The changes in social service qualifications

Qualifications are an important part of social service careers. They help workers to gain credit for their knowledge and show the public that the people who provide care and support are skilled and confident. Here Kerry Cannon, Learning and Development Adviser in our Qualifications and Standards Team, looks back at how qualifications in Scotland’s social services have changed over the past 15 years.  

Kerry Cannon

When the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 created the SSSC we got responsibility not only for regulating workers but also regulating and promoting their training and education. Our Learning and Development Team is dedicated to this and works in partnership with our Registration and Fitness to Practise Departments to promote learning in everything we do.

Learning comes in many different forms and although it doesn’t have to be part of a qualification to be valuable, we strongly believe in the importance of qualifications for all social service workers. After all social service workers carry out highly skilled jobs, face difficult decisions and through all the challenges make a real difference to people’s lives every day. It’s important that qualifications reflect all of this, help people to do their jobs well and provide recognition and career opportunities too.

We are the sector skills council for social services in Scotland and have a responsibility to maintain and develop the National Occupational Standards (NOS). We are also responsible for the products created from them, for example SVQ qualifications and modern apprenticeships which are based entirely on NOS. We do this in partnership with the sector to make sure the NOS and social service qualifications meet the needs of employers and workers and have a positive impact on the support they provide.

As our Register has grown, qualifications have emerged and developed in response to changes in the way social services need to be provided. They’ve also been adapted to provide more straightforward progression routes for workers. We now have a strong framework of benchmark qualifications which helps employers and workers understand the right qualifications for each role on the Register. We recently launched a career pathways resource which shows how you can use the benchmark qualifications to work in social services. You can also read about how you can use some qualifications towards gaining others.

Last month we celebrated our 100,000^th registrant and it is great news to hear that nearly 60% of registrants already hold the qualification they need. We also know there are potentially thousands of workers in care at home and housing support, who the Register has just opened to, who are already qualified.

When looking back at the development of qualifications we thought it would be interesting to make a timeline of some of the major developments. A good starting point is 2001 when the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) was launched. We are a proud supporter of the SCQF. All social service qualifications have an SCQF level and credit value. This means that the volume and complexity of learning can be recognised within a national framework by employers and be compared to other qualifications – whether it’s across Scotland or the UK.

The timeline is just a sample of some key developments and there are many more. Each year in the future also brings new opportunities for us work together to build a world-class social services career structure.

Qualifications timeline

2001 The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 created the SSSC to protect people who use services, raise standards of practice and strengthen and support the professionalism of the workforce. To support these aims, all workers entering the register needed to gain a social service qualification.
2001 Creation of Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) helped more people to have their knowledge and skills formally recognised in qualifications.
2004 An honours degree level qualification for social work was introduced, based on new Standards for Social Work Education in Scotland. Cathy Jamieson MSP, who was then Minister for Education and Young People, said of social workers: ‘It is crucial that their education and preparation is provided at a level that is suited to their heavy responsibilities.’
2005 Higher National Certificates (HNCs) in Social Services and Childhood Practice were redesigned to include work-based SVQ units. So you can study at college and achieve an award which meets SSSC qualification criteria for a number of roles.
2009 The Standard for Childhood Practice was launched. This standard led to the creation of new degree level qualifications across Scotland, including childhood practice degrees and the professional development award (PDA). These childhood practice awards provide a valuable professional development opportunity for leaders and managers in day care of children settings.
2012-2015 Following the review of the NOS, all SVQs for Social Services and Healthcare and Social Services (Children and Young People) were redeveloped. A key benefit of the new SVQs is the ability to transfer credit between some awards to allow more flexible career options within and across areas of practice. For example some units from an SVQ in adult care settings may be used to gain credit towards an SVQ in childcare settings. This major review of qualifications also included the introduction of new Modern Apprenticeship frameworks, including Technical and Professional Apprenticeships for SVQs at SCQF level 9 and 10.
2016 Skills Development Scotland launched Foundation Apprenticeships which allow students in the senior phase of secondary school to learn about specific types of industry and gain experience in a real workplace. We supported the development of two social service Foundation Apprenticeships: Social Services (Children and Young People) and Social Services and Healthcare. Students on this course gain four units of the full SVQs of the same name at SCQF level 6 which will support them in further study and in applying for jobs after leaving school.