The new process means that you will confirm you have completed your CPL every year as part of your annual declaration. You no longer need to complete a set number of hours of learning.
Learning to suit your needs
There are four parts to the new CPL model which align with the new Register parts:
- social worker (including Newly Qualified Social Workers NQSW)
- social care workforce
- children and young people workforce
- Care Inspectorate authorised officer.
To help find the relevant learning for you, there are eight career pathways in each part which link to your role:
- I am new to my role
- I want to return to practice after a career break
- I want to complete a professional qualification
- I want to keep my practice up to date
- I want to specialise
- I want to change jobs
- I want to retire
- I want to take a career break.
Social work has an additional pathway for NQSWs which covers the supported first year in practice. The return to practice pathway for social work will be linked to the registration application process.
Core learning elements
Registrants will choose the pathway most suitable for them to see the core learning elements they should cover to meet their CPL requirements.
Formal and informal learning will still count towards meeting CPL.
For the social care and children and young people workforces there are seven core learning elements:
- rights based and ethical practice
- communication and relationships
- wellbeing and support
- protection
- knowledge for your role
- reflective practice
- leadership and quality assurance.
Social workers and Care Inspectors
Social workers and Care Inspectorate authorised officers 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 eight core learning elements for social workers and Care Inspectorate authorised officers 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.