Social Worker

On a social worker apprenticeship course, you’ll engage in protecting individuals from harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Social work is a fulfilling and exciting profession. As a social worker, you will work with adults, children, caregivers, and families in various settings to support and promote positive change in people’s lives to enhance their well-being and independence.

You’ll use your professional judgement to connect with a diverse spectrum of individuals and communities, as well as other specialists and organisations.

You will analyse, plan, execute, and evaluate complex situations in your position while critically examining and making decisions while adhering to a stringent professional code of ethics. 

You will work sympathetically, taking into account all aspects of the individual’s life and ensuring their voice is central to decision making.

You will work, analyse, plan, execute, evaluate, and intervene using your professional talents while keeping people’s needs in mind. In addition, you’ll get a bachelor’s degree in social work.

What you’ll learn

On a social worker apprenticeship course, you’ll learn to:

• Ensure that professional, ethical standards are developed, maintained, and promoted.
• Accept responsibility for your decisions and recommendations.
• Be aware of the impact your values have on your practice.
• Exercise authority as a Social Worker within appropriate legal and ethical parameters.
• Ensure that the person-centred approach is employed to the maximum extent possible so that persons are treated with dignity and respected for their rights, values, and autonomy.
• Carry out your responsibilities in a non-discriminatory manner.
• Listen to the opinions of service users, caregivers, their families, and communities, acknowledge their expertise, and offer their viewpoints credibility and influence.
• Promote service users’, carers’, families’, and communities’ best interests.
• Collaborate with people to assist them in making informed decisions and exercising their rights.
• Work to promote individual growth, advancement, and independence.
• Conduct a need and/or capacity assessment.
• Take the initiative and initiate issue resolution.
• Use social work strategies, concepts, and models to support people in finding activities that will change and increase life opportunities.
• Maintain strong personal and professional behaviour standards.
• Manage the physical and emotional implications of your practice.
• Determine and put into practice ways for building professional and emotional resilience.
• Utilise supervision to assist you in supporting and improving the quality of your practice.
• Take good care of your health and well-being.
• Recognise the significance of effectively managing workloads and resources.
• Maintain your skills, knowledge, and professional development.
• Demonstrate your understanding of current and applicable legislation.
• Use a range of research methods to inform your practice.
• Maintain appropriate levels of autonomy while working inside a complex accountability system.
• Respond appropriately to signs of injury, abuse, or neglect.
• Maintain the safety of the people you work with, their families/caregivers, and your colleagues.
• Establish and maintain personal and professional boundaries.
• Maintain strict adherence to all health and safety standards and procedures.
• Social Work England recommends that you communicate in English at the appropriate level.
• Use appropriate language and methods to convey your role and aim sensitively and clearly.
• Communicate in an engaging, respectful, motivating, and successful way, even when dealing with disagreement or resistance to change.
• Demonstrate exceptional interpersonal abilities.
• Engage in successful inter-professional and inter-agency collaboration to generate beneficial results.
• Help networks, organisations, and communities fulfil needs and achieve their objectives.
• Maintain accurately and complete records following applicable laws, rules, and standards.
• Reflect critically on/review practice and accurately record the outcomes of reflection.
• Keep people’s information and data protected.
• Inform individuals on how to utilise assistive technology.
• Encourage the use of technology to get better outcomes.

Entry requirements

You’ll usually need:

• Depending on the employer, but likely A-levels or equivalent qualifications or relevant experience.
• Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level before taking the end-point assessment.
• Pass enhanced background checks

Assessment methods

The EPA consists of four distinct assessment methods grouped within two strands: 

Strand 1: Case Study. Assessment will include: 

• Written Critical Case Study 
• An Executive Presentation 

Strand 2: Scenario Exercise 

• Initial analysis, a response to two further written data/questions, a case record 
• Assessment discussion

Duration, level, subjects and potential salary upon completion

Apprenticeship standard

More information about the Level 6 Social Worker Apprenticeship standard can be found here.

Apprenticeship end point assessment

For more information about the End Point Assessment Process, please read the Institute of Apprenticeships’ information page.