Social Work England will not review a sample of practitioners’ continuing professional development (CPD) records following the three-month registration renewal period for the second year running.
While practitioners will face the same CPD requirements during the 2025 renewal round as previously – submitting two pieces of learning, one of which must have been reflected upon with a peer – the regulator will not check any individual records to verify compliance with its professional standard on CPD.
This is because of an ongoing review of its CPD model, which will lead to a consultation on reforming its approach that will take place in 2026-27.
Checks on sample of social workers’ records
Following each of the renewal rounds from 2020-23, independent assessors appointed by Social Work England sampled 2.5% of practitioners’ CPD submissions.
After the introduction of the current CPD model, in 2022, assessors were tasked with checking whether:
- There was a clear description in at least one piece of CPD of the impact of the activity on the social worker’s practice.
- The social worker had discussed at least one piece of CPD with a peer.
When both requirements were met, the social worker’s CPD was approved. If at least one was not, their record was reviewed, independently, by a second assessor.
If that assessor also did not approve the record, the social worker was flagged to have their CPD reviewed the following year and was sent the first assessor’s feedback.
CPD review process dropped for 2024 renewal process
Social Work England dropped the process of sampling 2.5% of social workers’ records for the 2024 renewal round because it wanted to review its CPD process. Only 57 practitioners whose submissions were flagged up following the 2023 audit had their records checked after the 2024 process.
At the same time, the regulator launched a survey of social workers’ and others’ views of the CPD process. This was part of an evidence-gathering exercise designed to help it understand how practitioners recorded their learning, their feelings on the current requirements and the impact of the system on practice.
It also carried out two workshops with social workers, reviewed a sample of anonymised CPD records, did a literature review of research into the purpose and impact of CPD, and carried out a desk-based review of its and other regulators’ messaging about CPD.
Social workers ‘recording CPD purely to meet renewal threshold’
These included that:
- Social workers were completing CPD submissions with “rigour and detail” on a wide variety of topics, with safeguarding being the most common focus.
- Most social workers only recorded the required two pieces each year, “indicating they are recording CPD…purely to meet the CPD threshold for renewal”.
- Entries tended to be submitted during the renewal period suggesting they were not being completed at the time the CPD activity was undertaken. “This calls into question the quality of the reflection and its ability to drive up quality in practice,” Social Work England said.
- Social workers saw CPD as essential to their professional development, but “[advocated] for a longer CPD cycle to ease the burden of recording CPD”.
- However, some felt the requirement to “only” record two pieces of CPD demonstrated that Social Work England did “not value the breadth of CPD a social worker does throughout the year” or saw it as being directly linked to registration renewal.
- Some social workers said they did not always feel supported by their employer to complete CPD and called for a greater role for employers in managing and monitoring CPD.
- Social Work England’s online platform did not appear to be a barrier to recording.
Consultation on reforming CPD
On the back of the findings, Social Work England said it wanted to use the 2025-26 financial year to carry out further evidence gathering where there were currently gaps and develop proposals for CPD reform that would be consulted upon in 2026-27.
It said the consultation was likely to be preceded by engagement with the sector, regulators and its National Advisory Forum, which comprises experts by experience and social workers and acts as a “critical friend” to Social Work England.
A spokesperson added: “Whilst we consider any longer-term changes to our CPD model, individual CPD records will not be selected for review. However, we will continue to conduct system checks and monitor the quality of CPD to ensure compliance with our CPD requirements.”
Following the 2024 renewal round, these checks included ensuring that social workers did not submit two identical CPD records.
Celebrate those who’ve inspired you
Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock
Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can’t help but gush about?
Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.
Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*
If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com
Review of registration renewal
In tandem with the first phase of its work on the future of CPD, Social Work England also reviewed its annual registration renewal process.
According to the same board report, this review found that:
- The sector accepted an annual renewal cycle and agreed that it supported public protection, Social Work England’s overarching objective. The regulator concluded that retaining this would “maintain regulatory oversight [and] compliance with CPD, and continue to promote public protection”.
- The timing of the renewals window – 1 September to 30 November – provided social workers with sufficient time to complete the three required actions: paying their fee, completing the renewal form and submitting their CPD.
- Social workers were “confident and familiar with the annual registration renewal process and the actions required to successfully renew their annual registration”.
- Most social workers found the online renewal form “intuitive”, with “a very few encountering user issues with the system”.
- Social workers agreed that the online journey was “accessible and easy to navigate”, and felt that the regulator provided “sufficient
support, guidance and communication to enable compliance with registration renewal”.
Current renewal system to stay in place
On the back of the findings, Social Work England said the current system would stay in place, though it was developing plans to make “incremental” improvements to operational effectiveness and engagement with the sector.
The regulator confirmed that for the upcoming registration renewal period (1 September to 30 November 2025), social workers would still be required to:
- submit a registration renewal form;
- pay the registration fee;
- record a minimum of two different pieces of continuing professional development, one of which must include a peer reflection.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 
Hampshire County Council 
Oxfordshire County Council 
South Gloucestershire Council 
Wokingham Borough Council 
Webinar: building a practice framework with the influence of practitioner voice 
‘They don’t have to retell their story’: building long-lasting relationships with children and young people 
Podcast: returning to social work after becoming a first-time parent 
How managers are inspiring social workers to progress in their careers 
Workforce Insights – showcasing a selection of the sector’s top recruiters 
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Instagram
I’m not sure as the regulator they are able to do this. I’m sure the Professional Standards Authority may have something to say here.
The role of SWE is to maintain the public trust in Social Workers. How can they do this when they’re not checking us. It seems very odd to me, and to consult on increasing our fees is just a joke.
