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.

Some of our partners are also Skills Councils.

Please see below for further information on specific work on skills and benchmarking.

 

 

National Benchmark standards
Partners work together with employers, policy makers, learning providers and all sizes of employer – from large firms to micro-businesses and individual employers, to support the development of a skilled workforce through National Occupational Standards, apprenticeships and signposting a whole range of learning opportunities
Sharing Good Practice
Alliance Partners
Oonagh-Smyth-Main-Colour- SfCD
Oonagh Smyth
CEO, Skills for Care
Sarah-McCarty 2
Sarah McCarty
CEO, Social Care Wales
SSSC-5912_low_res
Maree Allison
CEO, Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)
Declan McCallister 2
Declan McAllister
CEO, Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC)
Neil
Neil Leitch
CEO, Early Years Alliance
ColumConway_White Background_Square_02
Colum Conway
CEO, Social Work England
Claire O Cleary CORU
Claire O'Cleary
CEO, CORU

What we do

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

Resources

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.

Children’s Anti-trafficking and anti-slavery Training Framework

Standards
Inspectors
Health and Social Care
Children's Care Learning and Development
Social Work
Commissioning, Procurement and Contracting for Care Services
Leadership and Management for Care Services
Sensory Services

National Occupational Standards (NOS) Review 2024/5

The Scottish Social Services Council, in collaboration with UK partners, is leading a comprehensive review of 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. There will be a formal consultation in the summer before the final NOS are confirmed in December 2025.

What have we achieved so far? 

We started by identifying the most commonly used NOS, highlighting gaps in the standards and then aligned the NOS across adults and children’s services. Valuable engagement work with the sector was undertaken to gather evidence to inform the review and the team has been busy drafting and refining the updated NOS.

So far, 80% have of the NOS been reviewed, with the final batch, including four new standards on leadership and digital skills, are currently being finalised. With strong input from the sector and a focus on streamlining, the final set will include around 160 NOS, making the framework more focused and relevant. Feedback from the sector will also shape the content of the upcoming formal consultation this summer.

Get involved

There will be a public consultation from 4th August to 19th September 2025.

To find out more about current NOS engagement activity in each of the UK nations, see the information below:

Skills for Care, England: If you would like to be involved or would like further information, please contact nwdcs@skillsforcare.org.uk

Northern Ireland Social Services Council: If you would like to be involved or would like further information, please contact mervyn.bothwell@niscc.hscni.net or sharon.foster@niscc.hscni.net

Scottish Social Services Council: If you would like to be involved or would like further information, please contact nosreview2025@sssc.uk.com

Social Care Wales: If you would like to be involved or would like further information, please contact qualsandstandards@socialcare.wales

Principles for Learning and Assessment

SfCD partners adhere to shared principles for learning and qualifications in the care sector across the UK.

The strategic approach framework demonstrate how working as a partnership enhances the work of SfCD partners.

Strategic Approach to Sector Qualifications and Learning

The assessment principles support delivery and achievement of qualifications across the UK:

Skills for Care and Development Assessment Principles
Careers in Care

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.

Regulation and Transferability of qualifications across the four national partners
If you want to work in a different country to the one where you gained your qualification we strongly recommend you contact the regulatory body in the country where you want to work to confirm requirements. Links to the national partners are below.
Research

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:

Download full UK report
Download UK infographic
Download summary UK report

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:

You can also find each nation’s Workforce Data sites below:

 

* Welsh language versions of the Wales infographic and summary report and the UK reports available upon request.