How to Become a Social Worker? (+ Qualifications You Need)

The person who wants to help people and they do understand the situation of their life as not everyone has an easy life. There are some people who did not get any opportunities in life to succeed. So a person as a social worker can help people to improve their life by helping their families by providing them with basic things. But do you know what qualifications you will need to become a social worker?

Quick Takeaways

• To become a social worker the person needs an honours degree or a postgraduate degree in social work.
• The degree that you will be getting should be approved by one of the following councils-

1. Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC)
2. Social Care Wales
3. Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC)
4. Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)

Further, you must read till the end as we have explained the qualifications in detail that you need to become a social qualification.

What Qualifications Do You Need to Become a Social Worker?

For becoming a social worker the person needs an honors degree or a postgraduate degree in social work and the degree which is earned by the person should be approved by one of the following councils:

Degree

If the student does a degree in the subjects such as studying law, social care, and the social sciences will make the student interested in the profession of a social worker. The undergraduate degree is achieved by you after completing the 3 years which includes full-time study. Also, the student has to do practical work to complete 200 days. If you are interested in becoming a professor and do social work you may need to get Phd degree.

Social work Programme

The student who has not done the three-year degree can also do social work in the social work program. For the students who have a degree of undergraduate, a 14-month intensive course trainee is being conducted for them where the student has to work in local authority and by which they gain working experience.

If you have experience working under this program have an 80% chance of being employed as a social worker.

Disclosure and Barring Service(DBS check)

The Disclosure and Barring Service do help check the police record. As there will be a situation in which the student has to work with children and people in many bad conditions and situations. You can also help people by becoming a midwife to help pregnant women. So this check helps by disclosing any offense and this check is renewed every year.

What are the roles of a social worker?

The social worker has to undergo many types of tasks which will depend on what type of social worker they are. The following are some roles that are being performed by a social worker:

• Identify the area where to help
• Set goals.
• Offer solutions.
• Advocate.

1. Identify the area where to help

The duty of a social worker is to verify the need for any mental health service. They may help in the area being impacted due to poverty or mental illness. Many times there are parents who are not able to have their own kids and thus look for adoption. In such a case they may help them in becoming foster parents.

2. Set goals

They also need to set a goal so that they make their goal with time. For example, if there is a family with children in need of help with their education here the social worker should aim at how the student will get the education. 

3. Offer a solution

You will also deal with the problems in their life. So being an associate worker, you should help them to manage the challenges in their life. You should also give them a practical solution so that the problem is not faced again. As if they are facing the problem of food you can direct them to the food banks.

4. Advocate

There are many areas and there are many people who do need the help of social workers but are not able to speak up for themselves. So, it is your job to guide them to access all the services by getting in contact with the people with the help of different government groups and programs.

What is the salary of a social worker?

If a social worker is helping people by doing social work then the experience and if they’re working for the NHS or not these two factors make the salary vary. 

• If a student is graduated then they can earn up to 18000 to 20000 Euro in the starting and in the second year they may earn up to 25000 to 30000 Euro.
• If the Social workers are newly qualified and are working for the NHS. They earn up to 25000 to 30000 Euro and if they have just joined the NHS on band 6 then they will earn from 3200 to 39000 Euro. 
• If a social worker is experienced then they will earn up to 40000 euros while working under NHS and if they move to band 7 then they will earn up to 40000 to 45000 euros. 

Conclusion

Helping a needy person is not the duty of the social worker only and for becoming a social worker education is not required the person can join the set up social worker program if they really want to help the needy person. But to become a professional social worker undergraduate degree is needed which should be approved by social work England and they can continue to do a master’s degree in social work by which they will be able to teach social work to others.

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