Introduction
Promoted on behalf of the Joint Social Services Taskforce (JSST).
The Earn and Learn College Placements Blueprint for Adult Social Care was developed as a workstream of the Joint Social Services Taskforce (JSST), co-chaired by the Scottish Government and COSLA, which has been taking forward actions on priorities for the social care and social work workforces.
This Blueprint aims to address issues of recruitment into the Adult Social Care sector, offering a supported entry route into careers in social care while undertaking relevant qualifications. It draws on best practice to offer principles on how social care employers can work with their local college to establish earn and learn placements, enabling students to fulfil their course placement hours through short-term paid employment.
This Blueprint builds on examples of earn and learn college placement models already underway, highlighting how colleges, social care employers and students can work effectively in partnership to facilitate these opportunities within their local areas.
The Blueprint and accompanying documents can be found at Earn and Learn College Placements – Blueprint - College Development Network
What is an earn and learn college placement?
An earn and earn college placement is where students receive wages for the placement hours they undertake as part of the course requirements of a social care course or qualification they are studying. The student becomes a part-time employee on a fixed short-term contract, subject to the usual terms and conditions of employment. The costs of paying the wages of a student comes from an employer’s own budget.
This type of arrangements can also sometimes be referred to as ‘internships’, or ‘paid college placements’, ‘employed placements’ or ‘employed status students’.
Earn and learn college placements can be used to help study towards a range of qualifications which support entry routes into social care roles, including those required for professional registration with the SSSC.
The Blueprint is not aimed at supporting employees who are already in permanent social care employment studying for social care benchmark qualifications as part of their existing role. It focuses on supporting students who are new to the sector.
Further information
- Information on colleges which offer social care courses can be found within the ‘Next Steps’ section of the SSSC Careers Toolkit.
- Support on issues relating to international recruitment can be found within the Centre for Workforce Supply' Recruitment into Adult Social Care Toolkit.
- Further information for employers can be found in the Pre-employment and induction guide for employers of overseas workers, refugees and asylum seekers, jointly developed by NHS Education for Scotland Centre for Workforce Supply, SSSC and Scottish Refugee Council.