Social work students facing burnout before they even start their careers

Exhausted social work students are falling asleep in lectures and on their placements because they are forced to work all night to make ends meet.

Others are using food banks and skipping meals as they struggle in the face of the rising cost of living and inadequate funding.

The stark reality of social work students were laid bare at a BASW England online conference exploring their plight amid rising living costs.

Shannon Underhay, a second year masters’ student, said: “Every single student in my cohort, myself included, has to work part-time and that can add such a big emotional stress on you.

“Some students will go out on a placement nine to five and then work in the evening and go back onto placement the next day just to have enough finances to cover the costs of being on placement.”

International students, who pay significantly higher fees, particularly struggle.

One said: “The rising cost of living means I often have to make poor choices, like other international students, and compromise on food and housing. It impacts my emotional wellbeing.”

Another said: “As an international student I pay around £44,000 in tuition fees. We do not get any scholarship from the university or bursary from the government. It is stressful to observe the money drain away from my bank account.”

One final year international student described incurring additional costs due to a placement breakdown. She said: “It gave me enormous stress due to the time taken to find a new placement which was seven months.

“I was waiting for a call from the university so couldn’t work and incurred extra living expenses of about £5,000 plus visa extension fees.”

A mature student with a disabled child said she was struggling to complete her final year.

“I have had a lot of money from family to stay on top of payments and rely on the university food bank.

“University has asked me to obtain a driver’s licence but I can’t afford driving lessons at the moment.

“Repeatedly asking my family for financial help has strained our relationship. I feel stressed and unhappy. The constant financial strain and fear of sanctions from my university are severely affecting my mental health and wellbeing.”

BASW and the Social Workers Union are campaigning for better financial support for students. They point out only one in six students in England gets a bursary, with the amount frozen for the last decade, representing a real term cut.

They also stress more support for students is key to addressing the recruitment crisis.

Bridget Caffrey, a senior social work lecturer at the University of Chester, said there is not a “level playing field”, with financial challenges impacting most on international students, Black and ethnically minoritised communities, mature students and those with caring responsibilities.

She said she knew of a student who was doing three jobs and often starting work at 3am.

“We've had students withdraw and interrupt their social work studies citing financial reasons – that has been the main reason that students have withdrawn from our course in the last 12 months. 

“As a profession, we're losing some really good people, and we need to take that seriously. Students are missing lectures. They fall asleep in lectures. They've often worked night shifts and walk straight into our lectures and are exhausted.

“For the first time ever in the last few months, I've been told about students falling asleep on their placement.

“Students skip lunch – one student told me that while he's on his placement he doesn't eat until he gets home.”

Caffrey added the culture on placements where students are regarded as “workers rather than learners” has to change.

“They are there to learn, they are not workers and they are not getting paid,” she said. “We often hear that car drivers are preferred and that needs challenging too.

“I think we really need to get together, be a bit creative and work out how we can do placements differently and what the purpose of placement is, because I really don't feel it's working for people at the moment.”

Sarah Brown, an independent practice educator and lecturer in social work at The Open University, said widening participation strategies often were not backed by support for those recruited.

“When these students are on programmes they are more likely to have financial and practical challenges,” she said.

“We had an MA international student who was on placement in the day and working in a secure children’s home at night to make ends meet.

“He needed an empathic response; what he got was questions about his lack of professionalism and commitment to the placement.”

BASW and SWU’s campaign work has helped increase funding for student support in Wales and won backing from a cross-party group of MSPs in Scotland.

BASW England professional officer Liz Howard said: “We need to be promoting diversity within our workplace to reflect the communities we serve and overhauling the bursary system is an important part of that.

“Currently the system discriminates against underrepresented and marginalised groups who are the most likely to experience financial hardships that can result in them leaving social work courses which is a loss to the profession.”

Brunel University London is conducting a research study into the experiences of international social work students on behalf of the Joint Universities Social Work Association.