Reporting year 2024

Children's social work workforce

Annual statistics on child and family social workers, including agency social workers, employed in local authorities in England.

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Background information

This annual release contains statistics on child and family social workers, including agency social workers, employed in local authorities in England. Each reporting year covers the period 1 October to 30 September.

Child and family social workers are social workers registered with Social Work England (SWE) (opens in new tab) working in a local authority in a children's services department or, if working in an authority where the services are joined up, a social worker that works primarily on children and families work.

Figures are shown on a full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount basis. The timeseries in this release feature from 2017 onwards, which is when information on individual social workers was first collected by the Department for Education (DfE). Refer to the ‘Background and coverage’ section of the methodology page for more information.

After the 2024 collection had closed, Birmingham local authority informed the Department that there were data quality issues with the figures they reported in the collection. This affects their data on agency workers, caseload and absence. To reflect these issues:

  • For the national and regional figures, 2024 data for Birmingham has been included in the caseload figures/rates and agency worker counts but excluded from the sickness absence figures/rates and agency worker rates.
  • 2024 data for Birmingham has been provided as ‘u’ in the underlying data for these measures to indicate low reliability.

The decision to include or exclude Birmingham's figures from the regional and national figures is based on assessments of under and over reporting in these statistics, with included figures not being deemed to have a considerable impact on national/regional trends and excluded figures deemed to have a greater impact. The Department will further investigate these data quality issues with the local authority and revise the data in this statistical release if necessary in due course.

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Headline facts and figures

Child and family social workers in post

Number of child and family social workers

Full-time Equivalent (FTE) figures are calculated by aggregating the total number of hours that child and family social workers are contracted to work and dividing by the standard hours for their grade. As a result, part-time workers are converted into an equivalent number of full-time workers to enable more meaningful comparisons. FTE figures exclude social workers for whom FTE information was missing or not known.

Headcount is a count of all individual child and family social workers, regardless of their working pattern. Where a social worker holds more than one post within a local authority, only one post is counted (the more senior role where applicable).

Both the FTE and headcount figures of social workers in post exclude agency social workers in post.

There were 34,300 full-time equivalent (FTE) social workers in post at 30 September 2024, up 3.7% or 1,200 workers from a year earlier and up 21% or 5,800 from 2017, when the series started. The corresponding headcount figure was 36,400, up 3.4% or 1,200 workers from a year earlier and up 19% or 5,800 since 2017.

In 2024, both the FTE and headcount measures represented the series peaks. With the exception of 2021 to 2022, FTE and headcount have increased each year in the series.

Step-Up to Social Work (opens in new tab) is a graduate training programme delivering a new cohort of qualified social workers in alternate years, and this will likely have contributed to the annual rises in 2019, 2021 and 2023. Whilst the programme did not deliver any new social workers in 2024, there was a smaller annual fall in social worker starters in 2024 (down 400), compared with 2020 (down 700) and 2022 (down 700). There were 650 achievements in social worker apprenticeships in 2023/24, the series peak for those figures (started 2018/19), and this is likely to have offset the fall in starters in 2024.  Further information and definitions on social worker starters is provided below in the section ‘Starters, leavers and attrition’, sub-section ‘Starters at the local authority (FTE)’.

In addition, the number of social workers leaving the workforce to agency child and family social work or leaving the workforce entirely fell for the second consecutive year in 2024 (from the series peaks in 2022), down 400 and 200 respectively from a year earlier. This suggests that retention has improved. Again, further information and definitions are provided below in the section ‘Starters, leavers and attrition’, sub-section ‘Attrition’.

Age of social workers (FTE)

In 2024, social workers aged 30 to 39 continued to be the largest age group, accounting for 3 in 10 workers (30%). The number of social workers rose for all age groups since 2023 and 2017. The 40 to 49 age group had the largest numeric rise since 2023 (up 600 workers) and since 2017 (up 2,100 workers). The 60 and over age group had the largest percentage rise since 2023 (up 9.3%) and since 2017 (up 69%).

Sex of social workers (FTE)

In 2024, nearly 9 in 10, or 87%, of social workers were female. This is higher than the 74% seen in the teaching profession and the 46% seen in professional occupations. The proportion of social workers who were female has increased each year in the series.

