how to become a social worker

Social worker

Social workers make a difference to individuals and families by helping them live their lives more successfully.

Working life

As a social worker, you'll work with people to find solutions to their problems. This may be helping to protect vulnerable people from harm or abuse or supporting people to live independently.

You'll work with clients, their families and others around them and with different client groups including:

the elderly
children with disabilities
teenagers with mental health problems
young offenders
adults with learning disabilities, mental health problems or physical disabilities
people with alcohol, drug or other substance misuse problems
refugees and asylum seekers
families at risk of breaking down
children who need to live apart from their families
foster carers and adopters
children who are at risk of abuse or neglect
carers

You may specialise in a particular client group. Their work can involve:

visiting clients wherever they are (which could be at home or in, for example, a care home, hospital, hostel or prison)
assessing clients' needs
organising support
making referrals to other services and agencies
keeping detailed records
attending meetings

An important part of the work is building a professional relationship with the client so that you and the social worker and client can work together to make changes.

Who will I work with?

As well as working with clients and their families and other carers, social workers work with other agencies including the police, local authority departments, schools and the probation service.

Where will I work?

You may be based in a hospital or healthcare centre or in an office elsewhere, sometimes with a team of other social workers. Wherever you're based, you will spend a lot of time visiting clients.

Entry requirements

To practise as a social worker, you must be registered with Social Work England. To register with Social Work England, you first need to successfully complete an approved degree or postgraduate programme in social work. Courses take three or four years full time. A degree apprenticeship in social work has also been approved.

Courses differ but all include:

law as it applies to social work
ethics and values
assessments and interventions
mental health, disability and other issues
practical work with clients and placements in social work settings

Some degrees combine social work with mental health or learning disability nursing - use our course finder to search for these combined courses.

To get onto a social work degree course you usually need two or three A levels, along with five GCSEs (grades A-C), including English and maths.

Or you could have alternative qualifications, including:

BTEC, HND or HNC
relevant NVQ
health- or social care-based access course
equivalent Scottish or Irish qualifications

To get onto a Masters course you normally need an honours degree.

However, each institution sets its own entry requirements, so it's important to check carefully.

You can use our course finder to find out where you can study social work combined with nursing.

If you already have a degree in another subject, there are several routes for you to become a social worker:

take a postgraduate qualification (Diploma or Masters) in social work. Courses take two years full time or up to six years part time.
train through Step up to Social Work which takes 14 months and combines work and study
apply for the Frontline 2-year programme combining study with supervised practical work in child protection
apply for the 2-year Think Ahead fast-track scheme to become a mental health social worker. The scheme blends academic learning with extensive on-the-job experience.

Degree apprenticeship in social work

A degree apprenticeship standard in social work has been approved for delivery. To get onto a degree apprenticeship, you will need to apply for an apprentice position with a health care provider. You will usually need level 3 qualifications to get onto a degree apprenticeship.

You can search for vacancies on the NHS Jobs website and Find an Apprenticeship website.

Work experience

Wherever you apply to study or train, you will need to show that you have an understanding of social work and experience of working with clients. This can be from paid or voluntary work. Or it could be from your own life experience, for example, as a carer for a friend or relative.

Skills and personal characteristics needed

Social workers need to:

be able to work under pressure
deal with very challenging behaviour
organise their own workload
be understanding of other people's lifestyles
work with people from all walks of life
be happy visiting people where they live

You'll also need

organisation skills
empathy (able to see things from other points of view)
relationship-building skills
resilience
problem-solving skills
motivational skills

Registration

Once you've successfully completed a programme approved by the HCPC, you are then eligible to apply for registration with the HCPC to work in England. Once registered as a practitioner, you'll be required to retain your name on the register by keeping your knowledge and skills up to date and paying an annual retention fee.

Training and development

As a qualified social worker joining the NHS, you have training to introduce you to the service. You will be expected to attend further training courses to keep your skills and knowledge up to date.

You could take further qualifications related to social work in, for example, counselling or mediation.

Once qualified, many social workers join the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). Social workers have to keep their skills and knowledge up to date with annual CPD (continuing professional development). BASW runs courses, conferences and seminars where social workers can exchange ideas and update their skills.

Social workers working in the NHS are paid on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay system. You would typically start on AfC band 6. With further training and experience, you could apply for more senior positions (such as primary mental health worker) at bands 7, and above.

Most social workers in the NHS work standard hours, which are likely to be around 37.5 a week. They may work some evenings or weekends.

Terms and conditions will usually be different for social workers working outside of the NHS.
You may decide to specialise in a particular client group or issue such as the elderly, young people, substance misuse, mental health or domestic violence. You could train as ahigh intensity therapist, as part of theImproving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)service.

With experience, you could become a senior social worker, supervising the work of other social workers, or a primary mental health worker working in child and adolescent mental health services. You may be able to progress into a management position, responsible for a department or an area.
If you're applying for a role either directly in the NHS or in an organisation that provides NHS services, you'll be asked to show how you think the NHS values apply in your everyday work. Find out more about NHS values.

Most NHS trusts advertise their vacancies on NHS Jobs. Some of the current vacancies are below.
- View Vacancy
  Social Worker
  
  Brighton, BN3 4FH
  - Salary:
    
    £32,000 + Benefits
  - Type:
    
    Permanent
  - Employer:
    
    Elysium Healthcare
  - View Vacancy
- View Vacancy
  Social Worker HCC262850
  
  Farnborough, GU14 7JU
  - Salary:
    
    £33653.00 to £37876.00 a year
  - Type:
    
    Fixed term
  - Employer:
    
    Hampshire County Council
  - View Vacancy
- View Vacancy
  Social Worker HCC252270
  
  Winchester, SO23 8UB
  - Salary:
    
    £33653.00 to £37876.00 a year
  - Type:
    
    Fixed term
  - Employer:
    
    Hampshire County Council
  - View Vacancy
- View Vacancy
  Lead Forensic Social Worker
  
  Thatcham, RG19
  - Salary:
    
    Competitive
  - Type:
    
    Permanent
  - Employer:
    
    Elysium Healthcare
  - View Vacancy
- View Vacancy
  Senior Social Worker - Out Of Hours
  
  London, SE1 2TZ
  - Salary:
    
    £43599.00 to £50599.00 a year
  - Type:
    
    Permanent
  - Employer:
    
    London Borough of Southwark
  - View Vacancy
- View Vacancy
  Social Worker - Locality Team
  
  Reading, RG1 2LU
  - Salary:
    
    £28672.00 to £32234.00 a year
  - Type:
    
    Permanent
  - Employer:
    
    READING BOROUGH COUNCIL
  - View Vacancy
- Social Work England
- British Association of Social Workers
- Working in social care

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