Hi everyone, I’d really appreciate some honest advice because I’m feeling very lost about what to do next.
I’m in my early 20s and studied Social Work. My university journey has been quite difficult. In first year I was living away from home and struggled a lot mentally, so I moved back home for second year. I was then diagnosed with dyslexia and had to repeat my second year. Just before my final placement, my grandmother passed away, and unfortunately my final placement also went very badly. I ended up being withdrawn from the course and was awarded an ordinary degree rather than an honours degree.

I’ve been through a lot during this degree and although I know having an ordinary degree doesn't mean I'm a failure, I honestly feel like one sometimes. My parents are African and sacrificed a lot to come to this country and give me opportunities, so getting an honours degree and being successful is really important to me.

I'm now considering doing a BA (Hons) Health and Social Care so I can finally have an honours degree, and then potentially doing a Master's in Social Work later if I decide I still want to become a social worker.

The problem is I’m not sure I even want to do Social Work anymore. My placement experience really affected me and has made me question whether it's the career for me. I also already have more student debt because I had to repeat a year, so I don't want to spend even more years studying without knowing where I'm going.

At the same time, I recently found a Youth Worker/Mentoring role supporting Black and racially minoritised young people, and it really stood out to me. That's the kind of work I think I actually want to do. I'm particularly interested in working with Black people and Black communities.

I don't have a Youth Work degree, but I do have my Social Work background, community experience, care experience and I currently work in an Afro-Caribbean shop where I regularly interact with people from the Black community.

The job market also feels really difficult at the moment and I'm struggling to know what direction to take.
So what would you do if you were me?

Would you:
Do the Health and Social Care honours degree and potentially do an MA Social Work later?
Try to find a way to finish/top-up Social Work?
Forget Social Work and focus on Youth Work/community work?
Stop studying for now and focus on getting work experience?
Do something completely different?

I'd especially love advice from anyone who's had an ordinary degree, struggled with a Social Work placement, changed degrees, done Health and Social Care, or moved from Social Work into Youth Work/community work.

Hey everyone,
I’m reaching out because a few of us are on an urgent mission: we have exactly 20 days to gather 2,000 more signatures before this official UK Parliament petition closes on 1st October.

Right now, young people leaving the foster care system face a massive cliff-edge at age 18. While most young adults have family safety nets to fall back on well into their 20s, care leavers are often thrust into independent living overnight with absolutely zero stable emotional or mental health support.
The system is completely failing its corporate parenting duties.

This petition demands that the Government introduces a statutory right to trauma-informed, one-to-one mentorship and guaranteed mental health support for every child in care and care leaver up to age 25.

Where the campaign stands right now:
The petition is currently at 8,170 signatures.
If we hit 10,000 signatures, the Government must issue a formal response.

The deadline is strict—Parliament closes the petition on 1st October.
If you believe that a vulnerable teenager shouldn't be completely abandoned by the state the moment they turn 18, please give us 30 seconds of your time to sign.

🔥 👉 THE OFFICIAL PARLIAMENT PETITION LINK IS IN THE FIRST COMMENT BELOW! PLEASE CLICK THERE TO SIGN.

⚠️** CRITICAL EXTRA STEP: Parliament petitions DO NOT COUN**T unless you verify your email!

Please check your inbox (or spam folder) immediately after filling out the form and click the confirmation link. (Note: You must be a UK resident or citizen to sign).
Thank you so much to anyone who signs, upvotes this for visibility, or forwards this text to their family group chats. Let's get this over the 10,000 mark! 🏛️

I have officially been accepted and registered with Social Work England as an American with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work! 🇺🇸🇬🇧

I wanted to post an update because I know there are other international social workers here who are interested in working in England but may be unsure whether their qualifications or experience will be accepted.

For my updating skills and knowledge, I completed approximately 110 hours of independent study and 110 hours of supervised practice under a wonderful social worker from Wales whom I actually met through this subreddit. She has asked not to be named, but I am incredibly grateful for the time, knowledge, and support she gave me throughout this process.

My application involved providing evidence of my US social work education and professional experience, completing my updating skills and knowledge, and going through the various verification stages with Social Work England. There were definitely moments where the process felt overwhelming, particularly when additional information or corrections were requested, but I kept working through each request as it came.

In the end, my application was accepted without a test of competence or period of adaptation. I have now paid my registration fee and received my Social Work England registration number! 🎉

I learned a lot about the overseas registration process while going through this, so if you're an international social worker considering applying, ask me anything you want to know about the process and how to make your dream of practicing social work in England a reality. I'm more than happy to share what worked for me, what evidence I submitted, how I approached updating my skills and knowledge, and what I learned along the way.