“only completing two pieces of CPD for submission annually”? Tell you what SWE use your teeth and request from employers that sufficient time is given to employees to complete CPD set aside. Specifically for this task. This as opposed to fitting it around an ever burgeoning caseload and competing berueacratic demands.
Why fret though? If they aren’t going to scrutinise you could write out your favourite recipe with a few social work.buzz words and relate it to an imaginary piece of practice. How would SWE tell you you haven’t meat a standards they aren’t monitoring? This is the best example of why contemporary social work is a joke but unfortunately at the expense of practicioners and the public. Pretend regulations do not make a profession.
And they want to charge us an extra 33% in fees? What on earth are we paying for?
TBH. Regardless of the reviews & consultations, I have felt that there has never been value for social work practitioners. The process some of my fellow peers have had to go through when complaints/allegations have been made against them, and SWE triage methods, have made them feel demoralised and unsupported. The time scales for investigations to be concluded are abysmal. Taking a toll on individuals mental health and finances, waiting for their name to be cleared. Maybe they could save money by freezing the top dogs wages in line with what we as practioners have to suffer, to reduce costings and not put up horrendous hikes in fees.
Good! People shouldnt be paying a 3rd party entity ( corporation) to register and go to work. Firstly the fees are ridiculous for everyone involved. Yes CDP should continue while at work but to go to work once you have your initial qualifications ie a Degree or masters is a total waste of public funds you are qualified end of story and should have to justify that to anyone except your employer. The whole registration process works against professionals wanting to return to the process and is not well thought out as there are not enough return to social work courses running up and down the country so the profession are losing too many well qualified and experienced worksers for no reason..all due to the lack of common sense.
The whole Social work England register needs scrapping all together. It is way too expensive for everyone. No professional should be paying a 3rd party entity ( corporation) just to go to work. Once you are qualified have a degree or masters you are qualified end of story! Yes there needs to be CPD done while at work. The profession is losing too many well qualified and experienced workers because there are NOT enough return to social work course up and down the country.
Ironically if you work to maintain your registration by completing CPD and doing other stuff, you are then not eligible for the RtoSW courses, even though it would help some people to move fully back into the job. I can’t honestly say profession, because at this point it doesn’t feel like one
Last year I wrote some imaginary learning and collided with a peer to submit. SWE took the money and registered me. This year I will probably sneak in not so heavily disguised Lion King reference, collude once again with a peer and never think about CPD again nor spend anytime agonising over the registration process. They treat us as imbeciles and we should reciprocate.
Social Work England’s latest announcement on CPD audits is a masterclass in bureaucratic abdication, wrapped in a PR exercise masquerading as reform. For the second consecutive year, the regulator charged with upholding the professional standards of one of society’s most critical vocations has quietly decided it just… won’t bother. No audits. No reviews. No meaningful oversight. Just a shrug and a promise to “maybe look at it again” in 2026–27 — assuming they get around to it.
Let’s be clear: this is not reform. This is regulatory negligence dressed up in the language of consultation. It’s an admission that the system is broken, followed by a decision to do absolutely nothing about it in the interim. A full decade could pass between the rollout of this CPD model and any tangible change to its enforcement, all while practitioners — the very people being regulated — are left to navigate a hollow, box-ticking exercise devoid of scrutiny, value, or credibility.
To say “we’re not going to review CPD submissions, but we’ll still require them” is not just ineffectual, it’s insulting. It tells social workers: we demand your compliance, but we can’t be bothered to check if it’s meaningful. We require your time and labour, but we won’t validate its quality. In fact, your professional development — the foundation of your practice and your clients’ safety — is so low on our list of priorities that we’ll rely on automated system checks to spot duplicate entries while pretending this counts as safeguarding the profession.
This is a disgrace.
Social Work England’s own research confirms what practitioners have been shouting for years: the current CPD framework is seen as a performative hoop-jump. Social workers are submitting just enough to pass, at the last minute, with minimal reflection — because the system encourages nothing more. And instead of addressing the root cause, SWE offers a years-long “consultation” as a Band-Aid. Meanwhile, meaningful professional learning — the kind that actually improves practice and protects vulnerable people — is left to wilt in a regulatory vacuum.
The regulator claims public protection is its “overarching objective.” How, exactly, does abandoning any attempt to assess the quality of social workers’ learning serve that goal? Where is the accountability? Where is the leadership?
And let’s not forget the context. This is a profession under siege — by burnout, unmanageable caseloads, chronic underfunding, and emotional exhaustion. Now, those who remain committed to their practice are told that the bare minimum is enough — and that SWE neither expects nor respects anything more.
Instead of supporting and elevating this workforce, SWE has chosen administrative convenience over professional integrity. It should be deeply ashamed.
If Social Work England wants to retain even a shred of legitimacy, it needs to end this charade immediately. Reinstate proper CPD audits. Invest in meaningful feedback mechanisms. Treat social workers like professionals whose growth matters. And stop pretending that pushing a broken system down the road for another two years is anything but an abdication of duty.
Until then, let’s call this what it is: a hollow gesture from a regulator that has forgotten how — or why — to regulate.
The real problem is this, we have a lot of bullies as Managers in Children’s Social Care, who have no direct contact with clients, they are their to get their big pay check, and should not be in the profession as they don’t support the front line staff. We also need to have decent and experienced social workers as investigators in SWE who know the difference between real bad apples (as few and far between as they are), and those falsely accused or reported for doing their job. SWE investigators are mainly ex-police, who are looking at allegations from a different focus, and have never done a day of social work in their life. I would love to be on Police misconduct panels, as a lot of them should not be in their jobs – as a lot are on power trips, and more importantly Police investigate other police, that is how it should be etc.
I didn’t know this re ex-police. Thank you for this interesting information, it explains a lot about their internal processes.