Social work accreditation exams earmarked for November start
Neil Puffett
Friday, February 10, 2017
Children's social workers will be able to start taking exams to achieve accredited status from November this year, it has emerged.
The "first phase of rollout" for the new accreditation system, during which frontline child and family practitioners and practice supervisors in 31 volunteer areas will be accredited, is due to begin this year.
A notice published by the Department for Education to organisations interested in bidding to deliver the system reveals that social workers are likely to be able to start sitting the tests in as little as nine months' time.
The document reveals that whoever wins the contract will need to ensure "the assessment of approximately 8,000 social workers between November 2017 and December 2018".
The delivery organisation will be required to establish regional assessment centres, as well as recruit and train assessors, observers and actors for the simulated observation.
A consultation on the proposed accreditation system is ongoing, with the exercise due to run until 14 March.
In addition to child and family practitioners and practice supervisors in 31 volunteer areas being accredited, the first phase will also see practice leaders at all 152 local authorities assessed.
The system will then be extended to all remaining 121 councils in 2019/20.
A decision on whether accreditation should be mandatory will not be made until 2019 at the earliest, based on the findings of the initial phase.