The figure on sex:

Ethnicity of social workers (FTE)

Ethnicity was known for 81% of social workers in 2024, Of those, over one in four (27%) were from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities) and this has increased each year from around 1 in 5 (21%) in 2017, mainly due to workers from Black ethnic groups.

The proportion of social workers from ethnic minority backgrounds is greater than the 11% seen in the teaching profession and the 18% seen in professional occupations. However, it is lower than the 31% seen in the children in need population.

The figure on ethnicity:

  • In the teaching profession is based on FTE teachers in state-funded schools and is taken from the 2023 Department for Education Statistics release School Workforce in England.
  • In professional occupations includes managers, directors and senior officials and is based on headcount figures from the 2021 Census (opens in new tab), as defined under the 2020 Standard Occupational Classification (opens in new tab).
  • In the children in need population is taken from the 2024 Department for Education Statistics release Children in Need. Children in need are those assessed as needing help and protection from children's social care services as a result of risks to their development or health.

Time in service at local authority (FTE)

Time in service is a measure of the total time in years that a social worker has been employed continuously in any child and family social worker role at their current local authority, rather than only the time spent in their current child and family social worker role.

Across all years in the series, social workers with less than 2 years’ service accounted for the most workers, equivalent to around 1 in every 3 workers.

Social worker role (FTE)

Feedback from local authorities suggests that there is an overlap in the responsibilities of the six role types that local authorities report on. There is also more variation between roles than is accounted for in the six role types. As a result, there can be  differences in the recording practices between local authorities and/or reporting years therefore this data should be treated with a degree of caution.

A case holder role is a social worker that manages cases, but is not in a senior manager, middle manager, first line manager or senior practitioner role. However, cases can be held by those not in case holder roles.

A new validation rule was added to the 2024 collection to check for social workers who were recorded as case holders but held no cases. This has contributed to a reallocation of workers from the case holder role to different roles during the 2024 collection, particularly the qualified without cases role, contributing to the fall in the case holder role in 2024.

In 2024, the number of social workers rose across all roles since 2023 except for case holders, which fell by 10% or 1,600 workers. Those qualified without cases had the largest rise, up 36% or 1,700 workers.

Again, the number of social workers increased across all roles since 2017, except for case holders, which fell by 4.0% or 600 workers.

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Child and family agency social workers in post

Agency workers, as at 30 September, are the number of child and family social workers not directly paid by the local authority. These may be social workers who are paid by an agency rather than the local authority or who are self-employed. FTE figures are presented in this section.

The agency worker rate, as at 30 September, is calculated as the number of FTE agency (child and family) social workers divided by the sum of FTE agency social workers and FTE social workers.

The agency workers covering vacancies rate, as at 30 September, is calculated as the number of FTE agency workers covering vacancies divided by FTE agency workers.

There were 6,500 agency social workers in post at 30 September 2024, down 9.2% or 700 workers from the series peak in 2023 but up 22% or 1,200 workers from 2017, when the series started. In 2024, agency workers fell for the first time in the series.

Statutory guidance (opens in new tab) for local authorities on the use of agency child and family social workers was issued by the Department in September 2024. The guidance includes rules partly designed with the aim of reducing their use and cost. Whilst the guidance became effective one month after 30 September 2024, the date the latest statistics relate to, the Department’s engagement with local authorities earlier in the year around the issuing of this new guidance may have contributed, at least in part, to the fall in agency social workers in 2024.

The decrease in agency workers contributed to the agency worker rate falling from the series peak of 18% in 2023 to 16% in 2024.

As the overall number of agency workers fell more than the number of agency workers covering vacancies between 2023 and 2024, this resulted in the agency workers covering vacancies rate rising slightly from 80% in 2023 to the series peak of 81% in 2024.

In situations where agency workers are not covering vacancies, they may be employed by a local authority to manage seasonal peaks, or deal with acute backlogs, as an alternative to employing social workers on a permanent basis.

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Caseload

A case is defined as any person allocated to a named social worker, where the work involves child and family social work. Cases may be held by social workers regardless of their role in the organisation and not just by those specifically in a ‘case holder’ role.

Average caseload at 30 September is calculated as the total number of cases held by FTE child and family social workers, including agency workers, in post divided by the number of FTE child and family social workers, including agency workers, in post that held one or more cases.

