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What are social work professional standards?
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Social workers aim to improve people’s lives by helping with social and interpersonal difficulties, promoting human rights and wellbeing. Social workers protect children and adults with support needs from harm.
- 7 Recognise and use responsibly, the power and authority I have when working with people, ensuring that my interventions are always necessary, the least intrusive, proportionate, and in people’s best interests.
- 1 Be open, honest, reliable and fair. 2.2 Respect and maintain people’s dignity and privacy. 2.3 Maintain professional relationships with people and ensure that they understand the role of a social worker in their lives.
- 1 Work within legal and ethical frameworks, using my professional authority and judgement appropriately. 3.2 Use information from a range of appropriate sources, including supervision, to inform assessments, to analyse risk, and to make a professional decision.
- 1 Incorporate feedback from a range of sources, including from people with lived experience of my social work practice. 4.2 Use supervision and feedback to critically reflect on, and identify my learning needs, including how I use research and evidence to inform my practice.
The standards set out what a social worker in England must know, understand and be able to do. You can use the professional standards to understand how a social worker should behave or should not behave.
- About This Guidance
- Rights
- Working with People
- Communication
- Responding to Harm, Neglect Or Abuse
- Continuing Professional Development
- Health and Quality of Work
- Professional Integrity
- Decision Making
- Technology
This document provides guidance on Social Work England’s professional standards. The professional standards are the threshold standards necessary for safe and effective practice. They set out what a social worker in England must know, understand and be able to do after completing their social work education or training. Social workers must continue...
Knowing the law
Social workers embrace and promote the fundamental rights of all people. They recognise and respect the dignity and worth of everyone and support people to improve their life outcomes. To practise safely, it is essential for all social workers to know and comply with legal frameworks relevant to their work and obligations to protect and promote people’s rights. People should have access to the support and services they need in line with the Equality Act 2010, irrespective of aspects of their...
Advocacy
Social workers support people to be in control of their own lives and advocate for themselves. Sometimes however, people are not able to represent their own interests. In such a scenario, social workers should work with the person to agree a way forward, which could include advocacy by the people in the person’s life, including relatives or friends, or non-statutory independent advocacy, and advocacy by professionals. A social worker’s role and responsibilities in supporting people to represe...
Privacy
Unlike confidentiality, which is about information, privacy is about people. Privacy refers to a person’s right to a private life and non-interference in their thoughts, knowledge, acts, associations, and property. Every person is entitled to a private life, including when they have a social worker in their lives. Social workers respect and work in accordance with people’s rights to privacy, unless there is risk of harm to the person or to others, or if there are other statutory restrictions....
People as part of families, communities and networks
Social workers understand the importance of relationships between people and recognise them as an asset. This means working with people and seeing them as part of the families, communities and networks they live in. Social workers seek to draw on and strengthen these relationships to promote, maintain and enhance the wellbeing of people. They practise in a way that values and listens to the contribution of the individuals, groups and communities in someone’s life. At the same time, they ensur...
Understanding the role of the social worker
Understanding the role of the social worker means that people can fully participate in the professional relationship and exercise their rights. People have the right to understand what a social worker can and can’t do and to have their voices and preferences heard and valued. It is important that social workers provide people with enough information in a format, manner, and language that helps them to understand the role of a social worker in their lives. Social workers should share informati...
Culture, identity and values
Valuing the cultural needs and values of people is fundamental to social work practice. It is a social worker’s responsibility to understand as much as possible about the cultural identities of the people, families and communities they are working with, recognising the significance of culture and belief. This enables social workers to work with people in an appropriate way and use services or communication tools to help them explain their role and listen to people.
Communication
Communication is at the heart of effective professional relationships in social work and is the means of informing, supporting and listening to people. A social worker will tailor the way they communicate with people and consider factors such as age, disability, experience, culture, belief and intellectual impairment when assessing communication. Information should always be given in a form, language, and manner that people can understand. It is important that social workers reflect their con...
