Degrees and Postgraduate Awards. The main undergraduate and postgraduate awards of significance for the social services sector in Scotland are: Degrees in Childhood Studies (SCQF levels 9 and 10) Degrees in Social Work (Honours) – approved by the SSSC (SCQF level 10) Postgraduate award in Social Work – approved by the SSSC (SCQF levels 10 and 11) For a worker in Scotland to be able to practice and use the title “social worker”, they must be registered with the SSSC on the social work part of the Register. To register as a social worker one must have a recognised social work qualification these include programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Degrees in Childhood Studies are also recognised for the purposes of other parts of the register for staff working in the early years and childcare services. It is important to note that in addition to the above social work qualifying awards there are also undergraduate and postgraduate post-qualifying awards for social workers that are delivered by a number of Scottish universities.
Degrees and Postgraduate Awards. Data on the numbers of people undertaking social work qualifying courses has been obtained from the SSSC. Table 8 below provides the details of registrations and achievements for the years 2000/01 to 2004/05. Table 8: Numbers of Registrations and Qualifications on Scottish social work training courses. 2000/01 496 402 2001/02 460 363 2002/03 452 395 2003/04 787 422 2004/05 696 512 Total 2,891 2,094 Source: SSSC Social Work qualifying courses are delivered by eight universities in Scotland8 (although 2, Glasgow and Strathclyde do so jointly through the shared Glasgow School of Social Work) as well as the Open University. Both undergraduate and postgraduate qualifying courses must provide 160-200 days of practice learning opportunities for students and the Universities work closely with local service providers to do this. As can be seen, the numbers of students registering on social work courses has risen in recent years. This is primarily related to initiatives funded by the Scottish Executive to improve the supply of qualified social workers due to problems in recruiting social workers that Scottish local authorities began to experience in recent years. Six universities in Scotland provide an undergraduate Childhood Studies degree and they were all contacted with a view to obtaining data on student numbers. Three replied and these were Dundee, Edinburgh and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). The data received came in slightly different formats but Dundee University had 176 students in January 2007, Edinburgh had 75, while UHI had enrolled an average of 246 students each year between 2003/04 and 2006/07.
