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Degree courses lack suitable placements and are not offering generic training, a conference heard last month.

Delegates at Community Care’s LIVE children and families expressed concerns over difficulties gaining placements. Also, some student delegates said that their degree courses specialised too early and they felt they missed out on a generic foundation to their practice.

However, Graham Ixer, head of social work education at the General Social Care Council, said that the council had audited degree courses in England and found them to offer the necessary generic training.

He also said that the GSCC was working on the routes into social work, training and registration. The GSCC was concerned, said Ixer, that a newly qualified social worker had yet to become fully competent and more mentoring or supervision was needed on the job. A framework for post-graduate training was also outlined which included generic and specialisation training and would be comparable with academic levels, Ixer said.