Narey takes aim at 'inadequate' social worker training

In his government-commissioned report Making the Education of Social Workers Consistently Effective, Narey found some universities were taking on “poor-quality students” and offering a curriculum that leaves graduates ill-prepared for the demands of the job.

He calls for the threshold of those applying via A-levels to have at least 240 Ucas points, the equivalent to three C grades. The quality of access courses also needs to be tightened to ensure only the best candidates go through to social work courses.

It also recommends that chief children's social worker Isabelle Trowler produce a single skills list that should be the basis for all social work curricula. The absence of such a list is causing courses to vary widely in quality. This list also needs to have a strong focus on practical skills, added Narey.

One social work undergraduate told Narey during his research: “We spent weeks and weeks in our ethics and values module looking at Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. Interesting yes, but I feel that time could have been better spent equipping us with skills relevant to social work.”

Narey said: “Standards are variable and many employers, and some academics, are concerned about graduates sometimes inadequately prepared for the challenge of children’s social work.”
 
The report calls for undergraduates to be able to specialise in children’s social work within their degree and be given the option to complete all of their placements within children’s services.

The Association of Directors of Children’s Services president Andrew Webb says councils “must do more” to work with universities and The College of Social Work (TCSW) to ensure there are enough placements for undergraduates looking to specialise in children’s social work.

TCSW should also be given greater powers to become the single inspector of social work training courses. Narey says the current system of authorisation by the Health and Care Professional Council and endorsement by TCSW is “inadequate”.

TCSW chair Jo Cleary said the college would consider Narey’s recommendations and welcomed his call to strengthen the college’s role in endorsing courses.

She added: “His recommendations would have considerable implications, both for the college and our members, employers, academics, other partners and stakeholders.”

Among those to back Narey’s recommendations is Lord Laming, who undertook in 2001 the government-commissioned inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié.

He said: “It sometimes seems they [social workers] are being provided with what may be termed a general education rather than being equipped with the knowledge and practical skills to successfully undertake this challenging yet potentially satisfying work.”

Andrew Christie, director of children's services for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, urged education secretary Michael Gove to act on the report’s recommendations.