Research project to study careers of thousands of social workers

The government will launch a long-term study of people who join children’s social work to better understand social work recruitment and retention.

The longitudinal research will follow up to 4,500 social workers for five years to gather evidence on things affecting the social work workforce, such as recruitment, progression and retention.

The government announced the study this week, as well as extended funding for social work teaching partnerships until 2020.

Under the expansion, new partnerships will receive two years of funding while existing ones can apply to receive a further year of funding for 2018/19.

The chief social worker for children, Isabelle Trowler, announced the news at the Greater Manchester Social Work Academy Conference this past week, and detailed the study on twitter.

https://twitter.com/IsabelleTrowler/status/927955265894469633

https://twitter.com/IsabelleTrowler/status/927957061492756481

The Department for Education said it would consult with the sector during the development of the study.