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Step up to Social Work Recruitment 2023
Tax-free bursary of £19,833
Qualify as a social worker following a 14 month training programme

Slough Children First will be recruiting the next intake of step of students. If you are a graduate and want to gain a qualification in Social Work, whilst getting paid, this is the perfect opportunity for you!

Do you have what it takes to ‘Step Up’ to social work?

Social work is both a challenging and rewarding career through which you can make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable children and families. You will need to build relationships with families facing difficult times, show a lot of patience and be a good listener. You will also need good observational skills, analytical thinking and sound judgement to make the right decisions and protect children. Social work regularly tests resilience, stamina, and resolve - all of which you will need to succeed. Social work can be life changing for those you support.

Recruitment for the programme is open NOW, with assessment centres scheduled for June/July 2023, and a January 2024 programme start date.

Step Up is employer-led, delivered by the Berkshire Regional Social Work Partnership on behalf of the Department for Education together with the Buckinghamshire New university. The programme only runs once every two years, dependent on government funding, so if you’re interested, make sure you don’t miss out on your chance to apply!

What are the benefits of Step Up?

• It’s fully funded: Step Up students receive a tax-free bursary of £19,833. This will allow you to change or start a new career in social work and be able to continue to pay your bills and fund your living costs while you are studying.
• It’s fast-track: after 14 months students qualify as a social worker, can register with Social Work England and are able to seek employment
• It’s employer-led: students are hosted by one of the Local Authorities in the partnership, undertaking 170 days on placement and gaining real social work experience, knowledge and skills in combination with academic study
• It’s a path to employment: upon successful completion of the programme, we aim to support graduates to apply for social work positions within the boroughs of the partnership

Applications for Cohort 8 has opened:

We will have a total of 24 places across our regional partnership which includes Slough Children First, Reading Brighter Futures for Children, Bracknell Forest Council and West Bucks Council.

The link to apply in our regional partnership is here - Berkshire Regional Partnership | Step Up to Social Work (pocketrecruiter.com).

And you can find an official FAQ here - FAQ_-_Cohort_8.pdf (online-jobs.co.uk).

For our full advertisement on the Step Up programme and further specific Slough related information, please click HERE to be redirected to our Slough Children First website, where you can find the link to this document at the bottom of the Step Up advert.

The closing date for applications is the 24th March 2023.

Successful applicants will start the Step Up to Social Work programme in January 2024 and finish in March 2025.