Social Care Training.
Provides a forum for employers and Colleges of Further Education to meet and
address issues of common concern. This has included the development of a Code
of Practice for Colleges providing the HNC in Social Care. It has also included
the production of the Real Guide to Social Services Qualifications, now in its
third edition. The Guide is produced primarily for employers but is also now
circulated to Careers Services as it aims to provide details of the range of
qualifications available for the Social Care Sector. Other work includes occasional
workshops on topics of shared interest (e.g. inter-professional training, training
of home care staff).
Social Work Qualifying Training.
The professional qualification for social workers in the United Kingdom is the Diploma in Social Work (DipSW). This is awarded by the Scottish Social Services Council and the other three Social Services/Care Councils in the UK. The West of Scotland Consortium was approved in 1990 as a DipSW Programme provider. The Diploma in Social Work programme is offered at all four West of Scotland Universities.
The DipSW Programme is delivered at each of the universities with commonly designed modules, shared teaching in the final year electives, similar placement arrangements and selection and assessment procedures. Where there are differences between the universities these are due to the separate academic programmes in which the DipSW Programme is embedded within each university.
Post Qualifying Training.
There are an increasing number of courses which are approved by the Scottish Social Services Council as part of their post-qualifying framework. The West of Scotland Consortium runs two approved post-qualifying programmes - a Practice Teacher Training Programme and a Mental Health Officer Training Programme. These two courses take around 70 and 25 new candidates respectively each year.
Details of the wide-range of post-qualifying programmes within Scotland can
be obtained from the PQ
Consortium (Tel: 01786 446430) for Social Work in Scotland.
©West of Scotland Consortium for Education and Training in Social Work 2001.