Teaching Partnerships
2015–16: Invitation to
Express Interest
Prepared by Social Work Reform Unit, Department for Education and Social
Care Training, Strategy and External Relations Directorate, Department of
Health.
1
Teaching Partnerships
Government intends to support a small number of early adopter
teaching partnerships to test and refine new and innovative
approaches to delivering high quality training for social work
students and qualified practitioners
Government has been developing proposals for teaching partnerships since summer
2014. We have sought views from the social work sector through:



Discussions at national Social Work Education Funding Advisory Group
meetings with representatives of HEIs, employers (both statutory and PVI),
students and social work teaching departments;
An employer survey in the autumn to 150 workforce leads in adults’ and child
and family departments in local authorities (LAs). 75 LAs responded;
Additional discussions with and information supplied by national sector
representatives, as well as discussions with and visits to HEIs and LAs
currently involved in placement provision.
Government wants to implement from 2015 a shift away from the current approach
to funding distribution. Subject to evaluation of the early adopter phase and
decisions made through the 2015 Spending Review, teaching partnerships will
become the key delivery vehicle to address the recommendations made by the 2014
Narey and Croisdale-Appleby reviews of social work education.
We define a teaching partnership as:
an accredited collaboration between HEIs and employers which delivers high
quality training for social work students and qualified practitioners and equips
them to practise to specified standards in statutory settings.
We will prioritise expressions of interest from partnerships that:




Accept the highest calibre entrants onto courses through rigorous adherence
to UCAS points and robust additional testing for all students for values,
attributes, intellectual and academic ability;
Embed the Chief Social Workers’ Knowledge and Skills statements and
provide a strong focus on specialisms driven by these statements;
Provide placements in statutory settings with, as a minimum, every student
being guaranteed at least one statutory placement relevant to their specialism.
We will prioritise partnerships that offer two statutory placements;
Have frontline practitioners and their managers currently employed in
statutory settings providing “classroom” teaching.
New teaching partnership arrangements are part of the Government’s broader
strategy to strengthen the quality of practice learning and CPD among trainee and
practising social workers. The Chief Social Workers’ Knowledge and Skills
statements, the ASYE programmes, the approved child and family practitioner
2
status, the Best Interest Assessor and Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP)
accreditations, supervision and practice leadership status developments and plans
for a national CPD framework should be addressed through new teaching
partnerships.
Decisions on funding for the financial years 2016-17 and beyond will be subject to
the Spending Review and evaluation of the early adopters programme. However, the
current intention is to continue the early adopters programme and move to
mainstream teaching partnerships. In 2015-16 we will fund a small number of early
adopters to test and refine partnership arrangements with the intention of wider rollout from 2016-17. We expect a small number of partnerships to be approved and
receive additional funding on the basis of how far their proposals meet the
assessment criteria. Partnerships that are not part of the early adopter project will be
funded according to normal 2015-16 ESG arrangements. Bursary payments will not
be affected by the early adopter project and will be paid in the normal way.
How to apply
In order to achieve the above outcomes, early adopter teaching partnerships should
aim to raise the quality of intake, teaching and practice in ways reflected in the
criteria in Annexe A.
Eligibility and stretch criteria
Many social work employer organisations and HEIs are of course already members
of partnerships. The criteria take stock both of existing partnership attributes and the
additionality proposed through being an early adopter. All expressions of interest
(EoIs) should cover what we already expect to see in existing partnerships - eligibility
criteria; and the ambitious goals we want funded teaching partnerships to set
themselves in 2015-16 – the stretch criteria. EoIs will be assessed against both.
Eligibility criteria therefore relate to what should be in place by the 2 March deadline
for proposals. Existing partnerships already in place may wish to review their
structure and operation once they have read the criteria. Organisations not in
partnerships may wish to join one.
The stretch criteria show Government ambitions for teaching partnerships as centres
of excellence in training both students and qualified practitioners. EoIs will be
expected to state what the partnership already does and to propose areas of
development that fulfil or exceed the expectations in the stretch criteria. EoIs will be
judged on the strength of their proposals in relation to the criteria in Annexe A - in
particular the extent to which they fulfil Government reform proposals.
Core and discretionary areas
Government recognises this agenda is ambitious and partnerships will need time to
develop in all the areas which should raise the quality of training. The criteria are
therefore divided into core and discretionary areas. The core areas are those which
Government is prioritising for 2015-16. All proposals must address all the core
areas, which are governance; admissions; placements and curriculum;
academic delivery; and practice support and development. Partnerships have a
choice over whether to include any of the discretionary areas in their proposal.
3
Government recognises the short timescales for submitting EoIs. We expect
partnerships to submit by the deadline outline proposals which, if approved by the
assessment panel, can be developed into more comprehensive plans.
Existing and new employer-led partnerships can express their interest in becoming
an early adopter by using the application form.
All expressions of interest must be submitted by 12 noon on Monday 2 March 2015
and sent to:
[email protected], with the header “Teaching Partnership
EoI”.
Questions and requests for additional forms can also be sent to this mailbox with the
header “Teaching Partnership query”.
Partnerships will be notified of the outcome of their application during the week
beginning 16 March. Those which are successfully shortlisted to be an early adopter
will be issued with a grant agreement which must be signed and returned to DfE by
23 March 2015.
Assessment of proposals
Proposals will be assessed by a panel chaired by the Chief Social Workers. A
shortlist of teaching partnerships will be approved on the basis of how far proposals
meet the eligibility and stretch criteria.
Shortlisted sites will be provided with ten days’ support and challenge from coaches
to develop and refine their proposals. We expect the majority of this to be used in
the period March – May 2015.
Final decisions on the shortlisted proposals will be taken by a panel in June 2015. An
assessment will be made at this panel of the partnership’s readiness to support
students. Approved partnerships will be funded to deliver their plan. Shortlisting is no
guarantee that proposals will be approved.
FAQ
How will this affect Education Support Grant (ESG) funding and bursary
allocation?
Those partnerships not wishing to be early adopters can apply for ESG funding in
the normal way. Those who are approved as early adopters will receive funding (as
per their approved proposal) additional to their ESG allocation.
HEIs in teaching partnerships will need to apply for the ESG in the same way as
currently (i.e. there is no difference between HEIs in teaching partnerships and those
that are not, either in the process or the rates).
How much funding is available and what can it be used for?
£2m of funding is available in total, reflecting the fact that we are seeking a small
number of early adopters.
4
This funding is for successful early adopters to meet the stretch criteria in ways
outlined in their EoIs. We expect bids to be creative and innovative in their use of the
funding. Funding payment will be against agreed milestones showing achievement of
the stretch criteria.
Examples could include:
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Payment of backfill to allow experienced social workers to deliver training;
Adjusting practitioner caseloads to enable more staff to supervise students;
Embedding the Knowledge and Skills statements into curricula;
Payment of backfill to allow academic staff to update their frontline
experience.
All shortlisted proposals will receive a small amount of development funding to work
up their proposals in more detail. Only those proposals approved at the final panel
will be fully funded for delivery.
Why do applicants have to declare funding received from other public
sources?
Government needs to ensure that there is no double funding of activities in the EoI
proposal, outside the normal ESG funding allocation. It would be unfair for any
organisation to receive teaching partnership funding for the same enhancements
derived through, for instance, the Innovation Fund, or through being part of more
than one early adopter teaching partnership.
For instance:


