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 a 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:
- In the teaching profession is based on FTE teachers in state-funded schools and is from 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 a new tab), as defined under the 2020 Standard Occupational Classification (opens in a new tab).
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 a new tab), as defined under the 2020 Standard Occupational Classification (opens in a 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.