Post-Registration Training and Learning must reform, says BASW

Post-Registration Training and Learning (PRTL) should be reformed to make it a “credible system”, the British Association for Social Workers has said.

Under General Social Care Council requirements, all social workers must undertake 90-hours or 15-days of study or training during their registration period or be sanctioned with misconduct.

Inadequate
But Bridget Robb, professional officer at BASW, said the current system was inadequate because it did not address social worker’s competence “explicitly”, in a response to the GSCC policy review that ended on Monday (18 February).

In January, Mike Wardle, chief executive of GSCC announced that the PRTL system could be reformed this year if social workers, service users and employers judged it as “unfit for purpose”.

Focus on quality
In response, Robb said the focus of PRTL should be on “quality outcomes rather than numeric inputs” and argued that the current system failed to address raising standards in social work because it looked at quantity rather than measuring quality.

“The key problem is that the list [of forms of continuing professional development provision] is only of inputs, thereby it cannot be linked to quality standards or learning – and no link to practice is needed to be evidenced,” said Robb. 

The GSCC is reviewing the responses from the consultation. 

More information

GSCC

BASW

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