Press Release

GSCC: New national curriculum needed for social work degrees

18 June 2009

A new national curriculum should be put in place for social work degree courses to improve quality and so that employers can be clearer about what to expect from newly qualified social workers, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) has said.

Speaking at a Westminster Briefing on the children's workforce, Mike Wardle Chief Executive of the GSCC, which regulates social workers and their education and training, said that a common curriculum would also provide a clearer standard against which they can judge the performance of Higher Education Institutions.

Mike Wardle said: "We believe there is an urgent need for a new agreed curriculum across universities. We need a much clearer national understanding about the competencies a social worker ought to acquire at every level of their career."

"Whilst it is wrong to expect that any form of initial training for any profession will equip an individual with the skills to undertake highly complex tasks from day one, the GSCC believes that a national agreement on the content of courses will help to provide employers with a better understanding of what to expect from newly qualified social workers when they enter the workplace."

He also said that the performance of particular activities, such as child protection work, should be restricted to those workers who have undertaken particular forms of specific training.