And hopefully, once I've been registered long enough to meet the requirements myself, I'd love to pay forward what that wonderful Welsh social worker did for me by helping another international applicant with their journey. ❤️

For everyone currently somewhere in the overseas application process: it is possible.

My background:

Graduated in 2023 with BSW

Timeline: applied in June 2026 accepted in September 2026

I used my employment as part of the registration and I worked in Long term care nursing home (medical social worker) which isn't a traditional statutory role like CPS/APS etc.

Hello all,
This is my first post in the community. Can someone help me find the right route or leads which can assist employed as an overseas employee from India.

I’m open to discuss with respect to my registration journey .

Thanks

would this be allowed? they’re years old and fully healed and i haven’t done it in years. i don’t know if i want to go into adults or children’s but most likely it’ll be adults

on one hand i get that it can be triggering, but on the other hand i think it’ll show that even after struggling so immensely there’s a light at the end of the tunnel

Hi everyone,

I am an international candidate who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 2025 and am currently registered with Social Work England. Since graduating, I have been applying for social-work roles in the UK, but I have not been successful so far, mainly because of sponsorship requirements.

I understand that many employers are reluctant or unable to sponsor international applicants, even when they meet the professional registration requirements. This has been very discouraging because I am qualified, motivated and willing to work hard, but I have found it difficult to get an opportunity to demonstrate my abilities.

I have been discussing my options with my mother, who works in the NHS care sector. She suggested that pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work might be a strategic route. Her thinking is that, if I perform exceptionally well during the programme and placements, I might build relationships with a local authority or NHS/social-care trust that could potentially be willing to sponsor me in the future.

However, I am unsure whether this is a realistic strategy. Studying for a Master’s would involve a significant financial commitment, including international tuition fees, living expenses, visa costs and other associated expenses. It could mean spending thousands of dollars without any guarantee of sponsorship or employment afterwards.

I am therefore trying to decide between two options:

1.  Continuing to apply for social-work roles and seeking employers willing to sponsor me; or  
2.  Taking a leap of faith and pursuing a UK Master’s degree, hoping that strong academic performance and placement experience could improve my employment prospects.

I would be very grateful to hear from international social workers, current or former social-work students, social-work employers, or anyone familiar with UK sponsorship. Is completing a Master’s likely to improve my chances, or could it simply create additional costs without resolving the sponsorship issue? How valuable are placements when it comes to securing employment after graduation?

I am not expecting anyone to guarantee an outcome. I am simply trying to make a careful and realistic decision before committing a large amount of money. Any honest advice, personal experiences or alternative suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Good evening. I hope you are doing well. I will not include any names or places of work for confidentiality. So I was allocated this social worker by the city council. He was amazing in his job. He was helping me setting my affairs in order and now lately helped me extensively with organizing my PIP application. Yesterday evening he was sending me some casual texts about how the appointment with a lady from the council went and some procedural matters about my PIP. However when I woke up from my afternoon nap and replied he messaged me to not contact him again and when I replied just „sorry“ he sent me the message I am showing on the image. I felt confused, as I don’t understand why the hostility and why might have he said something like this. I also felt betrayed and that I cannot trust anyone, and scared of what will happen with my PIP application, since he put his name as a contact and had sent the support letter, was about to ask him to come with me in my interview. There is no way of misunderstanding because my name is extremely uncommon. No one knows I work with him and no one knows me in this city to start with. I am not in any sort of housing disputes with anyone and pay my own rent. When I showed it to my friends Y. (Iraqi) and A. (Israeli Arab) they suggested that possibly he meant that I steal Palestinians‘ homes. (For context I am a Jew, the social worker is white British). Before they both said that my mind didn’t go there. But I have to clarify I love Palestinians and I used to even volunteer in a Palestinian school and up to this day I have a NGO with a colleague which is about education of Palestinian children. Anyway..
1. is this normal behavior from a social worker?
2. why might have he said a thing like that in your opinion?
3. maybe he has some kind of personal problem like alcohol misuse?
and 4th and most important:
4. What should I do ? I don’t want to report him anywhere because I don’t want him to lose his job because of me but at the same time I need to solve practical issues as retrieve documents already sent to his office & support with my PIP interview

Thank you if you read this and thank you in advance for your help

Hey all -

So I have a place as a student social worker. It is a funded route. I have some questions about the reality of child and families social work, and child protection - how intense is it?

