English Language Skills - What the Social Care Council Requires

The ability to communicate safely and efficiently in English is essential to working effectively in social work. The Social Care Council need to be confident that you can speak and write in English.

You do not need to complete a language test if-

you are applying from and completed your social work qualification in one the list of countries on the Citizenship List.

Or

You have completed a United Kingdom social work qualification that is recognized by us.

Or

You can provide evidence that your social work qualification was taught in English, was awarded in the past five years and that you completed the qualification in a country where English is a first and native language.

Or

You have been registered and practising as a social worker in a country where English is a first and native language. This can be used as evidence of your English language skills if you were registered and practising in English for at least one year in the last five years and an English language assessment was required for registration. Confirmation, in English, will be required from the employer.

Language Tests/Standards:

If you cannot meet any of the points above you must successfully complete a language test and provide evidence of same –either the-

International Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic. Overall score 7.0 with no element below 6.5.

Or

Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) Minimum Grade C on the Cambridge CEFR C1 test

All language certificates must have been achieved within five years of the date you submitted your application to the Social Care  Council.

Providing details to the Social Care Council to enable the verification of your results

In addition to providing your certificate of results from an approved language test, you must provide the additional details from your test specified  to enable the Social Care Council to verify your results online as provided below.

Countries where English is the first and native language

These are the countries and territories we currently recognise as having English as their first and native language. Please note that a first and native language is different to an official language.

• Ascension
• Australia
• Bermuda
• British Antarctic Territory (BAT)
• British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT)
• Canada
• Falkland Islands
• Gibraltar
• Guernsey
• Guyana (formerly British Guiana)
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Jersey
• New Zealand
• Pitcairn
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on Cyprus (CBA’s)
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• St Helena
• Tristan da Cunha
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• US Virgin Islands

Caribbean Islands

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Anguilla
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Dominica
• Grenada
• Grenadines
• Jamaica
• Montserrat
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Vincent
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos Islands

Citizenship list

List of countries where for the purposes of citizenship, an applicant would not need to prove their English language skills:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Australia
• The Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Canada
• Dominica
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Jamaica
• New Zealand
• Ireland (for citizenship only)
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• USA

_{Information shared by Social Work England}

_{As of 11^th October , 2022}