Overseas Workers Could Solve Social Worker Shortage

That's the main finding of a new evaluation report by Dr Sui Ting Kong, in our Department of Sociology, and the charity UK Welcomes Refugees (UKWR).

They looked at The Sutton Model piloted by Sutton Council, in London, from November 2024 to February 2025.

This model responds to critical workforce shortages in social care and the growing number of Hong Kong social workers migrating to the UK under the British National (Overseas) visa route.

It supports social workers trained overseas to transition into professional practice in the UK.

Readiness for social work registration

The evaluation report was presented at a national forum hosted by UKWR in the UK Parliament. The event was attended by more than 40 people from local authorities and strategic migration partnerships, from different nations of the UK.

The findings of the report show that the model significantly boosts participants' confidence, UK practice knowledge, and readiness for Social Work England registration.

The key findings are:

• Eight interns were recruited, with a 100% completion rate.

• There were significant improvements in legislative knowledge, case management skills, and confidence to register with Social Work England.

• The model had a wider positive impact on the wellbeing of migrant social workers in terms of sense of belonging, identity rebuilding and career continuity

• There was a strong preference among participants to work for local authorities.

The UK social work sector faces persistent challenges, with vacancy rates as high as 20% in children's services and 8.8% in adult social care.

Sutton Council will be considering this research and is hopeful that other local authorities will join them in exploring similar models.