How do I register?

You need to tell us about any relevant criminal convictions, but you do not need to tell us about all criminal convictions. 

The law allows some convictions to become ‘spent’ (ignored or forgotten) or ‘protected’: 

Spent conviction: a criminal conviction can become spent after a specific length of time has passed. 

Protected conviction: some spent convictions can also become protected after specific periods of time or when certain disposals are issued by the Court or Hearing. 

You must tell us about the following. 

You received a conviction, charge or alternative to prosecution where:

• a child and/or vulnerable adult was a victim or was harmed by the offence, or 

• the offence was committed in the course of your employment in social services, or in the course of any employment or voluntary work closely linked to social services. 

You must also tell us about: 

• unspent convictions or cautions. 

Spent convictions that are listed on the Scottish Government’s list of offences that must be disclosed(Opens new window). If the conviction is on this list, it must always be disclosed. These convictions, although spent will never become protected. 

Unprotected convictions. There are convictions which are spent and are on Scottish Government’s list of offences that are disclosed according to the rules. A conviction for these offences should be disclosed to us unless any of the following rules apply. 

a. You received the conviction more than 11 years ago, if you were over 18 years or over at the date of the conviction. 

b. You received the conviction more than 5½ years ago and were under 18 years at the date of the conviction. 

c. The outcome was admonition, absolute discharge or a discharge after a referral to a children’s hearing. 

Please note, this guidance is about what you need to tell the SSSC and may differ from what you need to tell other bodies. 

When processing your application we need to assess if you are fit to practise and this includes considering health. We don’t need to know about every health condition. 

Please only tell us if: 

• you have a health condition that may have an impact on your ability to do your job 

and 

• there are no arrangements in place to manage these impacts. 

You don’t need to declare a health condition if the situation is being managed. For example you may: 

• have reduced your hours 

• be on sick leave 

• be taking medication 

• have adapted equipment 

• have co-working arrangements 

• have restricted duties. 

General information 

Many people living with a health condition are able to practise safely and effectively with or without adjustments. We expect you to manage health conditions by: 

• being open and honest with your employer about your condition and any limitations you have 

• complying with any recommended steps to manage the condition. 

When health might be an impairment 

Your fitness to practise may be impaired if you have a health condition (which includes an addiction to drugs or alcohol) which has an adverse effect on your ability to do your job safely and effectively. For example, where your reasoned decision making, thinking and/or behaviour are affected or where there is a physical symptom that means you cannot carry out your role safely and effectively. 

Your health must have caused or substantially contributed to the impairment of fitness to practise. 

Examples of things you should not declare 

• Nia is a care at home worker. She has arthritis in her knee. So far, it has not had an impact on her ability to do her job, but at the end of a shift it often aches and Nia is considering reducing her hours as a result. 

We do not need to know about this as the condition has not had any impact on her ability to do her job. If this changes in future, Nia may need to tell us then. Nia does not need to tell us if she reduces her hours. This is a matter between her and her employer. 

• Ben is a social worker. He has an alcohol addiction. Ben takes medication to help with this and regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He has not drunk alcohol for over three years. 

We do not need to know about this condition, as while an alcohol addiction could affect someone’s fitness to practise, Ben is managing his condition appropriately and it is not affecting his ability to do his job. 

• Alex is a residential child care worker. They have narcolepsy and occasionally suffer from sleep attacks causing them to fall asleep without warning. Alex’s employer is aware of this and has put procedures in place to ensure that Alex is not left alone with young people at any time. This ensures the safety of both the young people and Alex. 

We do not need to know about this as there are already measures in place to manage Alex’s condition. 

• Joan is a nursery worker. Three months ago she was in a serious road traffic accident and has been off work since. She has had a number of surgeries and is undergoing physiotherapy to help her walk again. 

We do not need to know about this as while Joan may not be fit to practise currently, she is managing the condition because she will be signed off work until she has recovered. 

Examples of things you should declare 

• Janice has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She has been advised by her doctor that she is fit to go back to work, but she is sometimes unable to do any bending or lifting. Janet works in a nursery where she is required to lift children in and out of cots, high chairs etc. Janet has told her employer that she can manage and will let them know if she needs help. 

This is something that we need to know about. We would need to ensure there are appropriate measures in place to support and protect Janet as well as the children. 

• Tariq works in a day care of children service and has recently been diagnosed with epilepsy. He has told his employer about the condition but doesn’t believe any formal measures are required as he has said he can tell when a seizure is coming on and he knows what to do. 

This is something we need to know about. Tariq may be able to tell when a seizure is coming on, but without any formal measures in place, this may not be enough to manage the possible risk that could be caused if Tariq is providing care to a child when a seizure happens. 

The hours of learning you need to do depends on the length of time you’ve been out of practice and last registered as a social worker.

There is no requirement for anyone who has been out of practice and not registered as a social worker for less than two years. You will be required to complete the normal continuous professional learning (CPL) for social workers.

You can find information about CPL here(Opens new window).

Social workers who have not been registered for more than two years need to evidence the requirements through supervised practice, informal and formal learning. We accept a combination of these to evidence learning, however you must complete the minimum supervised practice hours and formal learning required, to allow you enough learning opportunities to meet the four themes.

Length of time since last registered as a social worker	Required hours of learning	How learning must be evidenced
Less than two years	No requirement	You don’t need to meet return to practice requirements. You are required to complete the continuous professional learning (CPL) requirements for your registration. If you have not met the newly qualified social worker (NQSW) requirements you will need to complete these.
Two to five years	180 hours	Combination of supervised practice, formal and informal learning Supervised practice: Minimum 60 hours Formal learning: Minimum 40 hours
Over five years	360 hours	Combination of supervised practice, formal and informal learning Supervised practice: Minimum 120 hours Formal learning: Minimum 80 hours

To meet the return to practice requirements at the point of registration, all required learning must have taken place in the 12 months before applying. You must submit your evidence of this when applying to register. You can download the return to practice for social workers form here.

If you don’t meet all the return to practice requirements when you apply to register, we will register you with a condition to achieve and submit evidence of all requirements within six months. To meet your condition, you can use learning and evidence from six months before applying to register to the end of the six-month condition period.

All learning presented as evidence of meeting the required hours must cover these four themes:

• current legislation and policy
• social work skills, knowledge, understanding and practice
• the key codes and standards for practice
• adult and child protection.

Return to practice is a recognised pathway in CPL for social workers. The eight CPL core learning elements for all social workers regardless of career stage or role are:

• ethics, values and rights-based practice
• communication, engagement and relationship-based professional practice
• critical thinking, professional judgement and decision making
• promoting wellbeing, support, and protection
• working with complexity in unpredictable and ambiguous contexts
• use of knowledge, research, and evidence in practice
• self-awareness and reflexivity
• professional leadership.

The core learning elements build on the Standards in Social Work Education (SiSWE) and are underpinned by the same ethical principles.

The table below shows the social work CPL core learning elements under each of the return to practice themes. You can find further descriptors of the core learning elements for social work in our CPL guidance(Opens new window).

Return to practice requirement themes	Social work core learning elements
Current legislation and policy	Ethics, values and right-based practice Promoting wellbeing, support, and protection Working with complexity in unpredictable and ambiguous contexts Use of knowledge, research, and evidence in practice
Social work skills, knowledge, understanding and practice	Ethics, values, and right-based practice Communication, engagement and relationship-based professional practice Critical thinking, professional judgement and decision making Working with complexity in unpredictable and ambiguous contexts Use of knowledge, research and evidence in practice
The key codes and standards for practice	Ethics, values and right-based practice Critical thinking, professional judgement and decision making Promoting wellbeing, support and protection Self-awareness and reflexivity
Adult and child protection	Ethics, values and right-based practice Communication, engagement and relationship-based professional practice Critical thinking, professional judgement and decision making Promoting wellbeing, support and protection

Current legislation and policy

This theme requires you to evidence learning that includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that your knowledge is up to date about how statutory social work is governed/led by relevant policy, legislation and national guidance. For example, learning around social work statutory duties in mental health, adults with incapacity, child protection and adult support and protection legislation.

Evidence for this theme must include knowledge of the policy landscape and key current policies, and what they mean for social work practice. You are required to evidence how you have/will put your completed learning into practice.

Social work skills, knowledge, understanding and practice

As a returning social worker, you will bring transferable skills, knowledge and experiences from previous periods of registration, study and employment. This theme requires you to evidence what learning you have undertaken to build on your previous knowledge and skills to bring your practice up to date to ensure that you are confident and competent in your ability to carry out the key functions of the social work role, including professional decision making, managing risk and trauma informed practice.

Resources you might use include My Learning Open Badges and recently published research. Supervised practice will allow you to critically reflect on this theme and reflect on your learning. You may wish to explore specific learning for specialist areas of practice in your learning. You may also want to use this theme to critically reflect on any particular issues or reasons you left practice and if there is any impact as you return to social work.

