Skills for Care announced details of a newly qualified social worker programme (NQSW) for the adult care workforce in England at last week's BASW conference.

The scheme will include standardised induction, supervision and personal development frameworks, with strong links to post-qualifying training.

Skills for Care's director of social work policy, Amanda Hatton, said proposals had been drawn up after talks with the Department of Health and General Social Care Council and consultation with newly qualified practitioners.

Like the NQSW programme for the children's workforce, the project is intended to smooth the transition from training to practice in the first year of employment, through caseload management and allocated time for training and development.

Hatton said the development time would vary according to individual needs, unlike the Children's Workforce Development Council programme, which guarantees 10% of working hours for this.

She added that supervision with line managers would include reflective practice.

The link to the post-qualifying framework will be "much stronger" than the children's NQSW.

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External information

Skills for Care - official website