Plan to attract top graduates to social work 'must not overlook existing staff'

The Teach First model recruits high-calibre graduates to work in deprived schools. According to a report by the think-tank IPPR, such an initiative could be adapted for social work, to meet the “growing need for quality graduates in children’s social work”.

It suggests establishing an independent social enterprise - called Frontline - to attract graduates to the profession and then train them through an intensive summer school and working in frontline children’s services departments.

Josh MacAlister, author of the report and an ambassador for Teach First, said: “This is a call for change to the profession and the government. It is not inevitable that social work remains one of Britain’s least appealing careers when it is in fact one of the most demanding and important.

“A scheme like this could transform perceptions of social work and contribute to the huge task of tackling social disadvantage.”

But BASW’s acting chief executive Bridget Robb, cautioned of the need to support and retain existing staff and current graduates, many of who are struggling to secure their first jobs.

“We welcome any initiative that aims to strengthen the profession, but schemes such as these should not be spun as a criticism of the existing workforce, or as a panacea to all of society’s ills,” she said.

“We are already waiting to see if the assessed and supported year in employment for social work graduates will be rolled out across the country and what effect that will have on the profession.

“The Frontline scheme must surely be allied to that – we do not want to see the emergence of a two-tier profession or to prevent perfectly capable social work graduates from getting their foot on the first run of the career ladder.”

Lisa Nandy, Labour's shadow minister for children, argued that while attracting graduates to the profession is important, existing social workers must be supported to stay in the profession. ?

“The government's cuts are putting this at risk,” she said. “We will be considering a number of innovative ideas to raise the status and quality of the social work profession as part of Labour's policy review.”