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External Assessor to the Professional in Practice Partnership - call for expressions of interest letters

24 May 2024

External Assessor to the Professional in Practice Partnership - call for expressions of interest letters. graphic.

We are looking for a qualified social worker with experience in post-graduate social work education and training, who also has experience leading the profession and is interested in an opportunity to play a quality assurance role for the Professional in Practice (PiP) Partnership.

The Northern Ireland Social Care Council (the Social Care Council) is the regulator for the profession of social work and the social care workforce in Northern Ireland. This includes responsibility for regulation of social work education and training at both qualifying and post qualifying levels. The Social Care Council is the awarding body for professional awards in social work achieved through the PiP Framework. The PiP Framework is the continuous professional development pathway for social workers in Northern Ireland. The PiP Partnership is a subcommittee of the Social Care Council Board and is chaired by a Board Member. The Partnership consists of senior leaders from employing organisations, academic institutions and other providers involved in the provision of post-qualifying training to social workers and has responsibility for shaping and leading the strategic direction of the PiP Framework.

The Social Care Council is seeking to appoint an External Assessor to the PiP Partnership. The External Assessor has an essential role in the external scrutiny and quality benchmarking of all provision within the PiP Framework and therefore supporting the assurance of the PiP Partnership that standards are being met and maintained.

The appointment is for an initial three-year period and is renewable on an annual basis for up to a further three years. A remuneration fee of £400 is available on an annual basis along with other relevant expenses.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

Be a qualified social worker.
Be registered with a relevant Social Care Council or equivalent body on the social work part of register.
Have knowledge and experience of social work post-qualifying education and training in the UK and/or Ireland.
Have knowledge and experience of postgraduate assessment and assessment/quality assurance processes.

Responsibilities include:

Attendance at PiP Partnership meetings (normally four times per year with a minimum of one in-person meeting).
Reviewing a range of submissions for assessment (annually) to ensure equitable standards across routes.
Contributing to the process of quality assurance across all provision.
Provision of an annual written report.
Attendance at other relevant meetings/events as appropriate.


For further information or to submit an expression of interest and CV please contact a Professional Adviser at: PiP@niscc.hscni.net.

Deadline for submission: 4pm Friday 14 June.



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