through Step Up to Social Work, Government pays an element of the grant for
supervision and support of Step Up students. There may be examples where
the same practitioner in a teaching partnership supports Step Up and nonStep Up students. If the LA is also paid for practitioner support of students
under a teaching partnership grant, that would be an example of double
funding;
if an Innovation Programme bid includes a funding request to adapt training to
reflect the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families’ Knowledge and
Skills statements, the same work cannot also be funded through a teaching
partnership bid.
Can employers or HEIs be part of more than one partnership?
One of the aims of teaching partnerships is to give students certainty over the type of
placement they will get as this affects their career path. HEIs and employers
applying to be an early adopter teaching partnership must guarantee the number and
kind of placements they will offer to students. Employers and/or HEIs which decide
to be part of more than one partnership must guarantee statutory placements
relevant to their specialism to all their students in 2015-16 and ensure there is no
double funding (see above).
Why is there such an emphasis on statutory placements?
5
Experience of non-statutory working can be valuable for students and can be
delivered in a number of ways. The existing ESG pot is still available for
partnerships that wish to continue with their current non-statutory placement
arrangements. However, both Croisdale-Appleby and Narey recommended that
good quality statutory placements should be available to all social work students.
This should ensure that newly-qualified social workers are as well prepared as
possible when starting practice. All expressions of interest should guarantee at least
one statutory placement for all students. We will prioritise EoIs that guarantee two
statutory placements relevant to their students’ specialism. We define statutory
placements as those that:

take place in a local authority setting;

involve work on S17 and S47 cases (under the Children Act 1989);

