The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) expectations around Key Capabilities for Child Care and Protection

As part of the quality assurance and quality enhancement processes for the Honours degree in Social Work, the SSSC will require evidence from Universities (HEIs) that Key Capabilities in Child Care and Protection have been embedded at the appropriate level in each year of the degree, from September 2007. Under existing quality assurance practices (which are currently under review), this will mean HEIs including the relevant evidence in the Annual Monitoring Report to the SSSC in autumn 2008.

Throughout the current session, the SSSC will be working closely with the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education (SIESWE) to support HEIs in embedding Key Capabilities in their programmes in harness with the work of Phase 2 of the SIESWE project. This will include co-hosting the initial seminars as well as identifying, through our links with the HEIs and Learning Networks, "good practice" examples of successful embedding which HEIs can be encouraged to post on the project website. The SSSC Learning and Development Advisers are aligned to each of the HEIs and will be working with them to ensure that any difficulties arising out of the requirements during this session are addressed, where possible, rapidly and effectively through partnership arrangements.

It is important to note that existing students will only be expected to meet the requirements relevant to their year of study, although it is expected that HEIs will ensure that every student, by the point of qualification, has had the opportunity to undertake an assessment of a child or of parenting capacity, as required in the Key Capabilities (p6). Furthermore, in a letter to employer agencies, Carole Wilkinson Chief Executive of the SSSC sets out her expectation that this will require "creative partnership arrangements between and across agencies". This letter and a parallel letter to Universities can be found on this website.

Please read our Frequently Asked Questions.