Not sure where to start with your application for Social Work England registration?
Here are some tips, advice and guidance to help you with your application
As you may already know, you must be registered with the relevant body to work as a social worker in the UK (see my post Moving from Australia to the UK as a social worker for more info). If you are planning on working as a social worker in England, you must be registered with Social Work England.
You might also have come across the Social Work England overseas applicant guidance. There is a lot of helpful information there. But there are also some grey areas. And the process can feel a bit overwhelming.
Your qualification, university, and experience will all be considered. Your application is also determined by an assessor, using their professional judgement. This means, every application is unique. And unfortunately I cannot give you an exact process to guarantee your acceptance.
However, I have supported lots of overseas social workers who have had their applications approved and will share hints and tips I’ve discovered along the way.
- How long does the Social Work England registration take?
- How do I register as a social worker in England?
- What if I need more help with my Social Work England international registration application?
How long does the Social Work England registration take?
According to the Social Work England website, they aim to complete an initial assessment of your application within 60 working days (which is about 3 months). This is when you will be allocated a case officer who will consider whether you have provided the required information. A lot of applicants have further information requested. Once Social Work England have all of the required information, references will be sent out, and then a decision will be made. The process is likely to take at least 3 months but it is not unusal for it to take 6 months or more.
Here is some more information about how long it takes to register with Social Work England.
I recommend you give yourself plenty of time and start the application process as early as possible!
How do I register as a social worker in England?
You will create an online account, collate all of your information, and pay a non-refundable scrutiny fee.
Sounds easy right?
In reality, it can be pretty confusing. For social workers with overseas qualifications, what you need to provide depends on your specific situation.
The updated overseas guidance now includes a pre-application checklist and clearer information about the supporting documents you need to provide. However, it still isn’t always easy to figure out exactly what Social Work England are looking for!
Online application
After you create an account, you can start your online application. Within this, you need to provide personal details, qualification and employment details , and answer declarations about any previous convictions, fitness to practice issues, concerns about working with vulnerable people, and any health conditions.
The online application is quite brief and on it’s own, does not make it clear how much information you need to provide. The overseas guidance provides a lot more information about what is required.
Professional experience
You will you be asked to provide information about your work experience as a social worker. You will need to provide the details of your employer/ supervisor and there is a free text box to include additional information about your role.
This section asks you to consider the key competencies for the social work profession. This is confusing because if you search for key competencies, you will find a PDF from Social Work England which refers to the competency framework. The competency framework is how social work jobs are graded in terms of skills and experience (i.e level 1 is newly qualified and level 3 is experienced). What you actually need to do is, link the Social Work England Professional Standards to your job role.
If you have not practiced since qualifying, you will need to provide details of any social work placements.
If you have not worked in a statutory role (completing tasks required by law such as a child protection social worker) but you completed a placement in a statuary role, be sure to include this.
There seems to be an increase in the number of applicants being asked to provide more information about their work experience and this causes significant delays. Remember to pre-empt what other information Social Work England might need to avoid delays!
In this section of the form, you are encouraged to include additional information from your employer/supervisor to support the information you provide. I asked Social Work England how this should be provided and was told it doesn’t really matter because they will contact your employer/ supervisor to verify your information anyway. But, if it was me, I would get something in writing from my employer/ supervisor confirming the information I have provided and upload this as a supporting document.
Supporting documents
Within the online application, you will be asked to upload a copy of your qualification. At the end of the application you will be asked if you have any further supporting documents but there are no prompts about what else you need to provide.
The guidance for overseas applicants says you need to provide a full transcript showing all the modules you studied and your passport so be sure to provide these!
There is now an online verification services which requires you to use a biometric passport. If you are unable to use the online service, you can attach your ID for manual verification but this might delay your application. Ensure that any documents show all 4 edges and that nothing is covering any part of the document.
If your documents are not written in English, they need to be accompanied by a certified translation.
There are additional supporting documents you may need to provide depending on your situation which I have detailed below.
Course information form
If your qualification is not on the list of overseas qualifications that have been assessed and confirmed as meeting Social Work England’s standards, you will need to complete a course information form.
If your qualification is not an exact match for: the name of the course, the name of the university, and the course end date, you will need to complete a course information form.
The overseas guidance says the form needs to be stamped by your university but this is no longer the case. Social Work England will request a reference from your university and include your completed course information form to have content verified.
Letter about your education, training and experience
The overseas applicant guidance says you need to submit a supporting letter with your course information form (if your qualification is not on the list of already assessed qualifications). The letter needs to explain how your education, training and experience meets SWE’s standards. My advice is that all applicants should submit a supporting letter.
If you qualified more than 2 years ago you will be required to complete an updating skills and knowledge form (see below). For those who qualified less than 2 years ago, I am increasingly seeing requests for a letter setting out how you meet the professional, education and training standards. I suggest that you complete this letter with your initial application to avoid SWE requesting further information which will cause more delays.
In addition to the professional standards, there are also qualifying education and training standards guidance. The education and training standards specify that you must have completed at least 200 days in at least 2 placements, 1 of which is within a statutory setting (involving high risk decision making and legal interventions). There is nowhere in the online application to include your placement information so I suggest you include this in your letter. If your placements do not meet the specified requirements, include information about your work experience in a social work role to cover this gap.
Updating skills and knowledge form
The updated Social Work England overseas guidance is clearer about when you are required to complete an updating skills and knowledge form. If you qualified more than 2 years ago, you need to complete the form.
If you have been practicing in a country where social work is regulated (you have to be registered with a professional body to work as a social worker) within the last 12 months, you complete section 1 of the form.
If you have been practicing in a country where social work is not a regulated profession (such as Australia), you will need to complete section 2 of the form which requires a lot more information about your practice and training. Ensure you read the guidance and examples and reference the professional standards throughout.
Social Work England say this is a requirement because “social work is a constantly evolving profession” which is impacted by new legislation, updated policies, learning from case reviews and research, and changing cultural and social factors.
What else does Social Work England consider for international registration?
Social Work England will consider how your social work skills and experience in the 12 months prior to your registration application relate to social work roles in the UK.
Social work in the UK is often more specific than in other countries (see my post about moving to the UK as a social worker). If your experience does not directly equate to UK social work roles (for example, if you are a counsellor), you are likely to be asked to provide additional information. To avoid delay, assume you will need this and provide more information with your initial application.
You should provide any evidence of completing statutory social work tasks. Statutory social work tasks are those required by law. The statutory social work tasks should involve high-risk decision-making and applying legislation. The evidence could be from placements, employment or volunteering completed during or after your social work qualification. You will need to provide the organisation name and address, job/role title, start and end dates, short summary of the role, and supervisor’s email contact.
If you are not able to provide the required evidence, you might be required to take a test of competence or a period of adaptation.
Social Work England fees
To submit your online application, you will need to pay a £495 non-refundable scrutiny fee for overseas professionals.
Once your application is approved (YAY!) you need to pay your registration fee (£90/year). All social workers registered with Social Work England pay this fee every year. Be sure to do pay within 14 days of your application being approved or Social Work England will close your application and you will need to start all over again!
What if I need more help with my Social Work England international registration application?
Sometimes there are additional difficulties. Your social work degree might not meet Social Work England’s requirements, for example not completing enough placement hours. Or your current role might not be considered a social work role in the UK. These hurdles make the process more complicated and may delay your application being approved.
If you have started the Social Work England registration process and you’re unsure of what to include, send me a message below. I will share more detailed experiences from social workers who had their applications approved, and who were happy to share their stories to help others navigate this process.
You can also DM me, connect with me on LinkedIn or email me.
Kristin
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