involve work on delivering requirements of the Care Act 2014 and Mental
Capacity Act 2005;

require case records to be updated by the student, under appropriate
supervision.
Where PVIs offer placements that deliver statutory work, proposals must show how
they are equivalent to statutory placements as defined above.
What size should partnerships be?
Partnerships can be any size, though they must be able to achieve their stated
objectives and have an identified local authority lead partner who will be the main
point of contact for government officials.
What happens after this financial year?
Government intends to explore how teaching partnerships can raise the quality of
social work education with a view to expanding the programme from 2016-17. The
2015-16 proposals are an opportunity to gather early evidence of how this might
work. All social work education funding will be reconsidered in the next Spending
Review, but we will have early lessons from early adopter teaching partnerships to
draw on.
Can PVI organisations get involved in teaching partnerships?
Both Croisdale-Appleby and Narey recommended that good quality statutory
placements should be available to all social work students. This should ensure that
newly-qualified social workers are as well prepared as possible when starting
practice.
We expect PVIs to be part of early adopter teaching partnerships. We believe that
experience of non-statutory working can be valuable for students and can be
delivered in a number of ways. PVIs may be able to offer placements that include
statutory experience (see above). The existing ESG pot is still available for
partnerships that wish to continue with non-statutory placement arrangements.
6
When will these new teaching partnerships begin?
Teaching partnerships will need to develop their current arrangements in spring 2015
to meet the new criteria and begin in earnest following the final assessment panel
and in time for when new students arrive from September 2015.
7
Annexe A
ELIGIBILITY AND STRETCH CRITERIA
Glossary
SUC = service user or carer
PE = Practice Educator
Eligibility criteria
SDD = skills development days
Required evidence
CSWs = Chief Social Workers
Stretch criteria
Required evidence
CORE AREAS
1. Governance
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The partnership can include
HEIs, statutory and PVI
organisations
The partnership can evidence
governance arrangements for
the partnership
The partnership has governance
around safe practice for
students
The partnership is led and
driven by senior managers
within the partnership; Principal
Social Workers or equivalent
attend partnership meetings
A nominated employer body in
the partnership is willing to hold
any partnership funds on behalf
of the partnership as a


The EoI confirms the

partnership currently
meets the eligibility
criteria. It describes the
membership of the
partnership, the
frequency of meetings
and the parts played by 
senior managers
(including Principal
Social Workers or
equivalent)
Papers are available
on request to evidence
the partnership meets
the eligibility criteria
8
A strategy to raise the
quality of education
and practice training
through the Teaching
Partnership is coowned by all the leads
in the partnership
The partnership has a
credible plan for
improved performance
for 2015-16 and
beyond, which senior
managers in all
partnership
organisations own and
will deliver


A Memorandum of
Understanding or
Cooperation signed by
organisational leaders
whereby they confirm
their commitment and
resourcing to achieve
the milestones in the
Expression of Interest
An accompanying high
level timeline showing
the milestones for
2015-16 development;
a separate high level
timeline for
development to 201718
separately accounted fund
2. Admissions




The partnership can evidence
the ways SUCs and employer
representatives are involved in
the design and operation of
admissions, including decisions
about recruitment of students
The partnership can evidence
the ways it meets SWRB
guidance on the admission of
students
(http://www.swapbox.ac.uk/1133
/1/Admission%2520to%2520SW
_Dec2011_final%2520doc[1].pdf
)
The partnership can evidence
that at least 240 UCAS points or
a 2:1 are required to apply for
entry through conventional
routes to undergraduate and
postgraduate courses
respectively, requirements also
maintained at clearing
The partnership uses a range of
methods to assess applicants
Outcome measures
 Improved
performance in the
core areas is
achieved by Sept
2016


The EoI confirms the
partnership currently
meets the eligibility
criteria
Papers are available
on request to evidence
the partnership meets
the eligibility criteria



9
The partnership owns
a plan for the
involvement of SUCs
and employer
representatives at all
stages of admissions
from Sept 2015,
including decisions
about applicants
The partnership is
committed to a
minimum of 300 UCAS
points or a 2:1
requirement to
undergraduate and
postgraduate courses
respectively from Sept
2016, requirements
also maintained at
clearing
The partnership
develops a test at the
point of application
before an offer to study


The EoI describes
plans to enhance the
admissions process
and raise standards of
entry
An admissions test is
available for review by
30 June 2015
Outcome measures
 A visit to the
partnership in 201516 shows the stretch
criteria are being
implemented
is made. The test will
assess all applicants’
intellectual ability,
social work values and
behaviours. The test
must include written
assessment, verbal
reasoning, group
discussion and
scenarios/role play in
all cases. These tests
should be applied to all
applicants, including
those from access
courses
3. Placements
and
curriculum

