There is something inventive and appealing about the government's TV adverts for teacher training: rabbits explain multiplication; a Holocaust survivor introduces the concept of division; a scene of six grand pianos on a misty beach is an obscure but pleasing shorthand for the £6,000 bursary on offer for teaching trainees.

Social work has not received quite such lavish attention. The grainy comic strip put together to highlight the satisfactions of a career in social services has been much lower key. But, happily, the pianos still apply. At the end of September health minister Jacqui Smith announced that students undertaking either the Diploma in Social Work or the new three-year social care degree will be eligible for an annual £3,000 bursary from September 2003.

This is not quite comparable to the £6,000 given to teachers or the £5,000 some nurses receive. But it does reflect concern over the dramatic decline in the number of people applying to do social work courses over the past 10 years - a fall that closely mirrors the introduction of student loans. In 1992 more than 11,000 people applied for social work courses, but in 2002 it had fallen by more than 60 per cent to just over 4,000. As the number of applicants has dwindled, the concept of healthy competition for places has disappeared, with some courses forced to accept most candidates unreservedly.

What the government has done is set apart social work trainees from other students by introducing a non means-tested bursary of £3,000 - about £60 a week over a year. This will include a £500 allowance for travel to and from practice placements. Students who do not receive help with tuition fees from their local education authority or employer will be given £1,075. Those who stand to benefit most are undergraduates and non-graduates who are at present ineligible for bursaries or grants and have to fund their studies using student loans, career development loans or part-time earnings, plus whatever they can beg, borrow or steal from parents or partners.

Although it is heartening that social work has been made a marked exception to the normal higher education funding policy, those undertaking postgraduate courses are likely to be less impressed by the new bursary. Postgraduates could already obtain a means-tested maintenance grant of between £2,714 and £4,316 from the General Social Care Council to undertake their DipSW. The government says that this level of funding "will be maintained" but that in future "a portion of the bursary will be at the basic non means-tested rate with the balance subject to means testing". Some groups of postgraduate students can also claim additional cash, such as disabled students' allowances and child care allowances, and this looks likely to be extended to undergraduates.

But although any extra support is welcome for people while they train, will an extra £3,000 attract significant numbers of people into the profession? Will £60 a week persuade people that social work training is a viable option?

Pat Hyam, professor of social work and social care at Nottingham Trent University and a board member of the Training Organisation for the Personal Social Services, says the bursary is a positive step forward. "It will make a big difference," she says. "I particularly welcome it because we run courses for undergraduates only - we don't run courses for postgrads, who always got a bursary anyway."

Hyam acknowledges that some students drop out of courses because of financial pressure or because they have caring responsibilities that they cannot meet. She says: "A lot of people have to get huge loans to pay for their courses so this will make a difference to them. But the students we see are those who have taken the plunge. It would be interesting to know whether there are many other people who are being deterred before that stage."

She says course providers should warn students that they may incur hardship as a result of their studies. "It's important for each course to prepare the students for what they're going into," Hyam says. "I'd risk putting off people who haven't thought carefully about what it means to do a degree, so that the rest come in on a reality basis. Social work requires a commitment and a lot of hard work. But the bursary will make it possible for a wider range of people to train, which is a very positive thing."

But for others - particularly the older or more experienced applicants that the government wants to attract - the bursary would barely make a dent. Leslie Wilson, a newly qualified social worker who did a postgraduate DipSW after several years in the profession, says: "For me, £3,000 would be a drop in the ocean. I got more than £4,000 because I was doing a postgrad course, and even then had to take on several jobs.

"There's no way that mature students and people with experience are going to be attracted in by £3,000 when they've got partners and kids and mortgages and so on. And no way they're going to give up a job paying them £15,000 or £18,000 on the basis of a £3,000 bursary.

"Quite a few people dropped out of my course and lots of other people moved back in with parents or took out huge loans. People are coming out with thousands of pounds worth of debt, and it's not all recognised debts like student loans and career development loans. A lot of people owe their parents or their partners."

There may also be some unforeseen issues around the introduction of bursaries. For a start, whereas students until now have been able to claim travel expenses, the new scheme will include a fixed £500 travel allowance. Wilson says this may leave many students even more out of pocket. "I'm worried about that - one of my placements was a 72-mile round trip. My claim for travel expenses was about £400 a month, so £500 per year doesn't even begin to cover it."

Bursaries of £5,000 were introduced for student nurses in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in September. But Gill Robertson, the Royal College of Nursing's student adviser, says: "The bursaries have created all sorts of issues. For instance, the minute you get a bursary you're not entitled to a student loan or a hardship grant."

Another irritation for some is that anyone who has the support of an employer is unlikely to qualify for the bursary.

Peter Gilroy, director of social services in Kent, welcomes the bursary, but describes it as perverse that students who have financial help from employers are sidelined by the scheme.

The bursary's ramifications will take some time to filter through. Students are already applying for courses that begin next September, and course tutors suspect that few are aware of the introduction of the bursaries. As many universities are already putting together 2004 prospectuses there is a danger that people considering a course next year will not know of the financial help available either.

Ultimately, it's a step in the right direction, which may make life a little more bearable for people who would have taken the plunge anyway. But it is debatable whether this small financial incentive will persuade many more people to take up the challenge in the first place.