Scottish First-line Managers' Views of Newly Qualified Social Workers' Preparedness for Practice: Findings from an Online Delphi Study

Social work is a broad profession with a number of different practice areas. The work performed by social workers is often highly complex, involving technical elements (knowledge of legal and other processes), relational elements (engaging with clients and their families) and elements requiring professional judgement and skill (such as assessing needs and delivering interventions).

During 2013 a collaborative group was formed by researchers from the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and CELCIS at the University of Strathclyde. This group wished to explore the preparedness for practice of newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) in Scotland and to consider the roles of qualifying training, and employer support during the first years of practice.

A central aim was to provide timely information to contribute to the review of social work education, post-qualifying learning and to the development of a national learning strategy led by SSSC. However, the research outputs may also be of particular interest to higher education providers, employers of social workers and to the wider social work profession in Scotland.