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28 May 2004 HEFCE logo
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Circular letter number 11/2004

For further information contact Mitchell Pring, tel 0117 931 7388, e-mail m.pring@hefce.ac.uk

Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal

Allocation of additional funded places for social work education and training

1.    I am writing to announce the allocations of additional funded places for social work education and training for 2004-05. No action is required: this letter is for information.

2.    In 2001 the Department of Health began its reform of social work education and training. This included the introduction, from 2003, of a three-year degree in social work to replace the existing two-year diploma.

3.    To support this reform we invited bids last year for additional places for 2004-05 (in HEFCE Circular letter 24/2003). Only those institutions that had been accredited by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) to offer degree programmes in social work were eligible to submit bids.

4.    We received 34 bids from higher education institutions and further education colleges. The bids sought a total of 727 places - 676 full-time equivalent (FTE) places - for 2004-05. Funding available meant that we could only allocate some 500 FTE places.

5.    For 2004-05 we have allocated a total of 528 FTE places to 30 institutions (see Annex A).

Framework for assessment

6.    In assessing bids we took advice from the GSCC on each institution's provision for social work education. Bids were assessed against the criteria set out in Circular letter 24/2003. These are as follows:

  • evidence of student demand for social work provision
  • institutions' record in securing student work placements
  • institutions' strategy for securing future student work placements.

7.    We examined institutions' quality assurance data for learning and teaching across a range of current provision. In particular we looked for evidence relating directly to applied social work provision. We also examined institutions' success in recruiting to places in 2003-04, by taking information from the HESES03 and HEIFES03 data surveys about recruitment and overall growth in institutions.

8.    We set the threshold for bids fundable in principle at 60 per cent of the total possible marks, in line with previous competitions for additional student places.

Allocation process

9.    The total number of places sought by bids scoring 60 per cent of the total possible marks was still greater than the number of places available. We therefore agreed with the GSCC the following distribution model:

  1. Bids scoring 90 per cent or more of the possible marks would be awarded all the places sought.
  2. Bids scoring 60-89 per cent of the possible marks would be awarded 80 per cent of the places sought, subject to a minimum threshold allocation of 10 FTEs.

10.    The resulting allocation of additional student places for social work is summarised in the table below. This does not include allocations that have been phased to come on stream in 2004-05 or 2005-06.

Table 1 Additional social work places allocated 2004-05

  Undergraduate Postgraduate
  Headcount FTE Headcount FTE
Full-time 444 444 36 36
Part-time 58 31 32 17
Total 502 475 68 53

11.    For further information, please contact Mitchell Pring, tel 0117 931 7388, e-mail m.pring@hefce.ac.uk.

Yours sincerely

 

Howard Newby
Chief Executive

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Letter and Annex A
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