The Social Workers Regulations 2018

Regulation 2(4)

SCHEDULE 1 Recognised qualifications

1.  A person has a recognised qualification if they—

(a) have an approved qualification,

(b) are an exempt person and have a right to practise as a social worker in the United Kingdom by virtue of Part 3 of the European Union (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2015(1) or, in the case of a person falling within regulation 78(3)(a) of those Regulations, by virtue of Part 3 of the European Communities (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2007 (having, in particular, successfully completed any adaptation period, or passed any aptitude test, that they may be required to undertake pursuant to those Parts of those Regulations),

(c) have undergone training in the social work profession outside the United Kingdom, and either—

(i) hold a qualification which the regulator is satisfied attests to a standard comparable to that attested to by an approved qualification, or

(ii) do not hold such a qualification, but the person has undergone such additional training or experience, in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, as satisfies the regulator, following any test of competence as it may require them to take, that they meet the requisite standard for admission to the register, or

(d) have undergone training in the social work profession in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and—

(i) the training is recognised by the regulator as meeting the standard which it requires for admission to the register, or

(ii) the training is not so recognised but they have undergone, whether in England or elsewhere, such additional training or professional experience as satisfies the regulator that they have the requisite standard of proficiency for admission to the register.

2.  In considering whether an exempt person to whom paragraph (1)(c) applies is to be regarded as having a recognised qualification, the regulator must take into account—

(a) if the person holds a qualification in social work which—

(i) was granted otherwise than in a relevant European State, but

(ii) has been accepted by a relevant European State, other than the United Kingdom, as qualifying them to practise as a social worker in that State,

the acceptance of that qualification, and

(b) all other qualifications, knowledge or experience, wherever acquired, which are relevant to the determination of whether the person is to be regarded as having a recognised qualification.

3.  The regulator must make rules setting out procedures to—

(a) assess whether a qualification awarded outside the United Kingdom is of a comparable standard to an approved qualification,

(b) assess other training or professional experience acquired outside the United Kingdom and to compare it, together with qualifications mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) where appropriate, with the standard required for admission to the register, and

(c) assess training or professional experience acquired in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland and to compare it, together with qualifications mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) where appropriate, with the standard required for admission to the register,

and it must, where it sees fit, keep a list of qualifications which are of a comparable standard which it must publish and keep under review.

(1)

S.I. 2015/2059, as amended by S.I. 2016/1094.