Responding to harm, neglect or abuse
Social workers have a responsibility to stay alert to and investigate suspected harm, neglect or abuse and, where risk has been identified, agree plans to address it urgently. Social workers will need to cooperate closely with relevant colleagues and agencies to consider options for action. They will maintain a focus on the person at risk, whatever other demands or issues come to light. All of this must be done within the law, and often under pressure.While the initial priority is safety, res...
Continuing professional development
Continuing professional development (CPD) describes the consideration and the learning activities social workers undertake to develop and improve their practice. Social workers are required to undertake CPD to maintain their registration under standard 4 of the professional standards. This outlines the areas of CPD social workers should consider. We will provide further guidance for social workers on continuing professional development, including the evidence we will require to demonstrate th...
Supervision and reflection
Supervision describes the support and guidance social workers access to critically reflect on and improve their practice. It is aimed at supporting social workers to consider their own values and judgements and provides a means for exploring a social worker’s practice, including ethical dilemmas, cultural issues and decision-making. Supervision can look different in different workplaces and settings but should be relevant to the social worker’s role and take account of development frameworks...
Health
Social workers, like anyone else, can have physical and mental health problems, including those caused by stress. Illness and injury needn’t necessarily be a cause for concern, but if there is a problem that could either affect a social worker’s quality of work or fitness to practise, it is their responsibility to raise this with their employer and Social Work England to agree a course of action, which in some cases may involve restrictions or conditions on practice. We encourage social worke...
Duty of candour
Social workers are open and honest with people, including when something goes wrong or has the potential to cause physical, emotional, financial or any other harm or loss. Where they are not open and honest, it can put people at risk and may damage confidence in them as a social worker and the social work profession. Social workers inform the person they are supporting when something has gone wrong. They should explain what has happened, listen to any concerns and offer an appropriate remedy...
Conflicts of interest
It is important that social workers demonstrate self-awareness and that they acknowledge their own personal values, views, interests and beliefs. They should take steps to make sure that personal opinions do not impact the people they are working with, nor affect the support they provide to people. Conflicts of interest can occur when a social worker does not take steps to ensure the impartiality of their work. Support should also be free from persuasion based on prior knowledge or associatio...
Professional relationships
Social workers should maintain clear and professional relationships with people. As social work is fundamentally about people and relationships, it is important that social workers are alert to relationships becoming inappropriate. With the authority, knowledge and influence a social worker has in the professional relationship, there is almost always an imbalance of power. This is important to acknowledge alongside personal values, views and motivations to ensure that they do not influence th...
Decision making
Using an evidence-informed approach to make impartial decisions is an integral part of social work practice. Social workers will listen to people, without bias or prejudice, and use evidence from assessments, alongside social work theories, models and research to apply their professional judgement. Decisions are discussed with people, employers, peers or in supervision to challenge thinking and test assumptions. This supports social workers to consider ethical dilemmas, complex situations and...
Record keeping
Maintaining accurate, clear, objective, and up-to-date records is an essential part of social work. Documenting decisions and actions provides a clear record of work with people. These records are open to scrutiny and help to provide a continuity of support if people are transferred between social workers. They can help to protect people and social workers.
Information and communication technology
Information and communication technology has become a fundamental part of social work practice. Email, text, posting online and sharing information and best practice can be essential tools. Social workers are expected to maintain their capabilities regarding technology, but it is important to remember that the professional standardsthat social workers uphold also apply online. A social worker should always use technology with the best interests of the people they work with as the primary cons...
Social media
Social media can be a supportive tool to facilitate communication in an online community. However, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and others are public places. When communicating online people often have little control over who sees comments or where they end up, even if they are later deleted. Social workers should be cautious about posting information about themselves on social media if it is something that they would prefer the people they work with did not know a...
Social workers need to be able to work directly with individuals and their families through the professional use of self, using interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to create...
Jan 28, 2011 · The Social Work Reform Board has set out what is expected of social workers at every stage of their career. Daniel Lombard looks at the first of nine core standards: professionalism. The journey towards defining social work as a profession has been a long and arduous one.
Learn how to become a social worker in the UK, including the qualifications and skills needed and the salary you can earn as a social worker.