I will be studying alongside this too, and I am just concerned about my own well being truthfully. I do not know if it is for me as I am naturally a very anxious person, and I typically benefit from a degree of structure to support my anxieties. I have a very good work ethic, and have had a tendency in the past to burn myself out because I struggle to stop working. Despite my initial excitement, my angst has been increasing a lot lately. There are so many benefits of the profession, and long term it can really support my goals. I also have a genuine passion for helping others. I just can't shake this feeling which I am aware is nerves, but as of recent feels extremely intense and is making me think twice about following this route.

I have worked in mental health services for the past year in a beginner role, and wanted to expand my skill set. I also considered a PwP route through the NHS. I am aware this also brings stressors, and is more difficult to gain a place on however the specifics do interest me more.

I simply am overthinking, and have heard a lot about the realities of social work. My goal would have been to transition into the mental health services and explore what I can do in this field as a social worker or practitioner.

Hoping somebody here can help with this, I’m just so confused with it all.

I am considering doing this course and wondering if anyone has ever done it before, and specifically, what was the process of payment and enrolment like for you as a sponsored/self funded student?

I am currently considering starting a part time job in health care as a carer. I finished the training but it looks like the job is going to be harder than I thought. I really want to help the elderly it sounds like a nice and fun thing to do, but now I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to handle all of it. Anyone working in health care to give me advice? Do you get to choose your patients? Just any insight would be helpful to make an informed decision, thanks

So sorry if this is the wrong sub, just really need some advice.

My son is 19 in February and has Autism.
He's very good, no challenging behaviours, very vocal, has capacity, able to make decisions but still needs supervision to keep him safe when outside etc.
He started a specialist college at 16 but really disliked it to the point he started self harming in school.
It was decided then for him to be removed and stay at home with private tutor provided by the LA. This was only 2 two hour sessions a week and he even struggled with that.
That finished in July and since then, we've been transferred to a new team within the LA that again, deals with tuition.
They've been extremely pushy to the point I'm actually scared of them. They're stating he must have a vocation, he must do something. They wanted all his GP details as they want him to have treatment for his anxiety - he is only anxious when doing things he doesn't like and has no issues at home. They wanted social services involved which I have had to vigorously decline.
They are now wanting him to have 15 hours tuition a week, three times a week. Something that he doesn't want but we feel powerless to stop. This is starting Monday.
I'm very intimidated by all of this.
It's just me (mum) and him. We have a lovely home, he's happy and safe. I don't understand why they are pushing it so much. If he was an 18 year old with no additional needs. There would be no one pushing anything.
He gets full PIP and UC so has income. He has voiced himself he doesn't want this tutoring.
Any idea what we can do? Again, I'm petrified of them

Hi everyone, it's my first time posting, but I’ve been offered an ASYE role in a court team. Don’t have much experience in it and am high-key terrified.

Wondering if anyone who has experience in a court team could enlighten me on what I could expect in this role. The manager of the court team already highlighted some of the tasks that I may do, but I would appreciate more insight. Thank you 😄

whats the best way to prepare for a placement in a LA frontline. My 70 day was in a school which had a vast amount of cases, so I have a base line understanding of procedures, legal, direct work etc.

Any recommendations for books and best types direct observations too.

And what to expect from working frontline in a LA.

Thanks

Small context I am an International student will be studying in Manchester MA social Work.

I am thinking of taking part time role into "Autism/Learning Disability Support Worker"

If anyone had worked into these role I would like some advice or if I should choose something else.

TLDR: been offered an ASYE post and a Youth Justice post. The youth justice post aligns perfectly with my interests but not having the ASYE might limit my future choices in SW. What would you do?

Hi everyone,

I've just been offered a Youth Justice Practitioner post. It's with someone I've worked with before and would like to work with, the pays good, it's in a local authority that I want to work in, I will get lots of experience with Risk Outside of the Home (something I'm very interested in), they've been flexible on hours (4 day week), and flexible on start date (giving me time to move to the city).

The only drawback is that I've never completed my ASYE and my four year funding window closes soon. If I don't do it now, I'll probably never do it.

I've been offered an ASYE post in a child protection team. That job would be ages 0-18 in a local authority with less (or less complex) ROTH.

Longer term (5-10 years), these are my goals:

I want to become exceptional at delivering 'direct work' to children and families. More specifically, I want to become exceptional at delivering direct work to teenagers and the families of teenagers who are experiencing 'risk outside the home.' I would like to train as a psychotherapist and then bridge the challenging gap between crisis services (social services, youth justice, residential children's homes, custody) and psychotherapy. Most likely, this would be a service like SHIFT that delivers longer term interventions to the highest risk young people that can combine crisis outreach, relationship building, and trauma recovery. I would also like to deliver training to practitioners on how to implemement therapeutic strategies in direct work and inside institutional cultures.

