Who we are?
We are 7 organisations located across the UK and Ireland who believe people accessing care and support should have quality care, control, protection and increased quality of life.
We work together to effect positive change through improvement of practice, workforce development and regulation in social care, social work and early years.
Strong Partnership
We work together across the UK and Ireland to support dynamic workforce development and effective regulation in social care, social work and early years.
- CORU
- Early Years Alliance
- NI Social Care Council
- Scottish Social Services Council
- Skills for Care
- Social Care Wales
- Social Work England.
Some of our partners are also Skills Councils.
Please see below for further information on specific work on skills and benchmarking.
National Benchmark standards
Sharing Good Practice
We work together to increase opportunities to share good practice and develop shared resources across the UK.
Please see below for further information on resources.
We work together to increase opportunities to share good practice, support our peers as critical friends, develop shared resources and increase our knowledge.
We work together for:
Increased capacity in the workforce, to meet population needs
Increased skills and capabilities in the workforce
Increased use of regulation insights to inform workforce development
Improved social care, social work and early years status
New free resource – Children’s Anti-trafficking and anti-slavery Training Framework
SfCD supported the development of this framework with Dr Ruth Van Dyke at St Mary’s University.
Please take a look and distribute to your contacts.
National Occupational Standards (NOS) Review 2024/5
Work is being undertaken across the UK to review the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Health and Social Care and Childcare, Learning and Development.
What are NOS and why are they important?
NOS describe the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to do a particular job to a nationally recognised level of competence.
NOS form the basis of qualifications and training programmes required to work in social services. That is why it is important to review the NOS to make sure that they are up to date and reflect the skills and knowledge that is needed in different roles.
What will the Review involve?
The review will involve assessing evidence on the skills and knowledge requirements for different roles, and identifying what needs to be updated in the NOS. This will be done through sector engagement across the UK to find out what is important. In Summer/Autumn 2025 there will be a formal consultation before the final NOS are confirmed in December 2025.
Get involved
Over the coming months, we will share how to get involved with the NOS review in each of the devolved nations. Please see below information on how to support the review in England:
SfCD partners adhere to shared principles for learning and qualifications in the care sector across the UK. The principles demonstrate how working as a partnership enhances the work of SfCD partners.
For agreed principles and approaches to assessment within qualifications
Care is one of the fastest growing areas of employment in the UK, with more and more people needing our services. Never before have there been so many great career opportunities. If you want to discover whether a job in social care is for you visit our A Question of Care: A career for you site. This is an interactive video challenge to help you to see what a career in care is really like.
Or visit our Partners Careers sites:
Please see out latest podcast on the use of situational judgement tests for values-based assessments and candidate self-selection in the care sector.
Economic and social value of the UK adult social care sector: UK
Skills for Care and Development commissioned Alma Economics to analyse the adult social care sector’s economic and social value in the UK as a whole and in each of the four nations using data from 2022/23.
It’s used to inform the economic case for investment in the social care sector and its workforce in the UK as a whole (as well as having national breakdowns). It’s also used to inform policy-making and national spending review decisions on investment.
The total direct, indirect, and induced value of the adult social care sector in the UK was £71.2 billion.
The socioeconomic benefits of the adult social care sector in the UK were £330 billion, while the costs were £140 billion (2023). This means that for every £1 spent in the sector, there was £2.40 in socioeconomic benefits.
The full UK report, a summary report and an infographic providing a visual representation of the economic value of the social care sector are available below:
Economic and social value of the adult social care sector: national breakdown
Download the reports into the economic and social value of the adult social care sector in each of the devolved nations in 2023:
- England: full report, summary report, infographic (updated with 2024 data from the state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England report)
- Scotland: full report, summary report, infographic
- Wales: full report, full Welsh language report, summary report, infographic
- Northern Ireland: full report, summary report, infographic
You can also find each nation’s Workforce Data sites below:
- Scottish Social Services Council
- Social Care Wales
- Skills for Care
- Social Work England
- Northern Ireland Social Care Council