The number of cases held doesn’t account for the complexity of the cases held and this should be considered when interpreting the caseload figures.

There were 320,500 cases held by 20,800 social workers and agency workers at 30 September 2024, equivalent to an average caseload of 15.4.

The latest average is the lowest in the series and is down 0.6 cases per worker since 2023 and down 2.3 cases per worker since the series peak in 2017 (also when the series started).

In 2024, whilst the number of workers holding cases fell since 2023 (down 1.5%), the number of cases held fell by a greater percentage (down 4.9%) and this resulted in average caseload falling. In comparison, since 2017, although the number of cases held increased (up 1.2%) average caseload decreased due to a greater percentage increase in workers holding cases (up 17%).

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Vacancies

Vacancies are defined as any FTE (child and family social worker) vacancy at 30 September within a local authority’s organisational structure, including vacancies that are not being actively for, and those covering agency workers.

The vacancy rate, as at 30 September, is calculated as FTE vacancies divided by the sum of FTE vacancies and FTE social workers.

The vacancy agency cover rate, as at 30 September, is calculated as FTE agency workers in post covering vacancies, divided by FTE vacancies.

There were 7,200 social worker vacancies at 30 September 2024, down 6.9% or 500 vacancies from a year earlier but up 23% or 1,400 vacancies since 2017, when the series started. The latest figure fell for the second consecutive year from the series peak of 7,900 vacancies in 2022.

The corresponding vacancy rate also decreased for the second consecutive year from the series peak of 20% in 2022 to 17% in 2024.

Overall, 76% of vacancies were covered by agency workers in 2024, an increase from 74% in the previous year and the new series peak.

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Sickness absence

The sickness absence rate is calculated as the number of days child and family social workers missed due to sickness absence during the year to 30 September (of those in post at 30 September), divided by the number of FTE child and family social workers in post at 30 September multiplied by 253 days (the number of working days in a non-leap year, taking account of bank holidays). The rate for a leap year is based on 254 working days. Agency social workers are not included in the calculation of the sickness absence rate.

The sickness absence rate for social workers in post at 30 September 2024 was 3.4%, up slightly from 3.2% in 2023. At 3.5%, 2022 was the series peak.

The rate in 2024 is higher than the latest 2022 (calendar year) figure of 2.5% for England seen in the ONS statistical release ‘Sickness absence in the UK labour market (opens in new tab)’ (specifically, Table 9 of the 2022 dataset (opens in new tab)). The sickness absence rate in the ONS statistics is calculated as the percentage of working hours lost because of sickness or injury.

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Starters, leavers and attrition

Starters at the local authority (FTE)

Starters are social workers who joined a vacant child and family social worker post at a local authority in the year ending 30 September.

The social worker starters figures include those joining from:

  • the same local authority, but from a non-child and family social work position.
  • a child and family social work position in another local authority in England.
  • an agency child and family social work position.

The social worker starters figures exclude those:

  • moving or being promoted from one child and family social work position to another within the same local authority.
  • returning from maternity or sick leave.
  • starting and leaving in the same reporting year.

There were 5,600 social worker starters in the year ending 30 September 2024, down 6.9% or 400 starters from the series peak in 2023.

There were more social worker starters than leavers in 2024, the same trend seen in previous years with the exception of 2022.

Step-Up to Social Work (opens in new tab) is a graduate training programme delivering a new cohort of qualified social workers in alternate years, and this will likely have contributed to the annual rises in 2019, 2021 and 2023 but also the falls in the following years including most recently in 2024.

Whilst the programme did not deliver any new social workers in 2024, there was a smaller annual fall in social worker starters in 2024 (down 400), compared with 2020 (down 700) and 2022 (down 700). There were 650 achievements in social worker apprenticeships in 2023/24, the series peak for those figures (started 2018/19), and this is likely to have offset the fall in starters in 2024.

Leavers and turnover at the local authority (FTE)

Leavers are social workers who left a child and family social worker post at a local authority in the year ending 30 September.

The social worker leavers figures include those:

  • staying at the same local authority, but moving to a non-child and family social work position, for example moving to adult social care.
  • moving to a child and family social work position in a different local authority in England.
  • moving to an agency child and family social work position.
  • beginning a career break.
  • being seconded out of an organisation.
  • leaving the profession altogether.

