Social Work Placement Experience Report by SASW

60% of social work students said their placement affected their mental health and fewer than half of newly qualified students felt their placement included sufficient learning.  

Social work is experiencing a workforce crisis. Vacancy rates are at a 20-year high of around 10% and 19% of the workforce is approaching retirement age. This new report by the Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW), based on the findings of a survey of 344 student and newly qualified social workers (15% of the total workforce/students), has found that while most placements are a good experience for students there are still significant issues affecting social work services across Scotland.  

Nearly 10% of respondents said they had experienced discrimination on placement. 60% said their mental health was impacted by their placement and 49% said they experienced insufficient training opportunities to take on their new role as a social worker.