Two thirds of Scottish student social workers say placements damaging to mental health

Nearly two thirds of student and newly qualified social workers say their placements have affected their mental health and fewer than half felt they received sufficient learning.

As a result, 20 per cent of NQSWs feel they are not prepared for the role. They also fear a lack of public sector placements is making it harder to find their first social work job, a new survey by the Scottish Association of Social Workers has found.

The Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW) carried out a Student Placement Experience Survey in Spring 2023. A total of 344 students and NSQWs responded.

The survey found that increasingly, placements are being carried out in third sector organisations, 

Providing high quality social work placements is becoming increasingly challenging, according to the study. Vacancy rates are at ten per cent - a 20-year high - and 19 per cent of the workforce in Scotland is approaching retirement age.

Report authors noted: “The vacancy rate within social work teams in the public sector impacts on their ability to provide student placements. The reliance on the third sector to deliver placements is consequently growing.

“Social work employers report that NQSWs are not able to evidence (the) experience that social workers in the public sector need to undertake.”

The survey found 60 per cent of respondents said their mental health was impacted by their placement, 49 per cent said there were insufficient training opportunities, and nearly ten per cent said they had experienced discrimination.

The most common reasons given for the impact on mental health were lack of learning opportunities, lack of financial support, stress, and unsupportive practice educators. 

More than a third (36 per cent) of respondents rated their placements as average, poor or very poor.

Nearly a fifth (17 per cent) of respondents said they were not given the opportunity to take on social work tasks during their placements.

This meant that 94 per cent of those who felt their placement did not enhance their understanding of the profession felt this had affected their confidence as a social worker.

While students stated that unsupportive practice educators were among the reasons for mental ill health, 79 per cent found their practice educator to be very supportive, with many saying they had "gone the extra mile" to help students reach required standards. But this often meant using personal connections when the placement itself did not provide sufficient learning opportunities.

Managing the demands of academic work alongside placements was a struggle for 70 per cent of students who classed this as “somewhat manageable” or “not manageable at all”. 

One student commented: "I had a 120-day placement, doing assignments, a portfolio and a dissertation all at once, which was too much. I also had to work to sustain myself."

The survey found 82 per cent of students on placement worked overtime, and students reported little flexibility with regards to caring responsibilities or other needs.

Nearly two thirds (60 per cent) of students had to do paid work in addition to their placement and 63 per cent said placements harmed their financial situation. 

Despite the challenges only six per cent of respondents failed a placement, but of these 40 per cent had a disability and 20 per cent said they had mental health issues. A third of those who didn't complete (35 per cent) said they had experienced discrimination on their placement.

National Director of SASW, Alison Bavidge, said: “Our report shows that far too many social work students are still finding placements stressful and difficult. But not only that, many placement experiences don’t deliver the experience and skills social workers need and employers want when students are searching for their first local authority role.

“To address the challenges the profession faces, government, universities and social work employers must tackle the issues that are resulting in many new social workers feeling so ill-prepared and badly supported as they start their career.”