Information about registration and who needs to register.
What is registration?
We register people working in certain roles in social care in Wales to help keep the public safe. When someone joins our Register it means they’re skilled and competent to work in social care, and they have the right values to provide good care and support for the people of Wales.
More than 66,000 people are currently registered with us. They work in a variety of roles in social care, which we’ve listed below.
Everyone on the Register must:
- have or be working towards the right qualifications
- be physically and mentally fit to work
- have the right character and are competent
- follow the Code of Professional Practice for Social Care and practice guidance
- intend to practise social care in Wales
- practise in the field that relates to their application for registration.
Who needs to register with us
People working in the following roles need to register with us. This is a legal requirement.
✅ Social workers
You must register before you start working as a social worker in Wales. ‘Social worker’ is a protected title. This means that it’s illegal to use the title unless you’re registered with us.
✅ Social work students
You must apply to register once you have been accepted onto your course, and be registered before you start your first practice placement,
✅ Social care workers:
- adult care home workers
- domiciliary care workers
- residential child care workers
- residential family centre workers
- secure accommodation service workers
- special school residential workers (can apply for registration from 1 April 2025. Registration will be mandatory on 30 September 2026).
You have six months to register from the date you start working in your role.
✅ Social care managers:
- adoption service managers
- adult care home managers
- adult placement managers
- advocacy managers (services for children and young people)
- domiciliary care managers
- fostering service managers
- residential child care managers
- residential family centre managers
- secure accommodation service managers
- special school residential managers.
You must be registered before your first day in a new job.
What you need to know about registering
SCWonline has changed colour but the way you use it remains the same as described in this video.
Working in more than one role or changing your role
If you work in more than one of the roles listed above, for example, as an adult care home worker and a domiciliary care worker, or if you change the type of role you work in, you’ll need to apply for additional registration or change your registration through your SCWonline account.
If you’re not sure if you need to register with us or when you should register by, get in touch with us at registration@socialcare.wales and we’ll be happy to help.
How we manage the Register
We use the Social Care Wales (Registration) Rules 2024 to manage the Register. These rules are approved by Welsh Government and are the basis for registering the social care workforce.
-
Registration Rules 2024PDF 498KB
-
Content of Register Rules 2024PDF 170KB
How many people are on the Register?
As of June 2026, the number of registered persons are:
- 6,943 social workers
- 6 adoption service managers
- 1,363 adult care home managers
- 27,324 adult care home workers
- 13 adult placement managers
- 3 children and young people advocacy managers
- 1,082 domiciliary care managers
- 24,073 domiciliary care workers
- 23 fostering service managers
- 516 residential child care managers
- 5,549 residential child care workers
- 6 residential family centre managers
- 100 residential family centre workers
- 4 special school residential managers
- 32 special school residential workers
- 799 social work students.
Internationally qualified applicants
Since 1 October 2022, we've:
- received 619 applications from individuals who qualified outside of the UK
- registered 306 individuals who qualified outside the UK. Please note these individuals may have applied before October 2022.
There are 373 people who qualified outside the UK on the Register.
Workforce reports
Each year we publish data reports on the information given to us by applicants and registered persons.
See all registration data reports