Social Work Assistant | Job Information | National Careers Service

The work

As a social work assistant, you could work with a variety of people (known as clients), including:

• families under stress
• older people
• people with physical or learning disabilities
• people with mental health problems
• children at risk.

Your work could include:

• contacting clients and following up enquiries
• advising clients and their families about the help that's available
• making appointments
• visiting people at home to check how they are
• following a social worker’s care plan
• working out clients’ needs and putting together care plans - for example, when a client leaves hospital
• keeping records and writing reports
• keeping up to date with changes in the law
• going to meetings with your department and other agencies
• liaising with other health and care professionals.

You may be known by other job titles, such as community support worker, home care officer or social services assistant.

Hours

In a full-time job you would work around 37 hours a week. You could work fixed hours or in shifts, which could include unsocial hours like evenings, weekends and public holidays. Part-time and sessional work is common.

You could work in residential homes, hospitals, or in the community, where you would be visiting clients in their homes.

Income

Starting salaries can be around £16,000 a year. With experience and relevant qualifications, salaries can rise to between £19,000 and £25,000.

Those taking on additional management responsibilities may earn up to £28,000 a year.

You may work for a specialist recruitment agency. Hourly rates for agency work can be between £8 and £14.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

You will increase your chances of finding work if you have some experience (paid or voluntary) of working with people in a caring role. You can get more information and search for volunteering opportunities on the Do-it website.

• Do-it.org

Employers will usually consider experience to be more important than your qualifications, although they may ask for a good standard of secondary education.

Before looking for work, you may find it helpful to take a full-time or part-time college course such as a BTEC National Certificate or Diploma in Health and Social Care. This is not essential, but most social care courses include work placements so this can be a good way of getting useful experience.

For any job where you would be working (paid or unpaid) with children or vulnerable adults, you will need to pass background checks by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Previous convictions or cautions may not automatically prevent you from working in social care. See the following website for full details.

• Criminal Records Bureau

A driving licence would be useful for jobs based in the community.

Training and development

When you start your job your employer will provide induction training that meets approved national care standards, such as:

• Skills for Care, Common Induction Standards
• Children’s Workforce Development Council Common Induction Standards.

You will also learn on the job from experienced staff.

You are also likely to have ongoing training throughout your career, which may include in-house short courses and the chance to gain work-based qualifications such as Health and Social Care Diploma levels 2 – 4. You could specialise in working with adults, children and young people or people with learning disabilities.

You could study part-time at a local college for other qualifications such as a social care-related Foundation Degree. With this qualification you may be able to join the second year of a social work degree if you decided to train as a social worker in the future.

With experience, your employer may also offer you the opportunity to study part-time for a social work degree.

Register of social care workers

The General Social Care Council (GSCC) has a register of qualified and student social workers in England. See the GSCC website for more information about the register.

• General Social Care Council

The functions of the GSCC will transfer to the Health Professions Council at some point in the future.

Skills and knowledge

As a social work assistant you would need to have:

• excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• a practical and flexible approach to work
• tact, patience and understanding
• a non-judgemental attitude
• an understanding of the needs of different client groups
• the ability to relate to people of all backgrounds
• the ability to work in a team and also use your own initiative
• the ability to assess situations and take the right action
• resilience, to cope with difficult situations and uncooperative clients
• good time management and organisational skills
• computer literacy and administrative skills
• the ability to communicate sensitively and well with children and adults
• the ability to build good working relationships with families who may be unfriendly to start with
• practical knowledge and understanding of child development and the needs of children
• a flexible approach to working hours and the range of duties.

More information

Skills for Care (England)
West Gate
6 Grace Street
Leeds
LS1 2RP
Tel: 0113 245 1716
www.skillsforcare.org.uk

General Social Care Council
2 Hay's Lane
London SE1 2HB
Tel: 020 7397 5800
Registration helpline: 0845 070 0630
www.gscc.org.uk

Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC)
www.niscc.info

Care Council for Wales (CCW)
www.ccwales.org.uk

Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)
www.sssc.uk.com

Department for Education - Children and Young People
Castle View House
East Lane
Runcorn
Cheshire
WA7 2GJ
Tel: 0370 000 2288
www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/social

Opportunities

You could find opportunities with various employers, such as:

• local authority social services departments
• charities
• voluntary agencies
• care homes
• social care recruitment agencies.

Jobs may be advertised in the local and national press, on employers' websites and by specialist recruitment agencies.

With experience, you could work towards qualifying as a social worker by studying independently or with support and funding from your employer. You could also choose to use your experience as a way of moving into related careers like family support work or counselling.

You may find the following useful for vacancies and general reading (links open in new window):

• Jobsgopublic
• LGJobs.com
• Community Care
• The Guardian

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.

We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.

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