How Social Worker Apprenticeships are giving loyal employees the opportunity to fulfil life-long career ambitions

Kate Williams had lost confidence in her career progression until her employer offered her the chance to earn a degree through an apprenticeship with ARU.

Kate has worked in adult social care across many different teams for over 10 years, but during that time, she could not afford to complete her aspirations to study at university. “I had been through some challenging years personally and had also lost confidence in my working role” she said. “There had been talks for a while about funding Social Work degrees, so when the opportunity for the apprenticeship became available, I did not hesitate to apply.”

“The apprenticeship route offered by Thurrock Council was an amazing opportunity” she says. “To financially maintain my home and continue in paid employment, whilst my employer also paid for the cost of the degree has been a real gift.”

Kate spends one day a week studying with ARU and the remaining four in the workplace. The apprenticeship will equip her to work in either adult or children’s services once she completes the course and registers with Social Work England as a qualified Social Worker. “The apprenticeship has already given me a variety of different experiences, and I have learned so much in a very short space of time” she says. “The transferrable skills I have been able to evidence in my placement will benefit my career in social work. I feel that when I return to my substantive team, I will have more knowledge to be able to support my team, the wider department, and, most importantly, the people we support.”

The apprenticeship creates a new opportunity for experienced employees like Kate who have ambitions to become qualified social workers but have been unable to follow the traditional route. ARU’s Social Worker degree apprenticeship provides a practically-applied education that empowers learners like Kate to find their purpose and gain the knowledge, skills and experience to achieve their ambitions. Kate said, “The course has also given me a confidence boost, and confirms that this was the right decision, and right career choice for me.”

Find out more about our Social Worker Apprenticeship BA (Hons) apprenticeship.

If you are interested in hiring new or developing existing employees with our Social Worker Degree Apprenticeship visit our dedicated employer page or email one of the team [email protected].