Kathryn Mackay

Three demonstration projects were initially planned to cover assessment of performance of social work students within three distinct aspects of the social work degree: readiness to practice, academic based coursework and practice learning. The University based coursework project did not proceed. However, as noted above, this area was covered in more detail in the literature. The two demonstrations that ran addressed areas where little appears to have been tested.

Shared educational experiences between professionals is seen as one way of improving joint working once students qualify in their respective professions. The aim of this shared assessment project is to explore and document the ways in which professionals from disciplines other than social work can contribute to the performance assessment of social work students and conversely where they are less able to do so.

A Practice Audit of current assessment methods in social work education was commissioned by the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education (SIESWE) to provide a resource to assist the development of the new social work degree in Scotland. The aim of the audit was to provide a cross-sectional account of current and recent arrangements for the assessment of social work learning in the UK, analysing educational approaches, resources, models and methods employed.