Photo by Community Care
Loading …Social Care Wales recently announced it had dropped the requirement for practitioners to evidence continuing professional development (CPD) to renew registration.
Previously, and since the register first opened in Wales in 2001, social workers had had to demonstrate that they had carried out 90 hours of CPD over the previous three years to retain their right to practise.
Under the new system, practitioners still need to confirm they have completed CPD, but do not have to log their learning with the regulator.
The debate around CPD
The need to submit CPD has long been a subject of debate in the sector, with a 2024 poll showing that 90% of nearly 900 respondents struggled to make time for learning that was not mandatory.
In the same year, the vast majority of almost 1,000 polled practitioners called for a simplified process for submitting CPD as part of registration renewal in England.
The largest group (45%) recommended changing CPD from an annual to a two- or three-yearly requirement, while 37% called for the requirement to submit evidence of learning to Social Work England to be scrapped altogether.
Share your experience of learning in social work
There is still time to take part in Community Care Inform’s annual Learning Landscapes research, to help us shine a light on social workers’ experience of learning.
We want to find out how much time you have for learning, how sufficient this is and what the barriers are to you receiving the development time you need. We will share these results with employers to try and influence change in their approach to supporting learning.
With Social Work England currently reviewing its approach to CPD and planning to consult on reforms next year, we asked whether it should adopt a similar approach to the one in Wales.
Simplifying process ‘beneficial for time-poor practitioners’
In a Community Care poll of 838 respondents, 73% said removing the CPD evidencing requirement in England would benefit practitioners who were short on time.
Only a quarter (27%) said that removing the requirement would undermine the quality of learning and practice.
No checks on CPD sample for second year running
Due to its review of the system, which began in 2024, Social Work England will not be reviewing a sample of practitioners’ CPD records for the second year running.
While it continues to gather evidence and develop reform proposals for consultation, the current system will stay in place. Under this, practitioners must submit two pieces of learning, one of which must have been reflected upon with a peer, as part of their registration renewal application.
Celebrate those who’ve inspired you
Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock
Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure whom you can’t help but gush about?
Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.
Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*
If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com
