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The study surveys applicants and completers approximately six months after qualifying with a Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work. It outlines programme context, survey methodology, and headline findings on applicant interest, motivations, plans, and barriers, alongside completer experiences, job entry, satisfaction, and likelihood of remaining in social work.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/step-up-to-social-work-cohort-7-surveys-of-applicants-and-completers-research-report-january-2026/587959/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/step-up-to-social-work-cohort-7-surveys-of-applicants-and-completers-research-report-january-2026/587959.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Bintang","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is Step Up to Social Work cohort 7 and what does the programme lead to?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Step Up is a 14-month graduate training route into social work focused on child and family social work. Successful completion awards a PGDip in Social Work, enabling registration with Social Work England as a qualified social worker.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How was the applicant survey conducted for cohort 7?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"A total of 5,478 people applied to the 2022 intake (cohort 7). Online surveys were sent to 4,872 recontacted applicants, including both successful and unsuccessful applicants, and 1,156 completed responses were received.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"When were completer survey responses collected and what does the survey cover?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The completer survey was fielded around six months after qualification, with fieldwork running from September to November 2023. It gathers information on demographics and management details, satisfaction with the Step Up programme, entering social work, satisfaction with current job, and likelihood of remaining in social work.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},587959,1792188775,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962085564381,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Step Up to Social Work cohort 7:  \nsurveys of applicantsand completers  \nResearch report  \nJanuary 2026  \nAuthors: Kara Crees, Jessica Dunn and Amy Clay, Department for Education  \nContents  \nList of figures 2  \nExecutive summary 3  \nMethodology 3  \nSummary of applicant survey findings 3  \nSummary of completer survey findings: 6 months post-qualification 4  \nIntroduction 6  \nBackground 6  \nAims and objectives 7  \nMethodology 8  \nApplicant survey findings 10  \nDemographics and management information 10  \nApplying to social work courses 11  \nCareer in social work 12  \nMotivations 15  \nBarriers 19  \nCompleter survey findings: 6 months post-qualification 22  \nDemographics and management information 22  \nSatisfaction with the Step Up programme 24  \nEntering social work 30  \nSatisfaction with current job 31  \nLikelihood of remaining in social work in 12 months’ time 32  \nConclusion 35  \nAppendices 36  \nAppendix 1: Step Up cohort 7 applicant survey questions 36  \nAppendix 2: Step Up cohort 7 completer survey questions 50  \nList of figures  \nFigure 1: Why did you decide you wanted to embark upon a career in social work, by whether offered a place or not 17  \nFigure 2: What are the key barriers that you faced in choosing to apply for a career in social work, by whether offered a place or not 21  \nFigure 3: Gender breakdown by completer survey respondents and Capita MI 22  \nFigure 4: Ethnicity breakdown by completer survey respondents and Capita MI 23  \nFigure 5: Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your experience of the Step Up programme? 24  \nFigure 6: Did you need to seek additional financial support whilst on the Step Up programme in addition to the bursary? 26  \nFigure 7: Number of additional sources of financial support sought in addition to the Step Up bursary per person 27  \nFigure 8: How effective was the Step Up programme in preparing you to work as a social worker with children and families? 29  \nFigure 9: How confident are you in your social work practice in supporting children and families? 30  \nFigure 10: How likely are you, if at all, to be working as a social worker in 12 months' time? 33  \nExecutive summary  \nThis research was undertaken by analysts in the Department for Education (DfE) to investigate recruitment and retention in the 2022 cohort of Step Up to Social Work (cohort 7), hereafter referred to as Step Up.  \nStep Up is a 14-month graduate training route into social work, with a focus on child and family social work. On successful completion, students are awarded a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Social Work, allowing them to register with Social Work England (SWE) as a qualified social worker.  \nThis report presents headline findings from a survey of applicants to Step Up cohort 7 anda survey of completers six months after they qualified with a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) .  \nMethodology  \nA total of 5,478 people applied to the 2022 intake of the Step Up programme (cohort 7), which commenced in January 2022 and finished in March 2023. Online surveys were sent to the 4,872 applicants who had agreed to be recontacted by the Department for Education (DfE) for research purposes. This included both those who were successful and unsuccessful in attaining a place on the programme. The fieldwork period ran from December 2021 to January 2022. The applicant survey received in total 1,156 completed responses (24% response rate) .  \nThe completer survey was sent to 586 people who had completed the Step Up programme and for whom DfE had contact details, at around six months after they qualified with a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) . The fieldwork period ran from September to November 2023. The survey received 234 completed survey responses (40% response rate) .  \nSummary of applicant survey findings  \nPrior interest in social work  \nAround half (52%) of applicants said they had been considering social work as a career for some time before they heard about Step Up. Just under a quarter (24%) had always wante","cbCaioVQz8F00yFm","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioVQz8F00yFm","pdf",655230,75,"English","# Executive summary\n## Methodology\n# Summary of applicant survey findings\n## Prior interest in social work\n## Future plans\n## Motivations\n## Barriers\n# Summary of completer survey findings: 6 months post-qualification\n## Entering social work\n## Satisfaction and job intentions\n# Introduction\n## Background\n## Aims and objectives\n# Appendices\n## Appendix 1: Applicant survey questions\n## Appendix 2: Completer survey questions","[{\"question\":\"What is Step Up to Social Work cohort 7 and what does the programme lead to?\",\"answer\":\"Step Up is a 14-month graduate training route into social work focused on child and family social work. Successful completion awards a PGDip in Social Work, enabling registration with Social Work England as a qualified social worker.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the applicant survey conducted for cohort 7?\",\"answer\":\"A total of 5,478 people applied to the 2022 intake (cohort 7). Online surveys were sent to 4,872 recontacted applicants, including both successful and unsuccessful applicants, and 1,156 completed responses were received.\"},{\"question\":\"When were completer survey responses collected and what does the survey cover?\",\"answer\":\"The completer survey was fielded around six months after qualification, with fieldwork running from September to November 2023. It gathers information on demographics and management details, satisfaction with the Step Up programme, entering social work, satisfaction with current job, and likelihood of remaining in social work.\"}]","Step Up to Social Work cohort 7 - surveys of applicants and completers - Research report - January 2026 | PDF",1792063922,189]