Reporting year 2025

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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7 data sets available for download

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  • 1. Indicators (in post, starters, leavers, agency workers, vacancies, caseload and absence)

    Local authority, National, Regional

    FTE and headcount figures on: social workers in post; starters; leavers; agency social workers in post; vacancies; caseload; and sickness absence.

    Number of rows
    1,463
    Indicators
    • Social workers in post - FTE (as at 30 September)
    • Social workers in post - headcount (as at 30 September)
    • Social worker starters - FTE (year to 30 September)
    Time period
    2017 to 2025
    Data set information page for 1. Indicators (in post, starters, leavers, agency workers, vacancies, caseload and absence)
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  • 2. Characteristics (in post, starters, leavers)

    Local authority, National, Regional

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

    Number of rows
    39,501
    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
    Data set information page for 2. Characteristics (in post, starters, leavers)
    Create table using 2. Characteristics (in post, starters, leavers)

  • 3. Role by characteristics (in post)

    Local authority, National, Regional

    FTE and headcount figures on the role of social workers in post by: sex; age; and ethnicity.

    Number of rows
    135,303
    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
    • Organisation role
    • Breakdown
    Time period
    2019 to 2025
    Data set information page for 3. Role by characteristics (in post)
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  • 4. Cross-characteristics (in post) - national only

    National

    FTE and headcount figures on the cross-characteristics of social workers in post by: sex; age; and ethnicity.

    Number of rows
    1,296
    Indicators
    • Social workers in post - FTE (as at 30 September)
    • Social workers in post - headcount (as at 30 September)
    Filters
    • Sex
    • Age group
    • Ethnicity major
    Time period
    2017 to 2025
    Data set information page for 4. Cross-characteristics (in post) - national only
    Create table using 4. Cross-characteristics (in post) - national only

  • 5. Attrition (leavers) - national only

    National

    These are official statistics in development. FTE figures on the number and rate of social worker leavers due to: total attrition; full attrition; agency attrition; and movers between local authorities.

    Number of rows
    9
    Indicators
    • Social workers in post - FTE (as at 30 September)
    • Social worker leavers - FTE (year to 30 September)
    • Turnover rate - FTE (year to 30 September)
    Time period
    2017 to 2025
    Data set information page for 5. Attrition (leavers) - national only
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  • 6. Base salary full-time (in post) - national and regional only

    National, Regional

    These are official statistics in development. Base salary information of full-time social workers in post by role, sex, ethnicity, age and time in service.

    Number of rows
    426
    Indicators
    • Number of full time social workers in post with base salary recorded (as at 30 September)
    • Mean base salary of full time social workers in post (as at 30 September)
    • Median base salary of full time social workers in post (as at 30 September)
    Filters
    • Organisation role
    • Sex
    • Age group
    Time period
    2025
    Data set information page for 6. Base salary full-time (in post) - national and regional only
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  • 7. Allowances and additional payments - national and regional only

    National, Regional

    These are official statistics in development. Figures on the eligibility of social workers in post for eight types of local authority allowances and additional payments.

    Number of rows
    540
    Indicators
    • Number of local authorities
    • Percentage of local authorities
    Filters
    • Allowances and additional payments
    • Eligibility
    Time period
    2025
    Data set information page for 7. Allowances and additional payments - national and regional only
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Data guidance

Description of the data sets included in this release, including information on data sources, coverage, quality and any data conventions used.

Description

This guidance describes the data included in the underlying data files of the 2025 official statistics release ‘Children's social work workforce’.

This data is released under the terms of the Open Government Licence (opens in new tab) and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for Open Data (opens in new tab). 

The methodology page should be referenced alongside this data.

Coverage

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.

The information is based on data collected by the Department for Education from all local authorities in England in the annual Children’s social work workforce census (opens in new tab). 

The underlying data files include national, regional and local authority level information for the years 2017 to 2025.

File formats and conventions

Symbology

The following symbols are used in the underlying data files as follows: 

     z        Data is not applicable

     x        Data is unavailable for unknown or other reasons    

     c        Suppressed to protect confidential information

     low   Rounds to 0, but is not 0

     u        low reliability

Rounding

Figures for full-time equivalents (FTEs), rates, percentages, caseload and working days have been rounded to one decimal place. Therefore component parts may not sum to totals if applicable.

Headcounts and cases held are reported to the nearest whole number.

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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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