by Sally Gillen, Community Care senior investigative reporter
It is unthinkable that a student doctor could qualify without having worked alongside others doctors during their training. Or that a newly-qualified teacher could work hard for their qualification without spending time in a school, supervised by a teacher and absorbing the experience of those already doing the job. But a newly-qualified social worker can begin work in child protection, be given a full caseload, without any experience at all of working in a busy local authority children's department. The rules allow it.
It is unthinkable that a student doctor could qualify without having worked alongside others doctors during their training. Or that a newly-qualified teacher could work hard for their qualification without spending time in a school, supervised by a teacher and absorbing the experience of those already doing the job. But a newly-qualified social worker can begin work in child protection, be given a full caseload, without any experience at all of working in a busy local authority children's department. The rules allow it.
And a Community Care investigation shows that of the social work students who graduated in England last year, at least 100 had never worked in a local authority, or other statutory setting. This is despite devoting three years to completing a degree in social work, a degree intended to equip them for a job working with some of the most vulnerable people in society, a degree designed to prepare them for them, as far as possible, for what is roundly regarded as a very stressful career.
The rules
The universities and colleges who failed to provide statutory placements for these students had done nothing wrong. General Social Care Council rules say only that students must have completed "statutory social work tasks and legal interventions," as part of their degree, not that they must have done them in a statutory agency. In a sector where professionals are encouraged to embrace concepts such as multiagency working and multidisciplinary teams, and where social work posts are not exclusively based in the statutory arena, some may question whether it matters that a social work graduate's experience of the job is limited to a spell in a daycare setting or an independent fostering agency.
But they are mistaken. Students and employers alike are telling us it matters. For their part, students may welcome experience gained in the voluntary sector but comments from CareSpace and evidence from elsewhere show that it is no substitute for a placement in the statutory sector, which is the only place where they will be exposed to the reality of social work and where the majority of social work jobs remain. Time and again they are saying how important statutory placements are, that without them they feel vulnerable and unprepared for a job as a social worker. And employers agree. They are turning down newly-qualified social workers who don't have statutory experience because they would rather have a vacancy than someone they worry can't do the job. This is a turn of events that the government, in its desperation to boost the number of new social workers, had not foreseen. Wrongly, as it turns out, it assumed that local authorities would greedily snap up new recruits. Figures from the GSCC's report 2007/08 say different - 23 per cent of graduates are out of work.
Inadequate training
These are people, who despite receiving a bursary, will no doubt have acquired some debts in order to become qualified social workers, only to find that their training is viewed by those who matter as inadequate. For those who do get their foot in the door, they do so with an uncertainty about what lies behind it. Is it really fair to expect them to cope with the demands of what is by anyone's estimation a very stressful job without some experience of it beforehand? Whichever way you look at it student social workers are getting a raw deal. They know it and are starting to take action. So concerned were those on course they complained to the GSCC. As with many issues in social work, the quality of practice placements has been a long-standing problem, as a trawl through Community Care's archive will testify.
Employers being shortchanged
The government needs to recognise that the system as it stands does not work. Students and employers are being shortchanged and the rules need to change. Universities have been accused recently of packing students onto course to meet financial demands but if they are churning out graduates who won't be accepted into the job then there is little point.
The last thing we need is for the social work degree to gain a reputation as a pointless qualification.
Find out the full reaction to this story and more about the placement shortfall
The rules
The universities and colleges who failed to provide statutory placements for these students had done nothing wrong. General Social Care Council rules say only that students must have completed "statutory social work tasks and legal interventions," as part of their degree, not that they must have done them in a statutory agency. In a sector where professionals are encouraged to embrace concepts such as multiagency working and multidisciplinary teams, and where social work posts are not exclusively based in the statutory arena, some may question whether it matters that a social work graduate's experience of the job is limited to a spell in a daycare setting or an independent fostering agency.
But they are mistaken. Students and employers alike are telling us it matters. For their part, students may welcome experience gained in the voluntary sector but comments from CareSpace and evidence from elsewhere show that it is no substitute for a placement in the statutory sector, which is the only place where they will be exposed to the reality of social work and where the majority of social work jobs remain. Time and again they are saying how important statutory placements are, that without them they feel vulnerable and unprepared for a job as a social worker. And employers agree. They are turning down newly-qualified social workers who don't have statutory experience because they would rather have a vacancy than someone they worry can't do the job. This is a turn of events that the government, in its desperation to boost the number of new social workers, had not foreseen. Wrongly, as it turns out, it assumed that local authorities would greedily snap up new recruits. Figures from the GSCC's report 2007/08 say different - 23 per cent of graduates are out of work.
Inadequate training
These are people, who despite receiving a bursary, will no doubt have acquired some debts in order to become qualified social workers, only to find that their training is viewed by those who matter as inadequate. For those who do get their foot in the door, they do so with an uncertainty about what lies behind it. Is it really fair to expect them to cope with the demands of what is by anyone's estimation a very stressful job without some experience of it beforehand? Whichever way you look at it student social workers are getting a raw deal. They know it and are starting to take action. So concerned were those on course they complained to the GSCC. As with many issues in social work, the quality of practice placements has been a long-standing problem, as a trawl through Community Care's archive will testify.
Employers being shortchanged
The government needs to recognise that the system as it stands does not work. Students and employers are being shortchanged and the rules need to change. Universities have been accused recently of packing students onto course to meet financial demands but if they are churning out graduates who won't be accepted into the job then there is little point.
The last thing we need is for the social work degree to gain a reputation as a pointless qualification.
Find out the full reaction to this story and more about the placement shortfall
As a practice learning assessor, based within a University, I am extremely concerned about the recent infatuation with social workers in training undertaking at least one statutory placement. Having worked both within the statutory and voluntary sector it is my view that my students can achieve a more comprehensive training experience within the third sector. The case demands of statutory social work curtail opportunities for students to undertake in depth, planned, quality pieces of work in the main. Statutory placements may provide students with relevant experience in terms of attending meetings and referring to other services, with some crisis management interwoven in the mix, however voluntary placements provide students with valuable opportunities to develop and hone their direct work and communication skills. It is the acquisition of these transferable skills that make good social workers – social workers that are attuned to the service user/carers needs, social workers that have a rounded appreciation of interventions and making a difference first hand – constraints in statutory social work is produces glorified pen pushers, who have no time to undertaken real social work, much to their annoyance, as most social workers came into the professional to work directly with service users, not spend increasing amounts of time in front of a computer!
As a Practice Learning Manager in a Welsh local authority, I find it interesting to note the differences between social work qualifying in Wales and England. In Wales, Care Council regulations stipulate that at least one placement at Level 2 or 3 must be in a statutory setting. Another difference is that, in Wales, responsibility for managing student Practice Learning opportunities lies with the local authority, which "hosts" a student throughout their qualifying training. Whilst there are undoubtedly pressures in seeking to find placements which are of suitable quality and meet learning needs, it's interesting that of the 19 students who are due to qualify this year, all will have had at least one, and many will have had two, statutory placements. I wonder if local authority "ownership" of placements is a factor in this?
I am a newly qualified social worker. I went from A levels straight into my social work degree at uni and had not worked in a social work setting before. My first placement was in a child protection team. Throughout this 100 day placement, I never had any supervision. I was dealing with very complex child protection cases and attended child protection meetings, often having never met the child or their family prior to this. I had a caseload and ended up working beyond my required hours as i had so much work to do. The children and their families were much more than I could reasonably handle with no supervision. I always assumed that I would go onto work with children and young people after graduating, however I quickly changed my mind. I now work with adult mental health service users. I would never go back to a C+F team. I seriously questioned whether I should continue with social work as the pattern followed in my second placement. I was in a mental health crisis team and had zero supervision. when I tried to get help I was dismissed. I love my job which is why I've stuck with it. I have had excellent supervision in my jobs since qualifying, I feel very lucky about that. I also feel I did the service users I worked with on my placements an injustice, as I was so ill equipped to properly deal with their needs.
I'm gaining confidence again now in my skills as a social worker, but my confidence was very low before I'd even qualified because of my experiences. It's a shame because I know it's happening to many others also.
The 3 comments above all have merit - personally and professionally I find myself far more in tune with B Cooper's comments and the welsh method of seeking to ensure that social work students all complete at least 1 statutory placement.
