Courses for social workers facing a Social Work England investigation

Start from what the concern is actually about, not from the most serious-sounding course title. The table matches common Social Work England concerns to two to four courses each. If your case touches more than one row, pick from each row rather than taking everything.

Two of the courses are written specifically for social workers in England and walk through Social Work England's six professional standards. Most of the others are written for registered health and care professionals in general, so their examples talk about patients and clinical settings. The principles carry across, but your reflection should translate them into your own work with children, adults, families and carers. Not sure where your concern sits? The which course do I need tool asks a few questions and suggests a starting point. The full course list grouped by concern follows below.

Social Work England's decisions are made by two groups. Case examiners review the investigation and decide whether there is a realistic prospect of proving the concerns and of finding your fitness to practise impaired. Adjudicators sit on hearing panels and also decide interim orders. Both use published guidance, and two documents matter most if you are planning remediation:

• Case examiner guidance (last updated December 2022). It explains how case examiners assess insight, remediation, the risk of repetition and testimonials.
• Impairment and sanctions guidance (last updated April 2026). It explains how decision makers approach impairment and choose an outcome.

Read together, they make several practical points.

Insight comes first

The case examiner guidance describes insight as correctly recognising and fully acknowledging what went wrong, and warns that simply asserting it is unlikely to be enough. Insight carries less weight if it appears only after others have reached conclusions for you. So write your reflection in your own words, early, and explain the impact on the people who use services, on colleagues and on public confidence in social work.

Remediation needs objective evidence

Both documents say remediation is best shown by objective evidence. They name the successful completion of education or training courses alongside satisfactory appraisals and positive feedback on your practice. The earlier remediation takes place, the more weight it carries. A certificate is one piece of that evidence; it does not stand in for the rest.

Risk of repetition is the real question

Decision makers ask whether the conduct could happen again, now or in the future. That risk is likely to be higher where insight is lacking or remediation is incomplete. Learning that ends in a concrete plan, such as a new recording routine, supervision arrangements or a change in how you manage contact with families, answers that question better than learning that ends at the certificate.

Some concerns are harder to remediate

Concerns about character, such as dishonesty, are treated as harder to put right than gaps in knowledge or skill, because training cannot directly show a change in values. If your case involves honesty, read our probity and dishonesty guide before choosing courses, and expect reflection and references to carry as much weight as the learning itself.

Case examiners and adjudicators read paper, so what you hand in matters as much as what you did. A clear evidence pack usually has five parts:

1. Certificates of completion for each course, with the date. Put the courses that address the concern first.
2. Reflective accounts in your own words for each piece of learning: what you learned, how it relates to the concern, what you now do differently, and the effect your actions had on the people involved. The reflective statement builder gives you prompts and a structure; the words stay yours.
3. Testimonials from people who know your practice or character, such as a manager, supervisor or practice educator. The case examiner guidance says these help most when the author knows about the concerns and explains their relationship to you. The testimonial request generator drafts a request that asks for exactly that.
4. Evidence of changed practice, such as supervision notes, audits of your own records, appraisals or feedback from colleagues. Leave out anything that could identify people who use services.
5. A short covering summary that links each item to the concern it answers.

The remediation readiness check shows which of these you already hold and where the gaps are, and the remediation pathway takes you through the whole process and produces a printable evidence portfolio.

Healthcare Practise UK is an independent online course provider. We are not affiliated with Social Work England, the SSSC, Social Care Wales or NISCC, and none of them has approved or endorsed these courses. Completing a course cannot promise any outcome: case examiners and adjudicators decide each case on its own facts, and the weight they give training depends on how relevant it is and on the insight and changed practice that go with it.

Nothing on this page is legal advice. If you are under investigation, talk to your trade union, professional association or a solicitor before responding to Social Work England, and ask them which learning makes sense for your case. Look after yourself too: these processes can take many months, and support from a trusted supervisor, colleague or your employer's wellbeing service can make a real difference.