Failing to learn from teachers: the Social Work Early Career Framework in England

Abstract

This article presents a critical analysis of the Social Worker Early Career Framework in England, planned for national roll-out in September 2026 to replace the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment for children and family social workers. The Social Worker Early Career Framework is based on the existing Teacher Early Career Framework in England, launched nationally in 2021. The article argues that both the problematic experience of its counterpart in teaching and the existing evidence around similar initiatives already implemented in social work suggest that the Social Worker Early Career Framework is highly unlikely to achieve its stated aims. These discussions are followed by a consideration of why the Social Worker Early Career Framework is being introduced despite this existing evidence. It is suggested that a relatively small, opaque and overlapping policy network dominating children’s services reform in England provides a possible explanation.