Once qualified students will opt to work within a number of different fields and either within or outside of the statutory sector - I feel that the 'medical model' is a sound one in that generic experience ought to be obtained prior to any subsequent specialisation.
Above all we must listen to Hannah's experiences - what she describes in unacceptable, poor practice and potentially dangerous. Both Courses as well as agencies within which placements are made have responsibilities - ideally Hannah ought to make a formal Complaint to her placing Institution. How can her Practice Tutor / Assessor accept the validity of such a Placement?
This just adds weight to everything that is currently wrong within social work - if we can't get it right at the training / educucational / supervised Practice stage what hope is there for the future?
I am a student social worker coming towards the end of year two. I really wonder whether the type of placement is relevant. What I know from my own experience is that it is impossible to say that every student must have this or that. Each student is individual with very different learning needs. I have worked within the voluntary and statutory sector as a support working for children and young people and therefore hold this experience before commencing the social work degree. Now, my learning experience is not focussed on the organisatioin context in which I work, this can be learnt on the job, it is about quality direct practice where values and ethics are of the most imortance and in my view this happens across all sectors. It would be of more value to ensure each student is recognised for what experiences they have and what experiences they need during the three year degree and for placements and future employers to recognise a lot of student had a working life and experience before the degree. Like clients, students are not all the same but individuals.
I have spent that last three years training to become a social worker, whilst juggling a family with four children only at the very end of training to find out that I am not fit for practice in the statutory sector because I have not completed a statutory placement.
I will leave with a mass of debt, wrinkles and grey hair, to find that I have been miss-sold a degree that is not fit for purpose; will trading standards help me get my money back and compensate me for the stress and hard work I have put in, should I sue?
We are moving away from slating the practice of social workers to slating the new generation coming through. Within our own profession we have found the new ‘scapegoat.’
One of my placements took place in a primary school and the other within a third sector agency, both these have given me extensive experience of the issues people face and as far as I am concerned have given me more ‘social work’ experience than parts of the statutory sector could.
I have worked with people and the realities they face. The core skills and values inherent in social work training have definitely been strengthened. I do not problematise service users and see them as a drain on resources, but recognise the structural inequalities in society that cause their problems.
Often I find myself at loggerheads with the statutory sector advocating for social justice and arguing against human rights offences that are defended and upheld by parts of the statutory sector. Even when social workers do not agree with the decisions they are being forced to make, there is an air of defeatism and acceptance.
I will be leaving my non statutory so called inferior placements with a passion to promote social justice, recognition of the state mechanisms that promote and uphold these injustices and a great respect for the people who have to fight to survive this injustice every day of their lives.
I have often considered the idealism of social work training and its core skills and values as being out of line with statutory social work and its expectations today. Do we change the training or do we demand more resources and changes within the sector that will allow social workers to do what they came into the profession to do?
I completed my Social Work degree last year and have never had a placement in a statutory setting. During my final placement I found it difficult to meet my key-roles however I did manage to do so. I graduated from university in July 2008 and I am currently working in a supported housing scheme for teenage mothers. I personally do not feel I have enough experience to go and work within a statutory setting as I would not feel confident in my own ability. I feel that people are being trained for a profession which they want to go into however they are then being chucked in at the deep end without the neccessary experience and with cases such as Baby P being in the media you would think the universities would make it neccessary that final year students have a placement within a statutory placement to give them the opportunity to develop the skills and experience which is neccessary for the role of a social worker.
I am a 3rd year social work student on my last placement in a primary school. i think it is not suitable for learning the real role of a social worker in a team. I have limited case management experience and little management of risk. The school will only give me limited work and I am very very worried about going into a team and managing s47 cases. Every year the school placement students complian about school placements but the university of northumbria continue to place students in schools for their 3rd year placement. I feel very frustrated and it has been touch and go to whether I am going to cover my NOS. What can we do when universities do not listen!!!
i am a 2nd year social work student and i have completed one placement at a voluntary mental health organisation, the work i carried out there was essential, i learnt how to engage with service users and used advocacy and negiotiation skills. Most importantly i had time with the service users and developed a understanding of their needs. Now my second placement is luming i find myself starting to panic because if i dont get a statatory placement i will struggle to find a job. Plus there is no choice of placement at my university so you have to go were you are sent whether you like it or not. There is so much debate at the moment about placement but not once have i read about what students want or how they are feeling. taking on students should be the responsibility of each local authority and supervision should be monitored by the university. we are the next generation of social workers so the training is in there hands.
i personally believe students should have to undertake at least one placement in the statutory sector and at least one in the third sector to gain the greatest breadth of experience and develop skills to cope with pressure and stress, vital to todays workforce.
