Social Work Fast Track Programmes - Tracking Retention and Progression

The key aims of this study are to investigate the longer-term outcomes (to March 2020) for Frontline cohorts 1 to 5 and Step Up cohorts 4 and 5, such as employment destinations, rate of career progression and retention within child and family social work.

The evaluator will need to create and maintain an up-to-date database of contact details for candidates graduating from Frontline cohorts 1 to 5 and Step Up cohorts 4 and 5. This will allow the evaluator to follow progress of the graduates over the next three years (until early 2020) via short online surveys (every 12 months) and ad hoc qualitative research, as required, to investigate specific policy issues with samples from the database.

Step Up - The focus of this study will be Cohort 4 and 5 graduates as information on graduates for cohorts 1-3 is limited. The successful contractor will need to work with the Department to recruit existing contacts and to locate and recruit any cohort members for whom we do not hold current contact details.

Frontline - The successful contractor will also be expected to engage with Frontline (via DfE) to obtain relevant permissions and to build and maintain a full database of contact details for Frontline cohorts 1 to 5.

The study should address the following questions:

• What are the employment destinations and trajectories of fast-track graduates after they complete Step Up or Frontline programmes? • What are the retention rates within social work over time for each of the fast-track cohorts? • Are fast-track graduates who enter social work progressing to supervision or leadership roles and if so, how quickly? • What are the longer-term career plans and aspirations of fast-track graduates? • What are the destinations of fast-track candidates who exit the programmes before completion, those who complete the programmes but do not enter social work and those who enter but later leave the profession? • What are the push/ pull factors affecting retention in child and family social work amongst fast track graduates?

Additional information: The estimated value is £150,000 - £240,000 (excl. VAT)