The social worker leavers figures exclude those:

  • moving or being promoted from one child and family social work position to another within the same local authority.
  • starting maternity or sick leave.
  • starting and leaving in the same reporting year.

There were 4,700 social worker leavers in 2024, falling for the second consecutive year from the series peak of 5,400 in 2022, and representing the lowest number since 2020. The decrease of 10% or 500 workers in 2024 compared with a year earlier represent the largest percentage and numeric falls in the series (started 2017).

Social worker leavers fell across all age groups between 2023 and 2024, but those aged 40 to 49 had the largest fall (down 200 leavers).

The turnover rate is calculated as (the number of) FTE child and family social worker leavers in the year to 30 September divided by FTE child and family social workers in post at 30 September. The turnover rate is a measure of churn in the workforce (although it doesn’t capture the movement of social workers to different  child and family social work positions within the same local authority).

The associated turnover rate was 14% in 2024, again falling for the second consecutive year from the series peak of 17% in 2022, and representing the lowest rate since 2020.

Attrition

Statistics in development

Official statistics in development (opens in new tab) are official statistics that are undergoing development (previously called experimental statistics). Data on attrition, at national level only and with no further breakdowns, is contained in this statistics release for the second time.

Figures on attrition can be accessed in the attrition data set of the table tool. The figures for years prior to 2024 were revised slightly in this year’s release due to improved methodology. Further information on these revisions and the calculations of the attrition figures can be found on the methodology page.

We welcome user feedback on these figures (see ‘Contact Us’ section below). The continued inclusion and format of these figures will be reviewed prior to the 2025 statistics release.

Attrition and movers definition

Child and family social worker leavers can be classed as belonging to one of three groups based on their status at 30 September. Specifically those:

  1. moving to a child and family social work position in a different local authority in England;
  2. leaving the workforce to agency child and family social work (either at the same or a different local authority in England);
  3. leaving the workforce entirely (i.e. are no longer a child and family social worker or agency child and family social worker within any local authority in England).

The term ‘attrition’ applies to both the second and third groups. The second group is referred to as 'agency attrition’, and the third group is referred to as ‘full attrition’.

As the leavers figures within this release include the first group, the purpose of the attrition figures is to specifically identify those leaving the local authority employed child and family social work workforce.

The attrition rate (either agency or full) is calculated as the number of FTE child and family social workers leaving due to attrition during the year ending 30 September divided by the number of FTE child and family social workers in post at 30 September.

The movers rate is calculated as the number of FTE child and family social workers moving to a child and family social work position in a different local authority divided by the number of FTE child and family social workers in post at 30 September.

Of the 4,700 child and family social worker leavers in the year to 30 September 2024, with a turnover rate of 14% (see ‘Leavers and turnover at the local authority’ sub-section above):

  • 2,900 leavers (61% of leavers) were due to full attrition from the workforce, equivalent to a full attrition rate of 8.4%.
  • 600 leavers (12% of leavers) were due to agency attrition, equivalent to an agency attrition rate of 1.7%.
  • 1,300 leavers (27% of leavers) were child and family social workers moving positions between local authorities, equivalent to a movers rate of 3.7%.

In 2024, all of the attrition measures fell for the second consecutive year from the series peaks in 2022 (series started in 2017).

The number of leavers due to agency attrition and the associated attrition rate in the latest year represented the lowest figure since 2017 and in the series respectively.

Statutory guidance (opens in new tab) for local authorities on the use of agency child and family social workers was issued by the Department in September 2024. The guidance includes rules partly designed with the aim of reducing their use and cost. Whilst the guidance became effective one month after 30 September 2024, the date the latest statistics relate to, the Department’s engagement with local authorities earlier in the year around the issuing of this new guidance may have contributed, at least in part, to the fall in agency social workers in 2024.

In 2024, the rate of social workers moving positions between local authorities fell for the fourth consecutive year to the lowest in the series.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Children's social work workforce statistics and data:

Children’s Services Statistics Team

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

Press office

If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

Public enquiries

If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

Phone: 0370 000 2288

Opening times

Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5.30pm (closed on bank holidays)

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