However, as things stand, with the statutory placement not bieng optional, students should be utilising their negotiating and influencing skills to secure placements which meet their needs. If you cant convince a University of your own needs, how will you convince a budget strapped manager on behalf of a service user? Consider this part of your training!
I write as a Practice Assessor in a local authority team that develops and supports placements across the private, voluntary and statutory sectors as part of a partnership with a local University. We can ensure that all the final year BA and MA students have a statutory (area office, hospital or YOT) placement. The other placement(s) are in a third sector organisation or LA resources. Each student has a minimum of one adult and one children's services placement.
We have a relatively large pool to swim in and still struggle. I'm not surprised many students in other areas don't get statutory placements: the simple truth is that Universities have over-recruited while LAs are not under compulsion to provide placements. Both are at fault. Students are justified in their complaints - they're paying for this qualification and have a right to expect quality (I refrain from comment on what I might expect students' to bring to the table.) LA employers have no leg to stand on because they make, at best, token provision for students and none has a real consistent commitment to pre-qualifying education. My entire team's posts are funded by the income we generate from placements , leaving nothing to reward non-specialist practice teachers (i.e. social workers) with. It's not good enough to tie practice teaching to progression, it should be properly rewarded ( as, by the way, should the experience and skills of being specialists like my team!). If LA employers want employable newly-qualified social workers, they must regard the provision of adequate numbers of placements as a duty.
Finally, although not "statutory" in the sense that I would understand it, placements in LA - provided accomodation and day services are set to contract. The PVI sectors cannot consistently provide the same quality of placement.
I don't think things are going to improve on the placement front until the government/GSCC/SfC/CWDC in conjunction with universities develop genuinely planned approaches to education and training.
At the moment however, placement matching has little to do with students convincing unis of their needs. It's a question of what's available.
I am a third year social work student. I have been given two voluntary placements as part of my training. I did emphasise my need for statutory experience but the university ignored my requests and dismissed my appeals. Either I accept inferior training or I am threatened with the prospect of not being offered a placement at all. I quote 'we are not obliged to find another placement once students decline a perfectly reasonable offer'.
My first placement was in a residential nursing home (where I worked alongside nurses, nobody checked my work or read my case notes and I never met one single social worker) and the second a community voluntary agency (which also has no qualified social workers). I have learned foundation skills and I have gained experience of working with service users. This in no way compensates for statutory experience. I am told that my placement will include 'statutory elements and tasks'. There have been no statutory elements that have required my involvement so far and I am convinced that I will be asked to exaggerate statutory involvement in order for it to look adequate on paper. There are cases where statutory services are involved but I can't become adequately involved because of my location in the voluntary sector. I can only watch at the sidelines, comment and observe.
I am disgusted, appalled and disheartened. I have committed myself to the degree, I have worked really hard. I feel so cheated, I don't think I will graduate with the necessary skills and experience. I can host a flower arranging session but I do not have the practical knowledge to intervene or use Law in serious cases - despite theoretical knowledge. Many of my fellow students (equally committed, equally in debt) have been given the opportunity to develop much needed skills in a statutory agency. Clearly they have been given a significant advantage. I will struggle to find work and they will not. I will struggle to appear confident in an interview and they will not. I shouldn't have to pretend I have learned something when I have paid to learn it! I am told to advocate for service users, fight injustice and challenge oppression. I am forced not to do these things for myself - I know I need statutory experience but I am oppressed and ignored and forced to be quiet. I have not had equal opportunity to progress despite my commitment to my career. I am really disillusioned and I have not yet qualified.
If I do not acquire the necessary statutory experience I will not pretend I have and I will revisit this with the university. I want and need statutory experience on placement in order to be competent and effective in my future career. A qualification without the underpinning knowledge and experience is all but worthless to me.