Our Social Work Academy

What is the Cafcass Social Work Academy?

Social work is a challenging and demanding profession, yet it is also incredibly rewarding. Here at Cafcass we understand the importance of equipping you with the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to build meaningful relationships with the children and families to do the best work possible. At the Social Work Academy, we provide a wide range of resources and services and offer engaging opportunities for all Newly Qualifies Social Workers (NQSWs), Practice Educators and Pre and Post qualifying Social Work practitioners. 

The Social Work Academy is dedicated to supporting our colleagues in delivering an exceptional service through a comprehensive learning and development programme, talent management scheme and career pathway. At Cafcass, we take great pride in the accomplishments of our teams. The recognition of exemplary social work practice is acknowledged both internally through our Employee of the Month programme and externally, through the Social Worker of the Year (SWOTY) awards. Recently we celebrated one of our newly qualified social workers being awarded 'NQSW of the Year', a student who completed their final year placement with Cafcass received the runner-up prize for 'Student of the Year' and a Cafcass Practice Educator won 'Practice Educator of the Year'. 

As an organisation, Cafcass recognises the importance for staff to dedicate time to practise some much-needed self-care. As a result, organisational Wellbeing Days have become a key feature of the workforce wellbeing offer, with all staff supported to take four Wellbeing Days per year.

The Cafcass Social Work Academy aims to develop good practice, inspire new ways of working and shape the training, recruitment and retention of social work staff. We want Newly Qualified Social Workers to feel confident in their skills. That takes time and support, which is why we have created our Social Work Academy. 

Over three years, NQSWs will develop their practice in a safe environment alongside an empowering network of peers. During this time, they will gain hands-on experience and a respected qualification (with credits towards a Masters degree). However, we know that it takes more than that to achieve professional maturity. And that is why the Academy also offers outstanding support through mentors and a wider team that includes 78 practice educators that support our students. 

We are the largest employer of social workers in the country. As a large national organisation, we have a responsibility to support and contribute nationally to the sector to ensure we play our part in facilitating developments, training and opportunities in the social work profession. 

It also makes economic sense for us to ensure we have a pipeline of high-quality social workers who can be trained and developed to deliver the quality standards that we expect and require. It makes it easier for us to recruit in areas where it is traditionally hard for us to attract qualified social workers. 

We are not currently accepting applications but if you would like to provide some basic information and register your interest so we can contact you when this changes, please fill in our online form.