Three-quarters of social workers still to complete registration renewal with one month to go

Three-quarters of social workers are still to complete the registration renewal process with one month to go, Social Work England has revealed.

However, the regulator has said that the proportion who had done what they needed to do to continue practising for the forthcoming year was ahead of this time last year.

To successfully renew, practitioners must complete the application form, submit two pieces of continuing professional development (CPD) - one of which must have been reflected upon with a peer - and pay the £90 fee. Most social workers do the latter through a two-part direct debit, collected on 1 October and 1 April.

Overall, 101,453 social workers - those who were on English register before the start of the renewal period, on 1 September 2023 - are required to complete the full  process. A further 2,115, who joined after that date, need only pay the annual fee.

Quarter have completed renewal process

Social Work England said 25% of the first group (25,353 practitioners) had completed all three steps as of the end of October, compared with 22.8% on 31 October 2022. The comparable figure for the end of September this year was 10%.

More social workers than this have engaged with the renewal process on their online account with Social Work England, but not completed it. The figures showed that:

• 36.6% of eligible social workers had completed the application form, up from 33.1% at the same point last year.
• 27.8% had completed the CPD process, up from 26.1% as of 31 October 2022.

However, almost two-thirds of relevant practitioners (64.3%) had not submitted any valid CPD as of the end of last month.

Regulator 'encouraged by progress'

Social Work England's executive director of regulation, Philip Hallam, said the regulator was "encouraged to see that the number of social workers recording their CPD and renewing their registration continues to increase".

He added: “Please remember that if you receive an email or text from us about renewing your registration, please read them and log on to your online account. You are receiving these because you have actions outstanding on your online account.

“When you log on to your online account, three blocks show what you need to do to complete your registration renewal application."

Hallam said that those practitioners who completed the whole process by 14 November would receive confirmation they had done so the following day.

"This will give you and your employer assurance that you have completed all the actions required to apply to renew your registration," he added. "We will then contact you again after 30 November with our decision on your registration renewal application."