Qualifying probation training: implications for social work education

This collaborative paper examines the new (then) qualifying training scheme for probation officers and the implications for social work education. It considers partnerships with employers and the contractual relationship with HE institutions. It identifies the strengths of a competence based, outcome-focused and evidence based curriculum (‘What Works’); and it critically reviews the implementation of procedures for inter-linking lower level qualifications and crediting prior learning and achievement. The target audience was academics, policy makers and practitioners in the field of training across social work and probation practice, at a time when the concept of employment-based learning was still relatively new