More than half of social workers had not completed the registration renewal process two weeks out from the 30 November deadline, Social Work England has revealed.
As of 16 November, 45,875 social workers had completed their renewal application form, submitted two pieces of continuing professional development (CPD) - one of which had been reflected upon with a peer - and paid their £90 fee.
This is 45.3% of the total who need to complete the full renewal process and means 55,342 were yet to do so with two weeks to go.
Social Work England said it was concerned that progress was now tracking slightly behind 2022 levels, with 46.7% of relevant practitioners having renewed at the same point last year.
Regulator concerned about level of progress
“Despite seeing an increase during September and October, it is concerning that the number of social workers who have completed the necessary steps to renew their registration as of 16 November 2023, is slightly below the levels of last year," said executive director of regulation Philip Hallam."Social workers must apply to renew their registration before 30 November 2023, or risk being removed from the register. If they do not apply to renew, their registration will lapse."
He said that anyone whose registration lapsed would need to apply to have it restored, at an additional cost of £135, in a process that could take 20 days, during which time applicants would not be able to practise as social workers.
The regulator has said previously that an increase in misuse of title cases - when practitioners are alleged to have worked as social workers while unregistered - was in part because of people practising during periods of lapsed registration.
Call to avoid 'last-minute rush'
Hallam said that the Social Work England had tailored its communications to individual circumstances during the current renewal period, and warned practitioners not to ignore emails from the regulator, which would show them what they needed to do."We urge all social workers to log in well ahead of the deadline to complete the registration renewal application process and to avoid a last-minute rush," he added.
Social Work England released the data yesterday (23 November), one week before the registration deadline.
The regulator's data revealed 58,023 (57.3%) had completed their renewal form, however, a fifth of this group had not met all of the CPD requirements.
While the 101,217 practitioners who were on the register before the renewal period started on 1 September must complete all three steps, the 2,419 who have joined since need only pay the registration fee.
Of the latter group, 1,886 (78%) had paid their fee as of 16 November, compared with 2,002 (80.8%) at the same date in 2022.
Help with submitting your CPD
Community Care Inform users have plenty of learning they can benefit from that can contribute to their CPD for registration renewal.
We have put together guidance on submitting learning you have acquired on the sites – and saved using our CPD tool – to Social Work England. Access the guidance on Inform Children or on Inform Adults.