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

The partnership’s placement
provider representatives and
SUCs are involved in SDD
teaching, learning, assessment
and curriculum planning for
initial education and CPD
The partnership’s SDD
programme is structured around
jointly agreed learning outcomes
The partnership’s practice
learning opportunities are quality
assured with a clear learning
structure in place
The partnership can evidence
clear links to practice, social


The EoI confirms the
partnership currently
meets the eligibility
criteria
Papers are available
on request to evidence
the partnership meets
the eligibility criteria
10

All placement students 
are guaranteed
statutory placements
relevant to their
specialism. In child and
family settings, these
will offer all students
significant experience
of using the statutory
framework for child and
family social work. In
adult services,
students will have
experience of using

statutory frameworks
for adult social care in
The EoI confirms that
statutory placements
relevant to students’
specialisms will be
available to all students
in the academic year
2015-16 and beyond. It
lists the organisations
to be used and
describes in full the
types of statutory
experience students
will gain
The EoI confirms the
embedding of the
CSWs’ Knowledge and

work law and theories, methods
and models of social work in its
SDD programme
Partnerships have agreed
procedures for assessing
student progress; the application
of these procedures is
consistent and evidence
confirms this is the case with
rigour in the system. There are
clear arrangements to identify
poor student progress and take
appropriate action to fail
students when needed

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
1
See the explanatory note on p6
11
delivering outcomefocused, personalised
responses1.
Partnerships offering
both statutory
placements relevant to
students’ specialisms
in contrasting settings
will be prioritised in the
assessment of EoI
The CSWs’ Knowledge
and Skills statements
have a central place in
the curriculum
Programmes providing
units in child and family
and adult specialisms
will be prioritised
Inspectors of practice
learning are used to
monitor and assess
quality of practice
learning opportunities
The partnership has a
plan for embedding the
CSWs’ Knowledge and
Skills statements,
consistency checking
of ASYE requirements,
ACFP and DfE


Skills statements in the
curriculum from 201516 and summarises
any changes required.
The EoI describes the
specialisms offered in
adult and child and
family social work
The EoI describes the
monitoring and quality
assurance
arrangements for
practice placements
Papers evidencing the
other requirements are
available on request
Outcome measures
 A visit to the
partnership in 201516 shows the stretch
criteria are being
implemented


4. Academic
delivery

The partnership can evidence
that at least 60% of the HEIemployed academic teaching
team are qualified, registered

The EoI confirms the
partnership currently
meets the eligibility
criteria
12

supervisor proposals
into CPD during 201516
CPD, including ASYE
arrangements, is linked
to national
requirements for all
social workers and
the new assessment
and accreditation
system for child and
family social work,
reflecting the
embedding of
progression, learning
and development,
within organisational
identity
The partnership can
evidence enhanced
collaboration between
employers and HEIs to
undertake long term
planning for training
and development of
the social work
workforce throughout
their careers
The partnership can
demonstrate an
increase in the amount
of child and family

The EoI explains the
increase in the amount
of adult, and child and
family practitioner



5. Support and
development
of students
on practice
placements



social workers
The partnership can evidence
that practitioners and SUCs are
involved in helping design,
deliver and assess the initial
education academic programme
The partnership can evidence
that robust internal QA
processes are used to ensure
the quality of HEI and placement
delivery
The partnership can evidence
that student feedback is used to
enhance the academic
programme

The partnership can evidence
that at least 50% of all PEs
currently used by the
partnership have demonstrated
capability against Level 2 of PE
Professional Standards
The partnership can evidence
that PEs are required to provide
evidence of ongoing capability.
The partnership can evidence
how it deals with quality issues
relating to PEs
Quality Assurance in Practice
Learning (QAPL) feedback
indicates enhanced placement
experience for students

Papers are available
on request to evidence
the partnership meets
the eligibility criteria


The EoI confirms the
partnership currently
meets the eligibility
criteria
Papers are available
on request to evidence
the partnership meets
the eligibility criteria


