General Social Care Council

Social worker

A significant investment in raising the public status and standing of social workers was made in 2003 by the introduction of the Social Care Register.

Having a system of regulation gives social work the status it deserves, putting it on a similar footing with other vital public service professions. Many other professions including nursing, the law and medical professions are regulated through registration.

If you are a social worker, please go to the ‘About social work applications’ section, to find out more about applying to the register.

If you were previously registered on the Social Care Register as a qualified social worker and are now applying to rejoin, please go to re-applying to join the Social Care Register. This applies whether you gained your social work qualification in the UK or overseas.

If you have been removed from the register as a result of a determination by the Council’s Conduct Committee, you will need to apply to that Committee should you wish to be considered for restoration to the Social Care Register.

Useful documents

• Application form for Qualified Social Workers (PDF 134KB)
• Social Worker Registration - Additional Information (PDF 23KB)
• Health Report Consent form (PDF 27KB)
• Equal opportunities monitoring form (PDF 44KB)
• Instruction to your bank or building society to pay by direct debit (PDF 56KB)
• Chair's welcome letter (PDF 170KB)
• Guidance notes for UK qualified Social Workers (PDF 320KB)
• Vetting and Barring Scheme - incorporated FAQs (PDF 58KB)
• Registration rules 3.4.08 - General Social Care Council Rules for Registration 2008 and explanatory notes

• Additional information - character and conduct Part A

• Additional information - character and conduct Part B

• Additional information - character and conduct Part C
• Additional information - health
•  Health Management Statement (PDF 57KB)*
  

* You only need to complete this if you answer ‘Yes’ to the question on page 18 of the application form about having a physical or mental impairment, learning disability or health condition. If you answer ‘Yes’, as well as completing the Health Management Statement, you also need to give us more information about your declaration on the Additional Information sheet. If you don’t do this, your application will be delayed.

These documents are in PDF format. You will need Adobe Reader to view them. If you do not have it you can download it by clicking on the image below.