Social workers weigh in on how to improve the ASYE

Readers’ Take is a weekly series by Community Care that showcases your opinions on trending topics. To take part, vote in our weekly poll and share your thoughts in the comments section of the related article. You can read previous articles from this series here.

Social workers have weighed in on how to improve the assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE).

This follows Skill for Care’s 2023-24 report on the children’s ASYE, which found that, while the failure rate had dropped, black and minority ethnic practitioners remained less likely to pass than their white counterparts.

Women were also more than twice as likely to pass as men, while many newly qualified practitioners were taking on higher caseloads than recommended due to team loyalty.

The report warned that NQSWs’ willingness to take on this workload could lead to burnout, stressing the need for senior managers to protect development time and ensure caseloads remained manageable.

Despite these challenges, most ASYE leads and assessors surveyed agreed that the programme improved NQSWs’ confidence as well as outcomes for those they supported.

Tailoring ASYE to each practitioner

A poll of 722 votes found that the three top ideas for improving the ASYE experience were tailoring the year to the needs of individual practitioners (26%), assigning complex cases only when there was appropriate support in place (24%), and lowering caseloads (24%).

Increasing opportunities for reflective supervision received 11% backing and offering more tailored support for black and minority ethnic social workers had 9% support.

The rest (6%) called for dedicated groups within local authorities for black and ethnic minority social workers, similar to Skills for Care’s group for ethnic minority practitioners (GEMS).

GEMS members have reported instances of racism from both colleagues and those they support, as well as the negative impact of having to adapt their speech, appearance and behaviour to the expectations of others.

‘Setting practitioners up to fail’

Comments under the related article said unrealistic expectations were being placed on new practitioners.

Addressing the persistent racial gap, Alan McDonald highlighted institutional racism and unconscious bias as ongoing issues that the profession needed to address.

“The profession seriously needs to look at itself and tackle the inequality within.”

Another practitioner, Matt, said that ASYE failure rates reflected more on employers than the social workers concerned.

“It’s time the profession, employers and educators got real about the challenges of becoming, let alone being, a social worker,” he added. “Working specifically with the highest need families in society brings with it, naturally, the highest level of risks and complexities.

“To expect people to manage this after coming out of university is unrealistic…It’s setting people up to fail.”

‘One size does not fit all’

One practice educator, T, echoed the need for the ASYE to be tailored to individual practitioners, noting that “one size does not fit all”.

“I’ve had ASYEs under the apprenticeship programme and others who qualified under a different route. Not only have their abilities been different, but so have their learning experiences,” they said.

T added that, for NQSWs, carrying a 90% caseload was a “massive jump” from university expectations, especially when case complexity was factored in.

“There will be those that need the recommended cap and others who don’t,” T said. “A key factor is making sure they feel supported in whatever they are doing, that they are confident and their practice is appropriate and safe for all involved.”

Their opinion on caseloads was echoed by Harriet, who added that social services owed “more to the families and children” than sending a “recently qualified and inexperienced” practitioner to help them through a crisis.

How would you improve practitioners’ experience of ASYE?