The key codes and standards for practice

You will need to ensure that you are confident and competent in your knowledge about the relevant codes of practice and standards that you will be working to. This will include, but is not limited to, the SSSC Codes of Practice, SiSWE and the Health and Social Care Standards. Specialist learning and role specific practice standards that underpin different areas of social work practice may be relevant for this theme, for example, the social work services in the criminal justice system: national outcomes and standards.

Adult and child protection

Every registered social worker must engage in learning that helps their understanding of how their role contributes to the wellbeing and protection of children and adults from harm regardless of setting or role.

You must ensure that your learning brings you up to date with current adult and child protection legislation and guidance and know your responsibilities as a social worker. You must evidence how you have refreshed your own learning in relation to national statutory guidance and any legislative changes since you were last registered. Supervised practice will provide you with the opportunity to evidence how you have put that learning into practice and demonstrate your competence and confidence in delivering organisational protecting people policies and procedures.

If you hold a specialist award that allows you to carry out reserved statutory duties, such as a mental health officer (MHO) award and you intend to carry out these functions on your return to practice, we expect you to meet the practice requirements for this and ensure you have completed any learning necessary to keep your knowledge and skills up to date to allow you to carry out these functions.

You will have to evidence the return to practice requirements through supervised practice, formal and informal learning.

Supervised practice

This must take the form of practice at a social worker level/function and is supervised by someone who is a registered social worker. This can take the form of any relevant practice social workers in Scotland do within in any relevant setting. We would accept evidence from a placement or paid employment in a role related to social work, such as social work assistant, if you have undertaken the period of practice under the supervision of a registered social worker.

It could include:

• providing information, support and guidance to individuals and their families/carers
• undertaking or shadowing assessments
• applying legislation
• signposting and liaising with other agencies.
• attending team and multi-disciplinary meetings
• case recording
• training sessions
• shadowing social workers and other professionals
• any other activities relevant to the setting.

Formal learning

This can take the form of learning through an accredited course, such as one completed through a higher education institute (HEI). It can also take the form of learning completed through a work-based environment that is certificated or evidenced through an employer or learning provider. It must be a course that is relevant to social work practice and the themes identified in the requirements. If you were registered subject to a condition to meet your return to practice requirements and you are still undertaking this formal learning at the end of the six-month condition period, you can submit evidence from the learning provider or employer of hours/credits and learning completed towards meeting this requirement.

Informal learning

This can take the form of any learning that is directly related to social work practice that meets the return to practice themes. You should record a reflective account of learning, alongside the time taken for you to complete it. Informal learning can include, but is not limited to:

• learning about your organisation
• conversations with colleagues
• team meetings
• shadowing your colleagues
• learning for work through books
• research, reading and listening to books, journals, articles, podcasts, programmes etc.

If you have completed all the requirements before applying for registration you must use the return to practice for social workers form to evidence your learning achieved in the last 12 months. You should upload your completed form when applying to register on your MySSSC account.

If you are registered with a condition to complete the requirements, use the form to evidence your learning and submit it to us in your MySSSC account within six months. You can include learning and evidence completed up to six months before applying to register.

Supervised practice

Supervised practice involves working under the supervision of a registered social worker. Carrying out this practice will support you to reflect on your learning. We don’t specify the activities you must do as part of your supervised practice, however they must relate to activities that social workers do in Scotland.

The supervisor who oversees your supervised practice must be registered as a social worker and must not be subject to a fitness to practise investigation, sanctions or interim orders. It does not need to be the same supervisor for every activity carried out, as long as the person who has observed you is a social worker.

You will need to keep a record of all the supervised practice you carry out to evidence you have met the requirements.

You will need to provide the supervisor’s:

• contact details 
• regulatory body 
• registration number. 

Your evidence must include:

• a list of the activity (or activities) you have completed and a detailed reflective description of the activity
• confirmation of the hours you have completed
• a description of how this learning met one or more of the return to practice themes
• evidence that you have updated your skills and knowledge in more than one theme.

Your supervisor must verify that you carried out the work and that you’ve met all four themes across all the hours required for your return to practice. You should submit this verification and information to us in the return to practice for social workers form as evidence that you have met the requirements within six months of registering or at the point of applying to register.

Formal learning

Provide evidence of course/learning completed. It must meet the minimum hours required. This can include evidence of academic modules, certificates, degrees, diplomas, courses that have been run by your own organisation, another organisation or online learning that is certified. This evidence can be in the form of certification of the learning completed but you must include supporting information about length and content of courses to ensure that the minimum hours for this part of the return to practice requirements are met.

Informal learning

You should keep a record of any informal learning you have undertaken. For each learning record you must include a description of the learning, the hours completed, a reflective account of how this learning has supported your return to practice and the theme it relates to.