The number of overseas social workers in the UK

Social workers who have qualified overseas must have their qualifications confirmed by the GSCC as suitable for them to work in the UK. (In broad terms that means that, since October, they must be qualified to a comparable level to the UK social work degree, and have 130 days of post-qualifying training.) The numbers below represent how many overseas social workers have had their qualifications recognised as good enough for them to be able to work in the UK, rather than the number who are necessarily practicing social work here.

The European Economic Area (consisting of EU member states plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland are grouped together as they are all governed by the same European directive on the cross-border recognition of professional qualifications.

Country of Qualification	Registrants
EEA & Switzerland (breakdown below)	1681
Australia	1316
South Africa	1147
United States	1107
India	934
Canada	474
New Zealand	366
Zimbabwe	301
Philippines	186
Total	7512
EEA & Switzerland	1681
Germany	449
Romania	292
Poland	157
Spain	124
Netherlands	99
Sweden	64
Ireland	55
Hungary	46
Portugal	44
Bulgaria	39
Slovakia	33
Denmark	31
Norway	29
Greece	27
Lithuania	26
Finland	25
Belgium	22
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