Newly Qualified Social Worker

Newly Qualified Social Worker

Salary: GBP29,742 rising to GBP34,317 (with additional London weighting of GBP4,582 if applicable)

National opportunities

Start your career and grow with Cafcass

Few jobs are as important as protecting a child's needs and wishes. That's why our training programme gives Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) an exceptional grounding in children's social care. Over three years, we'll equip you to do something vital and amazing: to be the voice of the child in family court proceedings.

Cafcass (the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) works with children and their families, and advises the courts on the best interests of individual children. Although we're independent of the courts and social services, we work under the rules of the Family Court and legislation. We want to develop social workers into highly skilled professionals who'll ensure that children come first in a complex legal system. To this end, we've developed an Academy to help every Newly Qualified Social Worker reach their full potential.

The Academy enables you to develop practice skills in a safe environment. Led by expert social workers, it will support your journey, enhance your expertise and ensure you work with confidence. As well as an empowering peer network, you'll have access to a mentor plus high levels of reflective supervision. Over the course of a structured three-year programme, you'll develop professional maturity, gain hands-on experience and achieve a respected qualification.

In year one, you'll have your ASYE (Assessed & Supported Year in Employment) with us, gaining core skills from some of our 78 practice educators. In year two, you'll spend around six months with a local authority to broaden your experience. Year three will see you enjoy further academic development opportunities, as your caseload gradually grows. Then, once you've completed the course, we'll help you build a successful, fulfilling career, where you'll apply your specialist skills, including those required in court.

We're looking for soon-to-be qualified Social Workers (or those who've recently gained a recognised qualification). You should also be able to register with Social Work England by August 2021 and ready to start in September.

Remember that working with us is very different to working with a local authority - as you'll discover. You could be supporting children who are involved in divorces, adoptions or care proceedings. They'll be depending on you to secure the right result at a crucial time. Determination and resilience are essential, along with a gift for communication.

We would particularly welcome applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with.

If you care about children's welfare as much as we do, find out more and apply.