Data set from Children's social work workforce

2. Characteristics (in post, starters, leavers)

Latest data

Published 19 March 2026

Last updated 19 March 2026

FTE and headcount figures on characteristics of social workers in post, starters and leavers by: sex; age; ethnicity; role; and time in service.

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Data set details

• Theme: Children's social care
• Publication: Children's social work workforce
• Release: Reporting year 2025
• Number of rows: 39,501
• Geographic levels: Local authority, National, Regional
• Indicators:
  • Social workers in post - FTE (as at 30 September)
  • Percentage of social workers in post - FTE (as at 30 September)
  • Social workers in post - headcount (as at 30 September)
• Filters:
  • Breakdown
• Time period: 2017 to 2025

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_period	time_identifier	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	region_code	region_name	old_la_code	new_la_code	la_name	breakdown_topic	breakdown	inpost_FTE	inpost_FTE_percentage	inpost_headcount	inpost_headcount_percentage	starters_FTE	starters_FTE_percentage	starters_headcount	starters_headcount_percentage	leavers_FTE	leavers_FTE_percentage	leavers_headcount	leavers_headcount_percentage
2025	Reporting year	National	E92000001	England						Total	Total	36186.3	100	38292	100	5837.8	100	6043	100	4276.3	100	4611	100
2025	Reporting year	National	E92000001	England						Age group	20 to 29 years old	5329.1	14.7	5399	14.1	1539.5	26.4	1553	25.7	669.6	15.7	680	14.7
2025	Reporting year	National	E92000001	England						Age group	30 to 39 years old	10813.9	29.9	11523	30.1	1855.2	31.8	1935	32	1270.1	29.7	1370	29.7
2025	Reporting year	National	E92000001	England						Age group	40 to 49 years old	9902.5	27.4	10479	27.4	1447	24.8	1502	24.9	1018.4	23.8	1092	23.7
2025	Reporting year	National	E92000001	England						Age group	50 to 59 years old	7332.7	20.3	7694	20.1	780.2	13.4	815	13.5	734.6	17.2	788	17.1

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Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 13 variables

Variable name	Variable description
breakdown	Breakdown
inpost_FTE	Social workers in post - FTE (as at 30 September)
inpost_FTE_percentage	Percentage of social workers in post - FTE (as at 30 September)
inpost_headcount	Social workers in post - headcount (as at 30 September)
inpost_headcount_percentage	Percentage of social workers in post - headcount (as at 30 September)

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Footnotes

1. Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster were unable to provide data for 2025 following a cyberattack which had a significant impact on their information management systems. Therefore, figures from the previous year were used as best estimates for these local authorities to calculate 2025 totals for England, London, and Inner London.
2. Age of the child and family social worker at 30 September of the reporting year.
3. Age of social worker starter at 30 September of the reporting year.
4. Age of social worker leaver on the date they left their post at the local authority.
5. White comprises white British, white Irish, or any other white background.
6. Mixed / Multiple ethnic groups comprises white and black Caribbean, white and black African, white and Asian, or any other mixed background.
7. Asian / Asian British comprises Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, or any other Asian background.
8. Black / African / Caribbean / Black British comprises black Caribbean, black African, or any other black background.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about 2. Characteristics (in post, starters, leavers) statistics and data:

Children’s Services Statistics Team

Email: csww.stats@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Andy Brook

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