Social work bursaries frozen for fourth year running
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
The number and value of social work bursaries is to remain the same for the fourth year in a row, despite the rising cost of studying and high vacancy rates among children's social workers.
The government has revealed there will be 1,500 postgraduate social work bursaries available for students starting in the 2018 academic year and 2,500 undergraduate bursaries available for those who started courses in 2017 or this year.
This number has remained unchanged since 2015 despite latest Department for Education figures for September 2017 showing that the vacancy rate among children's social workers in England is 17 per cent, 0.3 per cent up on the previous year's rate.
The value of the bursary is also to be frozen for a fourth year in a row, despite inflation now standing at 2.3 per cent and concerns among students over rising tuition fees.
A basic bursary for full-time post-graduates stays at £3,762.50 in London and £3,362.50 outside of the capital.
The tuition fee contribution remains at £4,052 for postgraduates, which covers less than half the typical annual fee charged by universities.
For undergraduates the basic bursary in London stays at £5,262.50, and will continue to be £4,862.50 outside of the capital.
In announcing this year's bursary allocation the government has also revealed it is concerned that some universities and colleges did not use their full allocation last year.
"Some HEIs (higher education institutions) did not use their full allocation in 2017 (some by as much as four bursaries), which is a concern," states the government report.
"We are in discussion with those HEIs to understand the reasons for this and may look to adjust the allocation methodology in future years to reflect this."
Social Work Union student member Eve Wilson is calling on the government to ensure bursaries take into account escalating costs of studying, particularly around tuition fees.
"Fees have been pushed up over the last couple of years as the government has cut funding for courses," she said.
"Because of these cuts would-be students believe they are taking on a great deal of risk to apply, which means applicant numbers have gone down, meaning university departments are really struggling to cover the shortfall in the funding. This means universities have to push the tuition fees even higher.
"It is counterproductive as we have a lot of (social worker) vacancies to fill. The government is basically shooting itself in the foot."
Maris Stratulis, England manager at the British Association of Social Workers, added: "We are pleased that the government is continuing to fund social work bursaries for undergraduate and postgraduate students, but it is important that all students are afforded equality of opportunity to help them on their career path in social work."