Start a new career in child and family work with Birmingham Children's Trust

The Birmingham Children's Trust Step Up to Social Work programme opens today (17 February 2025) for aspiring social workers to apply for a place on an intensive but highly rewarding training programme. 

Step Up to Social Work is a 14-month, full-time training programme for talented graduates and career changers to become the next generation of child and family social workers supporting vulnerable children, young people and families. It is designed for people who want to become a social worker but do not have a degree in social work. Successful applicants train through a combination of academic study and hands on social work experience with.

Applicants eligible for the programme, which includes financial support alongside training, will be individuals with experience of working with vulnerable children, young people, families or adults, and who can demonstrate emotional resilience and potential for success.

Step Up To Social Work aims to attract applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds and aims to have a workforce that represents the society that we serve.  

Isabelle Trowler, Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, said: 

“It is excellent to see the quality of the hundreds of graduates who qualify as social workers through the Step Up programme, and encouraged to see them start out on a long-term career in social work. Our profession is highly challenging, but highly rewarding, and Step Up is developing a highly skilled workforce ready to make a genuine positive impact on people’s lives.”

The Step Up programme is backed by the Department for Education to support 700 individuals to enter the social work profession in local authorities across England in 2026. This funding will support individuals with training costs and a bursary of £21,995 over the duration of the programme to support them whilst in training. This will be the ninth cohort of Step Up since 2010, the programme has successfully supported over 2,900 social workers to enter the profession across England. 

Apply for the Step Up to Social Work programme

You can read more about our Step Up to Social Work programme at Birmingham Children's Trust, including testimony from our staff on completing the training, below. 

Step Up to Social Work

Webinar briefing - Thursday 13 March 2025

We are hosting a FREE Step up to Social Work webinar briefing on Thursday 13 March 2025 from 4.00pm to 5.00pm.

If you are intersted in attending please complete THIS REGISTRATION FORM. A joining link will be sent on the day to the email address you supply in the registration form.