new guidelines are organised into six domains:
- Anti-discriminatory practice
- Relationships and communication
- Assessment and planning
- Providing help and support
- Reflection and analysis
- Organisational context and professional development