WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
A CAREER THAT MATTERS
Imagine a world where no child’s life chances are limited by their social or family circumstance. On the Frontline programme, that’s the future you will be working towards.
Together we can achieve social change for children who don’t have a safe or stable home.
EARN AS YOU LEARN
You will earn while you study to qualify as a social worker and achieve a fully-funded master’s degree. In year one you will receive a tax-exempt bursary of £18k or £20k in London. This is equivalent to a salary of £21k or £24k.
As a newly qualified social worker in year two, you will earn a salary between £25k and £34k depending on location.
HIGH LEVELS OF SUPPORT
In year one of the programme, you’ll work on real life cases in small groups, led by an experienced social worker. Working as a team, you will help each other to develop and succeed, with additional support from your practice tutor.
During your second year, you’ll receive continued support from your practice tutor and local authority, along with professional coaching to develop your leadership skills.
DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS
Intensive training and support will develop your skills in leadership, conflict resolution, analysis and relationship building, which will help you drive social change inside the social work profession and beyond.
WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A VARIETY OF AGENCIES
You’ll work with and advise a wide range of professionals in health, education, the criminal justice system and beyond to bring about positive change in the lives of disadvantaged children and families.
LEAD CHANGE IN SOCIETY
After you complete the programme you will join the Fellowship, a growing community of over 2,000 social workers.
Fellows continue to develop their skills, share excellent practice, and explore ideas and initiatives that will bring about real and sustainable change for children and families. You will receive ongoing support and training throughout your career.
Participants’ stories
For those of us who have never experienced social work first hand, it can be difficult to imagine what a social worker does. Read our participants’ stories to find out more about the role and learn about the difference you could make on the Frontline programme.
Jill
Jill Sinaguglia had some time to reflect on her career during the pandemic, and decided to apply for the Frontline programme. She shares her reasons for pursuing social work, and her positive experience of the Frontline programme so far.Nick
"The Frontline programme appealed to me as I was very attracted by the idea of practice learning. I was keen to work directly with children and families as soon as possible. I was also really interested by the unit model, and the concept of sharing ideas and hypotheses within a small, close-knit team."Sally and Jacob
Two Frontline programme participants, Sally and Jacob, worked hard alongside parents-to-be, Lacey and Lee, to ensure that baby Logan would be able to remain safely in the parents’ care once born, but with intensive support from professionals.Tommy
Tommy Gale talks about his journey to becoming a social worker and the Frontline programme.
Application process
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Social workers should reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our Frontline programme cohorts and supporting applicants with disabilities.
SELECTION PROCESS
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
OUR POLICIES
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Frontline pilot: independent evaluation
An independent evaluation of the Frontline pilot programme was conducted by Cardiff University and published in March 2016. The evaluation compared the practice skills of Frontline programme participants with those qualifying into social work through other routes. It found that Frontline participants were rated higher than students on mainstream programmes on every one of the ten assessment criteria.
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