SSSC Acting Director of Workforce, Education and Standards, Laura Lamb looks ahead at some of the changes that are coming for social work in Scotland. Before joining the SSSC, Laura worked as a local authority social worker in child and adolescent mental health services.
‘2024 is an exciting time for the SSSC as we make significant changes to our Register, publish the revised Codes of Practice and introduce new requirements for continuous professional learning (CPL) and social workers returning to practice.
‘Over the last three years we have been delivering the early implementation of a supported year for newly qualified social workers and are delighted that from October 2024 the supported year will become mandatory for social workers, as it is for so many other professions.
‘We continue to be involved in national conversations, working with partners to deliver change, including the development of the Advanced Practice Framework and planning for a National Social Work Agency to ensure social workers and social work students across Scotland have the support they need to carry out their valuable roles.’
Changes to the Codes of Practice
Over the past two years, we gathered feedback and ideas from registrants, employers, learning providers, people experiencing care and other key stakeholders to make sure that the revised Codes reflect the values, behaviours and standards expected of social workers and employers and current practice and policy.
Other changes include:
- updated wording and a more positive, empowering tone
- kindness and compassion
- greater focus on relationships, trauma and risk enablement.
We will publish the new Codes on the 1 May 2024.
Continuous professional learning requirements
We are changing the continuous professional learning requirements from 3 June 2024. Social workers will have eight core learning elements that incorporate those for the wider workforce but reflect the range of clear and reserved functions they are accountable for.
The core learning elements for social workers are:
- ethics, values and rights-based practice
- communication, engagement and relationship-based professional practice
- critical thinking, professional judgement and decision making
- promoting wellbeing, support and protection
- working with complexity in unpredictable and ambiguous contexts
- use of knowledge, research and evidence in practice
- self-awareness and reflexivity
- professional leadership.
Read more about continuous professional learning changes..
Return to Practice for social workers
We’re introducing return to practice requirements for social workers who’ve been out of social work practice and off the SSSC Register for more than two years. The new requirements will also take effect on the 3 June 2024 and will include four key themes:
- current legislation and policy
- social work skills, knowledge, understanding and practice
- the key codes and standards for practice
- adult and child protection.
Read more about return to practice requirements.
NQSW supported year
We’re pleased the Scottish Government is committed to the national implementation of the NQSW supported first year in practice by October 2024.
From October supporting NQSWs using the definitions of employer support will become mandatory for all NQSW employers and is part of Scottish Government’s ambition to create a strategic framework from qualifying education through to advanced practice for all social workers and social work employers in Scotland.
We’ll continue to support the workforce and implementation by providing resources to support employers and NQSWs, as well as overseeing NQSW continuous professional learning (CPL).
Visit our dedicated NQSW website.
Social Work Education Partnership (SWEP)
We are a key partner in the Social Work Education Partnership (SWEP) which aims to enhance social work education at both national and regional levels.
SWEP plan, co-ordinate and deliver actions needed to improve the accessibility, consistency and quality of social work education across Scotland. This includes opportunities in both qualifying and post qualifying education, learning and development.
We are currently supporting the development of an Advanced Practice Framework for Social Workers and the development of a Graduate Apprenticeship route into Social Work.