Social work in Wales: how student numbers have grown following bursary boost

Wales had seen a drop in applications to social work courses in recent years but an increase in the value of bursaries may have helped reverse this trend.

A 2022 report for Social Care Wales found only about 200 of the 350 or so social workers needed each year were joining the profession.

The cost of training was key, especially for postgraduate courses, where the bursary had failed to keep pace with rising tuition fees.

Boost to bursaries

In response to the report, and a campaign led by social work students and supported by unions and professional bodies, the Welsh Government announced a significant increase to bursaries in July 2022.

The undergraduate bursary increased by 50%, from £2,500 to £3,750 a year, while the postgraduate equivalent, which had been £6,640 since 2010, almost doubled, to £12,715 per year.

This compares favourably to social work bursary levels in England – but lags behind funding for other professions, such as nursing.

There are a fixed number of bursaries available each year – currently 224. Students must have lived in Wales for at least a year and be doing an approved degree or master’s and cannot be getting financial support from an employer to train.

Key differences with England include the fact that undergraduates in Wales can get the bursary for all three years of study – albeit at a lower level – while in England it is only available for years two and three.

“Ours is slightly more generous, but not dramatically so,” explains Tom Slater, education quality assurance manager at Social Care Wales.

“The differences are primarily around some of the criteria, the way it is administered and in terms of additional allowances.”

The impact of more generous bursaries

There is evidence the increased bursary has encouraged applications. Social Care Wales says it currently has 320 new students registered for the academic year 2023-24 with up to 20 more in the process of being registered.

On 1 January 2024, there were 816 social work students on the register in total, compared with 710 on 1 January 2023.

David Wilkins, programme director for the MA in social work at Cardiff University, says numbers have more than doubled, with 52 students starting the course this academic year.

“You’d have to think the bursary has made a difference,” he says.

Making ends meet

But it is still tough for students.

“Almost all work a considerable number of hours and probably couldn’t make ends meet if they didn’t,” Wilkins says. “We definitely see the impact in terms of mental wellbeing and energy levels.”

Victoria Ngulube is in her first year of the MA at Cardiff and receives the postgraduate bursary.

“It makes a huge difference because I don’t have to worry about student finance to pay tuition fees,” she says. “But you certainly can’t live on it.”

She does an online call centre job two days a week and feels there should be more financial support to help all students cover everyday costs.

Grow your own

In recent years, local authorities in Wales have developed or expanded “grow your own” schemes, where existing staff are supported to do social work training.

Courses are funded by the local authority, and participants – who are not eligible to claim the bursary – carry on working while studying.

“Often they live locally, have family and are committed to staying, so we’ve got a very good retention rate,” says Gill Paul, workforce development manager at Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

About five years ago, the ratio of sponsored to direct entry students was roughly 1:5, but Social Care Wales says there are now 130 sponsored students compared with about 190 direct entry.

The regulator provides funding to local authorities for grow your own schemes and other initiatives, through an annual workforce development grant.

Better staff retention

Conwy County Borough Council is currently sponsoring six staff to do the Open University social work degree.

“It’s definitely a really good way to utilise resources. And actually, we get the benefits because the grow our own workers are still working for us and learning on the job,” says strategic director for social care and education Jenny Williams.

These staff have existing skills which feed into their social work training – and they can then put this new learning and knowledge into practice in their paid work.

Williams estimates it costs £10,000-15,000 to get someone qualified, not including the cost of supervision, practice education or releasing people for study days or placements elsewhere.

There are currently no plans to pilot social work apprenticeships in Wales, although Social Care Wales says it is open to working with partnerships that wish to develop a programme.

“Grow your own is filling that niche in a way,” says Slater. Instead, he says the focus has been on expanding routes into social care below degree level, such as the level four social services practitioner role.

This (and a newer apprenticeship version of the level four qualification) are designed to be equivalent to the first year of an undergraduate degree and can be used on some programmes in lieu of year one.

New training routes

Williams, who heads up the Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru’s workforce leadership group, believes it is time to explore new training routes.

Master’s students unable to complete the academic element of their course still graduate with a postgraduate social work diploma that allows them to register.

However, this applies to a very small number of students. And there is no route in Wales that allows you to gain a social work diploma (unlike the Step Up to Social Work programme in England).

“What we have now is too traditional,” says Williams. “Other professions have more pathways and routes into those professions.”

There are mixed feelings about the idea of introducing fast-track schemes, like those in England.

But Samantha Baron, director of the British Association of Social Workers Cymru, says this should not be ruled out.

“The greater the variety of routes into social work, the greater the breadth of candidates,” she says. “However, I’d want to ensure public money is kept within the public system.”