Social workers trained and qualified outside the UK
There are many social workers currently working in England who trained and qualified outside the UK.
To practise within England all social workers need to be registered with the GSCC. If you are a social worker who has trained and qualified outside the UK, you will need to meet our criteria on qualifications, assessed practice, health and good character to register.
Vetting and Barring Scheme - additional FAQs (PDF 57KB)
Change to the equivalency assessment
The degree in social work was introduced in England in 2003 as the entry for the social work profession, replacing the DipSW. The degree is now the qualification held by those entering the profession in the UK. For acceptance onto the register the qualification equivalency and our assessment criteria, for social workers trained and qualified outside the UK is the degree in social work. This change came into effect from 1 October 2008.
The main changes to the equivalency assessment are:
raising the threshold of qualification in social work to degree standard; and
introducing a minimum period of 130 days of supervised and assessed practice as part of initial training or completed after qualification.
If your application to the register is received on or after the 1 October 2008 it will be assessed using the new equivalency.
For information on applying to the register and to download the application documents relevant to your circumstances.
Applying to the register from 1 October 2008