Education and training

The Scottish Social Services Council is responsible for promoting and developing education and training for the social services workforce in Scotland. It is also responsible for regulating and awarding professional social work qualifications.

Social work degree and postgraduate couses

The SSSC approves social work honours degree and postgraduate courses at universities across Scotland. Click to download the list of approved courses.

You can find out more about a career in social work, social care and early education and child care in the careers section of this website.

Key Capabilities for Child Care and Protection

As part of the quality assurance and quality enhancement processes for the Honours Degree in Social Work, the SSSC will require evidence from universities that Key Capabilities in Child Care and Protection have been embedded at the appropriate level in each year of the degree, from September 2007.

Click here for further information.

Modern Apprenticeships - Health and Social Care and Children's Care, Learning & Development

The SSSC manages the framework for two Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland - these are Health and Social Care and Children's Care, Learning & Development (formerly known as Early Years Care and Education).

Click here for further information

Evaluation of the SSSC approval process of social work courses

In January 2003, a new Framework for Social Work Education was announced and the first four-year honours degree courses in social work began in 2004.

The SSSC approved the new social work degrees using an innovative process to ensure the delivery of high quality professional social work courses. The approval process consisted of a number of elements including: notification of intent, submission of written application, approval event involving SSSC Approval Panel and Course Provider, approval decision and feedback and the appeals procedure.

These processes were aligned with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education’s systems. The approval panel consisted of: SSSC Learning and Development staff, people who use services, their carers, staff from Higher Education Institutions (HEI), and social service provider agencies in the statutory and voluntary sector.

Research carried out by Jennifer Lerpiniere and Andy Kendrick with HEI staff, SSSC staff and panel members aimed to explore perspectives of the approval process and quality objectives, the extent of variation of approval processes and preparedness for the approval process.

The research focused on the process of approval and not the content of courses. A full copy of the research is available from the SSSC at enquiries@sssc.uk.com

Scottish Vocational Qualifications in the social services sector

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) has produced the first in a series of papers, on Scottish Vocational Qualifications provisions in Scotland, for the purposes of workforce planning.

The SSSC wants to know more about the workforce and is keen to have accurate information about the qualifications which employees are undertaking and achieving. The report sets out information we have gathered, which will assist education and training providers, employers, employees and other partners involved in workforce development activities.

SVQs in the social services sector - July 2008

Making Advanced Entry Work: The Experience of Social Work Education in Scotland

The SSSC through the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)social services project commissioned this study from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and the Open University (OU).

The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of students entering social work education with advanced standing. The researchers were interested in a range of questions to do with students’ preparedness for study; the challenges they experienced in making the transition to a professional programme and the supports that helped them do so.

The findings suggest that students with advanced standing from both graduate and HNC/SVQ routes are able to make a successful transition onto the social work programme. Students also suggested a number of ways in which programmes might improve the type or quality of support offered.

The research, though small scale, supports recent initiatives in Scotland to break down the boundaries between different qualifications by enabling progression from one qualification to another and giving recognition to prior qualifications through credit transfer. In particular, the recognition of qualifications, such as HNC and SVQ, often gained whilst in employment by adults who may have lacked previous educational opportunities, may offer the potential to promote greater inclusion and equality of opportunity for under-represented groups in the social work profession.

To view the report of this study click here.

Involving service users and carers in the social work degree

The Scottish Government has recently awarded each University in Scotland delivering the Social Work Degree £5,000 as a contribution towards their activities in involving service users and carers in all aspects of the Social Work Degree. This is a requirement of the Standards in Social Work Education, the framework against which the Social Work Degree is approved by SSSC. The grant will be administered by SSSC and the Funding Scheme, setting out the conditions and eligible areas of expenditure can be found below:

Funding Scheme