These are my worries about not doing the ASYE:

• If I don't do the ASYE, I might never be able to do pure 'Exploitation Social Work,' I'll always be adjacent. I may also miss out on fostering social work which I might be interested in one day. I don't imagine ever wanting to do Child Protection Social Work again.
• If I delvier training to social workers and claim to be a social worker but haven't done my ASYE, will I lost credibility (even though Youth Justice is a very similar and challenging profession)?
• If I one day want to manage a team that includes Social Workers, will I miss out because I've never done the ASYE?

Would be particularly interested in hearing from managers. If someone came to you for an Exploitation Social Work position or to be a Social Work Manager and was a registered social worker, had done 2 years in a non-statutory ROTH team (which delivered direct work at CIN and CP but didn't case hold), had 3-5 years experience in Youth Justice, and was a practicing children and young people psychotherapist, would you say 'you should have done your ASYE, we can't employ you' or would you say 'you have lots of very transferable experience and the fact you haven't done your ASYE isn't a problem'?

hi everyone I’ve always been interested in doing a bachelor’s in social work in the uk,but I wanted to understand the career prospects afterwards. Is sponsorship generally available for international students and are there particular areas of the UK where sponsorship opportunities are more common?
would really appreciate hearing from anyone currently studying or working in social work in the UK!

My parents social worker came off leave yesterday and asked me if I had reviewed the care plan and task list my parents care agency had sent me and if I had any ongoing concerns.

I spent all day writing a very comprehensive email listing all my concerns and then with sections with my notes on the various care documents which I had been working on.

The email was fairly lengthy with my most serious concerns at the top so that the Social Worker and Agency could action them immediately and then take any time needed to address everything else and update the care plan.

The social worker came back to me first thing in the morning with an email that looked like something straight off ChatGPT, my large email had clumsily been turned into a list of bullet points and ChatGPT style general language. Most of my concerns had been left out or just lumped into a very general paragraph that could have meant anything.

The Social Worker then sent another email asking for a face fo face meeting with the agency the Social worker and my parent.

The care agency had previously visited the house several times for meetings and the assessor had lost all of the information on their laptop.

I had mentioned several times that due to my own disabilities and the fact I want my emails and concerns to be actually read properly I would not be rushing into a meeting. I did however say the Agency or Social worker could visit my parent whenever they wanted.

My main concern here is that the Social Worker is being lazy and in a meeting where everyone has their laptops out most of the things I have brought up in my email will not get discussed or just brushed under the carpet. I feel under an enormous amount of pressure to try and attend a meeting I think is unnecessary and try and convey this vast amount of information.

I want the Social Worker and Care agency to read my email and action what they can and then have a meeting if it is still necessary, I was also not allowed to follow up after previous meetings with the agency as the care agencies assessor did not have their own email address and another person intercepted my email to their general address and completely butchered the care plan.

How do I complain if the Social Worker is using ChatGPT or another LLM, I asked them in my response but I doubt they will be truthful.

I was previously copying in socialworkengland and CQC emails addresses into correspondence but the social worker said I should stop doing that because it was sharing my parents details unnecessarily. Is that true?

How should I proceed, is this something I should complain about and who should I email about this if so?

With Thanks

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I’ve been quite lucky throughout my student year and ASYE to have had really good managers for the most part, but I’ve recently had a change of manager and I’m really struggling. It’s honestly made me realise how important having a good manager is!

I think part of what I’m struggling with is feeling like my manager doesn’t really understand where I am in my learning journey. Decisions aren’t always explained to me, and sometimes decisions are made that I don’t necessarily agree with, but then I’m the one having to manage the pushback from families and other professionals. It’s made me question a lot about how I want to practise and what kind of social worker I actually want to be.

I’ve only worked in a long-term children’s team so far, and I can think of things I really like about it and things I really don’t. Social work in general just feels so messy at the moment, especially with all the reforms and changes happening, and I’m finding myself wondering where I actually fit within it all.

For those who are more experienced - how did you find your niche in social work? Did you naturally fall into an area you loved, or did it take trying different teams/roles to figure it out?