13
practitioner and adult
teaching compared to
practitioner teaching on
previous baselines and
the initial education
how it will be quality
academic programme
assured.
in 2015-16 compared
to previous baselines
Outcome measures
In feedback, 90% or
 A visit to the
more of students rate
partnership in 2015academic delivery as
16 shows the stretch
at least good
criteria are being
implemented
 Practitioners directly
deliver some of the
teaching
The partnership can

evidence how students
will be supported and
developed throughout
their placements by a
broad set of child and
family and adult
practitioners
appropriate to their
placements and not
just by a single practice
educator
The partnership can
evidence that no more
than 20% of PEs used
will be independent
The EoI describes a
plan for meeting the
stretch criteria from
Sept 2015. This
includes the increase
in practitioners’
supervision time and
any increase in the
number of practitioners
that will supervise in
2015-16, matched
against changes in
placement numbers for
2015-16


The partnership can evidence
that HEIs and employers make
joint decisions on matching
students with PEs



14
The partnership has a
clear plan and
accompanying
rationale to allocate a
fixed amount of time to
ensure that child and
family and adult
supervisors and/or
team managers
appropriate to
students’ placements
support and develop
students in 2015-16
At least 80% of PEs
supervising
placements should be
social workers involved
in direct work with
children and families,
and/or adults, as
appropriate to
students’ placements
The partnership can
evidence how
experienced, effective
child and family, and
adult social workers
(whether or not they
are PEs) are involved
in curriculum
development
All those supporting
Outcome measures
 A visit to the
partnership in 201516 shows the stretch
criteria are being
implemented
and developing
students must be
familiar with the CSWs’
Knowledge and Skills
statements
DISCRETIONARY AREAS
6. Progression


7. Workforce
planning

The partnership can evidence
that employability rates in social
work 6 months and 12 months
after graduation are 50% and
70% respectively
The partnership can evidence
that vacancies across the
partnership are systematically
advertised to students
The partnership can evidence
that the number of students
admitted to qualifying
programmes is linked to an area
or regional workforce




The EoI confirms the
partnership currently
meets the eligibility
criteria
Papers are available
on request to evidence
the partnership meets
the eligibility criteria
The EoI confirms the
partnership currently
meets the eligibility
criteria
Papers are available
15



There is a plan to
deliver 2015-16
employability rates in
social work of at least
70% and 80% 6
months and 12 months
respectively after
graduation
The partnership can
evidence that a system
is in place to support
final year students in
their transition to
qualified practitioner,
above and beyond final
placement
arrangements

The partnership has a
plan for improving
workforce planning
during 2015-16,
endorsed and driven

The EoI describes
what is in place to
meet the stretch
criteria
Outcome measures
 A visit to the
partnership by March
2015 shows a
support system is in
place
 6 month
employability targets
are met by end Jan
2016
The EoI describes
what is in place to
meet the stretch
criteria


8. Academics’
experience
of practice


development programme
The partnership can evidence
that CPD plans are informed by
employer demand and that
practitioners are supported to
access CPD opportunities
The partnership can evidence
that a comprehensive CPD
framework is in place to enable
social workers to develop career
pathways
Practitioners with current
responsibility for statutory social
work must be involved in
teaching specialist elements of
the curriculum
The partnership can evidence
that 10% of academic staff are
supported to have protected
time in practice during 2015-16
on request to evidence
the partnership meets
the eligibility criteria


The EoI confirms the
partnership currently
meets the eligibility
criteria
Papers are available
on request to evidence
the partnership meets
the eligibility criteria
16




by senior managers
The partnership has a
plan for embedding the
CSWs’ Knowledge and
Skills statements,
ASYE requirements,
ACFP and DfE
supervisor proposals
into CPD during 201516
Practitioners involved
in teaching are
supported by
employers to do so
There are joint
appointments across
practice and education
There is a plan to
embed practitioner
research approaches
for students and
ASYEs in partnership
with HEIs
Outcome measures
 A visit to the
partnership in 201516 shows the stretch
criteria are being
implemented

The EoI describes
what is in place to
meet the stretch
criteria
Outcome measures
 Evidence of personal
practice experience
informing the
academic content of
the programme and
raising its quality
Implementation timetable
Feb 2015
Government publishes invitations for expressions of interest in being an early
adopter of new teaching partnership arrangements
2 March
Deadline for teaching partnerships to submit expressions of interest
Wb 9 March
Expressions of interest assessed against eligibility and stretch criteria
Wb 16 March
Partnerships notified of the outcome of their expression of interest
23 March
Deadline for receipt of signed grant agreements at DfE
April-May
Early adopter development; practice learning arrangements confirmed
Early June
Final assessment of early adopter readiness and funding decisions
September
Early adopters begin admitting students to readiness for direct practice training
and placement arrangements
To March 2016
“Live” assessment of the early adopters against the proposals in their EoIs,
including stretch criteria
17