Step Up to Social Work is an intensive full-time, fully funded, Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work training programme that allows you to become a qualified social worker in just 14 months. We are looking for people who are committed to making a difference for disadvantaged children and families. You need to have a willingness to learn, be emotionally resilient and be able to undertake this challenging yet hugely rewarding academic degree programme.
This is a nationally funded programme delivered by partnerships across the country. There are two partnerships within this region – Yorkshire and Humberside Partnership, and West and North Yorkshire Partnership. Leeds Council is the lead partner for the West and North Yorkshire Partnership, which also includes Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, North Yorkshire and Kirklees local authorities. Sheffield City Council is the lead partner for the Yorkshire and Humberside Partnership, which is the largest in the country and includes Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, Barnsley, East Riding, Hull, North Lincs, North East Lincs, York and Calderdale.
More than 275 trainees have qualified through Step Up to Social Work in this region and have gained employment as children and families social workers over the last 5 years. In the last cohort, everyone who applied for a job within the region was successful.
This is a unique opportunity to earn while you learn, as the DfE provides funding via a tax free bursary payment of £19,833 and payment of University fees to successful applicants. 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. 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!
Applications for Cohort 7 are now closed.
We will have a total of 89 places across our region:
34 places available within our West and North Yorkshire partnership, and
55 places within our Yorkshire and Humberside partnership
The closing date for applications was the 7th April 2021 - applications are now closed.
Successful applicants will start the Step Up to Social Work programme in January 2022 and finish in March 2023.
Step Up to Social Work entry criteria
This is a Postgraduate Social work degree programme, so you will need either a BA or BSc Honours degree with a minimum 2:1 classification; or a Level 7 qualification such as an MA/MSc in order to apply. If you have a 2:2 classification, then you will need to have a level 7 qualification as well. Your degree doesn’t have to be in a related setting.
You will also have to have GCSE in Maths and English A-C (or equivalent) and you will need to have your qualification certificates to send us prior to any interview that is offered. If you cannot find these, you can order replacements online. It may take a month to get your replaced certificates so apply for them well in advance of any interviews. You will also need to evidence significant experience of either working or substantial volunteering with vulnerable children and families.
We are particularly interested in applications from men and from BAME communities, as these groups are under-represented in this area of social work.
The Step Up to Social Work programme is also a great way for people wanting to change their career to fast-track into social work. People with life and work experience often embrace life as a social worker very quickly.
Your 14-month programme will fly by very quickly, and if your local authority has vacancies you will be guaranteed an interview for a social worker job in children and families statutory social work. The starting salary for a social worker in most authorities in this region is around £30k per year.
Check out our case studies to learn more about what our Children’s Social Workers have to say who have completed the training and watch our new videos of those who have completed the Step up to Social work programme.
What's it like to study through Step Up to Social Work?
We spoke to Lewis, who became an Advanced Children’s Social Worker in Sheffield after completing the Step Up to Social Work course, to find out what attracted him to the programme and what the application process was like from a student’s perspective.
VIDEO
The bursary is one of the major benefits of this route into social work, but the placement opportunities were also a highlight of the course for Lewis.
VIDEO
With a guaranteed interview for any relevant vacancies in your authority, this course has a very high rate of employment, but getting the most out of the course also prepares you well for career progression in your new field.
VIDEO
Children’s social work can be challenging, but making a difference to children and young people’s lives also makes it hugely rewarding as a profession.
Interested in joining Step Up to Social Work?
Applications for the Step Up to Social Work programme
Applications for the next Step Up to Social Work cohort are now closed.
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Further information
For more information on Step Up to Social Work, look at:
The Department for Education (DfE) guidance: Step Up to Social Work: Information for Applicants
For North and West Yorkshire regional Partnership contact: Rebecca.Suaznabar@leeds.gov.uk
For Yorkshire and Humber regional Partnership contact: CYPFRecruitmentteam@sheffield.gov.uk
If you’re interested in other routes into the profession, find out more about social work apprenticeships and social work courses in our region.