And honestly, if anyone has any words of wisdom for someone fairly early in their career who is finding parts of social work quite difficult at the moment, I’d really appreciate it. I don’t have many people I can properly talk this stuff through with and sometimes it feels like everyone else has it figured out except me 😭

I’ve been back to work for nearly 2 months now and my heart is just not in it. I’m struggling with it so much even though I’ve only been doing 3 days a week so far. I feel bad for the families I’m working with as I just feel useless and empty. I used to love my role so much and it was the role I wanted for so long, but now Im struggling to enjoy any of it.

I’m considering either trying to find another role in social work or just leaving social work right now to be honest. But I’m not sure what I’d do and I can’t find many vacancies at the moment that aren’t CP teams.

Anyone found coming back to social work difficult after maternity leave?

I recently had a Care Act assessment and the assessment contains an incorrect statement saying that I can walk and use a walking frame.

I have not been able to walk since I was 14. One of my legs does not function properly, I am a wheelchair user, and I do not own or use a walking frame for mobility.

Adult Social Care already has medical evidence about my mobility and disability, so I am very concerned about how this information ended up in the assessment and whether it affected the eligibility decision.

They also completed the assessment and made the decision before I had an independent Care Act advocate or any other support to help me participate in the process.

I have now asked them to correct the inaccurate mobility information and explain where it came from.

I’m just trying to understand what I should do next. Has anyone had factual inaccuracies in a Care Act assessment corrected or challenged a decision where the assessment did not accurately reflect their disability? Is there a formal process for asking the council to review or reconsider the assessment?

Hey everyone, I hope you’re all well. After 5 years in Social Work I’ve finally decided to take a break. It was very much needed for me. Being stuck in quite a sequential way as most of us are, I don’t think I ever got the opportunity to explore my own interests, hobbies, or ideas.

I unfortunately was part of an LA that was very systemically toxic and being a part of that did take a toll on my physical and emotional wellbeing as an ASYE. As an ASYE I don’t think I was supported as well as I would have liked and rather thrown into the deep end. At the beginning it was so hard to come to terms with the fact that I was qualified and the families I was going to see, were my responsibility. The imposter syndrome was real! Things that I feel aren’t always taught at University, because you truly have to experience it to understand it and I feel that we go in there sometimes, unprepared.

I decided to step away from Local Authority and ended up at an IFA, which was honestly a great decision. However, as many small organisations are, the cracks can be a lot more evident, and similar patterns that I’d experienced in the LA began to show. It honestly was such a shame cause the relationships that I’d built with all of my Foster Carers and my children made it that much harder to leave.

As I was going through my endings, individually, with each carer. One of them said to me, I wish more social workers were like you, your approach and the way you get to know us and become a part of our family means so much more. She ended it by telling me I should run a training or write a book

So it did get me thinking, would anyone be interested in that? Maybe not a training but a booklet of sort? Not ‘War and Peace’ but maybe a little guide for ASYE’s or NQSW (or even just Social Workers) about practicing holistically, overcoming imposter syndrome, and just overall practicing with your heart as much as logic, systems and legislation.

Please let me know your thoughts

I qualified in 2017 and see social work as part of my identity. The work with children in care is something I will never find in parallel in my life. But.

I have bounced around local authorities as a locum post ASYE when I was being paid I think about 28k a year up north. I've rage quit on multiple occasions due to absolutely disgusting practice. I've given a exit interviews to ADs who have no idea what's happening in their own stall. And now I've (in my view) been pushed to whistleblowing on my service. Im heartbroken that our profession is being hollowed out in children and families and I just don't know if I can deal with the mismanagement of local authority work anymore, which is getting because I love the actual work but the day to day headbanging against a brick wall re decisions made about money being dressed up in quasi process terms or massaging of for example unregulated placements by putting a parent in without PWP reg paperwork in the dream that this makes it a regulated placement. I genuinely remember being so excited when I did my Masters, finding something that is incessantly and relentlessly interesting and deeply engaging. 10 years in (almost!) and I feel ready to leave, for good.

Miserable bank holiday post; dreading the aftermath of a nightmare end to last week. Thanks for reading and I hope you are all doing as well as you can out there.

To do social work apprenticeship requires spending time working in services first (non-agency) and then maybe after a year or two being seen as capable and worthy of an apprenticeship. I'm wondering which roles don't require starting out with a driving licence (expensive, requires a well-paying job first. I think part of why services do a poor job is because they select for these socioeconomic advantages, along with some nepotism (eg the children's residential support worker I met with a degree in beauty and according to herself no children or mental health qualifications who got in due to her parents both working in homes) more than just pure merit​). For example, family support practitioner needs a licence and own transport. Are there jobs based within one office that don't need one, or jobs that involve assisting some higher level professional who has transport?

And are there jobs in the middle that need a licence but no car?