The qualifications you need to register and what to do if you don't yet have the qualification you need for your role.
Social care workers
There are two ways to register with us. You can register with an existing qualification, or if you don’t have a qualification, you can register through a process called employer assessment.
Registering with a qualification
You can register using the City & Guilds Level 2 Health and Social Care: Core qualification. You’ll then need to complete the City & Guilds Level 2 or 3 Health and Social Care: Practice qualification, if you don’t already have it.
You have six years to get the qualification, but we expect most social care workers to do so within three years after they first register with us.
You can also register if you have the Level 2 or 3 in Health and Social Care (Diploma, QCF or NVQ) or an equivalent.
What you need to do:
If you already hold a social care qualification which isn’t listed on our qualification framework, you should check the precedence list to see if your qualification is accepted in Wales.
If the qualification isn’t on the precedence list, but you think it’s relevant to working in social care, you can have it assessed through the Qualification Equivalency Assessment (QEA) process.
Find out more about qualification equivalency assessment.
Registering by employer assessment
If you don’t have one of the required qualifications, your employer can assess you and let us know that you have the right skills and knowledge to work in social care. You’ll still need to get a qualification, but you can do this after you’ve registered.
Find out more about employer assessment.
Social care managers
Take a look at the qualification framework to see what qualifications you need to register as a social care manager.
If you’re a social care worker with a Level 3 qualification or the Level 4 USW Step Up to Management certificate, you can register as a social care manager as long as you’re enrolled on the Level 4 Preparing for Leadership and Management in Health and Social Care or the Level 5 Leadership and Management in Health and Social Care Practice qualifications.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll have three years to get the Level 5 qualification and must have it before you renew your registration.
Other qualifications
If you already hold a social care qualification which isn’t listed on our qualification framework, you should check the precedence list to see if your qualification is accepted in Wales.
If the qualification isn’t on the precedence list, but you think it’s relevant to working in social care, you can have it assessed through the Qualification Equivalency Assessment (QEA) process.
Social workers, nurses and occupational therapists can also register as social care managers, but must complete a management qualification within the first three years of registration. The management qualification must be:
- a minimum of 37 credits
- assessed in the workplace
- at level 3 or above.
If you’re registered as a worker but are working as a manager, you need to email us at registration@socialcare.wales to let us know. We’ll ask for details about your role and will tell you the next steps for changing the role you’re registered as.
If you aren’t already registered with us, you can apply on SCWonline.
Social workers
Find what qualifications you need to register as a social worker
If you’re a final year social work student and you haven’t received confirmation of your qualification, you can still apply to register with us as we will receive this information directly from your university or college.
Social work qualification verification service
We offer a qualification verification service that checks any approved qualification in social work awarded in Wales (this includes qualifications before the social work degree).
You can ask us for a letter that shows:
- the qualification obtained
- qualification date
- training establishment attended
- the name of person who received the award.
Be aware:
- this service can take up to 20 working days
- we can only issue letters of verification to the award holder
- we need written consent to send it to an employer or employment agency
- the letter of verification isn’t proof of identity
- the letter isn’t proof that a person is a registered qualified social worker
- employers have a responsibility to check these details.
If you want a letter of verification for a qualification awarded in Wales, fill out the form below and send it to registration@socialcare.wales: