Career progression advice needed - social care history but unable to do social work degree

[fallenbehind90]

I am wondering if anyone might be able to help me with my career options.

I have a First Class degree in English and a PGCE. Following my time in teaching I worked in mental health, in Early Help with children and families and I currently work with Care Leavers. It was my goal to get a Social Work qualification and become a Social Worker - I was hoping to do this through programmes such as Frontline or Step Up as doing a 3 year undergrad degree or apprenticeship isn't financially viable for me.

I had the assessment centre for Step Up today and it went terribly. There's no way I will have got a place and I think now the door on social work has shut for me, which I am pretty devastated about because I love working with vulnerable people and supporting them to make positive life changes.

I now need a new plan for career progression and I just don't know where to start. Can anyone advise on where I can go from here?

Great news @fallenbehind90, so pleased for you 😊

Well done and wishing you the absolute best of luck! I don't share your view on Joe Hanley's motivations for offering a much needed critical perspective on Fast Track programmes. I completely appreciate, however, that the inflationary devaluation of the bursary makes other routes into Social Work professional education financially non-viable for many applicants so I am really pleased that you have secured an opportunity which is workable for you.

@FloozingThePlot thank you very much. It is a shame that Social Work as a degree course isn't supported in the way it should be by way of bursaries. Having spoken to others who have applied for Frontline/Step Up/Think Ahead there seems to be a consensus that fast track programmes are the only financially viable means of obtaining a qualification, and even then it is tight eg the bursary for Step Up is £19K over 14 months. Crazy really when social workers are so desperately needed across the country