Frontline Social Work Programme

This is the work that makes a difference 

Frontline is a charity with a mission to make social work better for children, helping keep them safe and giving them a chance to fulfil their potential. By completing our Frontline programme you’ll become a social worker who helps create positive, sustainable change for children and families.  

You’ll help protect children living in the toughest circumstances and families struggling with a range of pressures such as mental ill-health, domestic abuse or poverty. You’ll intervene at moments of crisis and need within families, giving them the support and commitment they deserve, and use your skills to help change the course of their lives.  

Your journey on the Frontline Graduate programme 

The Frontline programme offers two years of intensive, paid training and a fully-funded master’s degree with Lancaster University to develop the skills you’ll need for the role. You’ll qualify as a social worker employed in your local authority and become an agent of change, improving people’s lives and the social work profession through excellent practice, leadership and innovation.  

Your training starts at our summer institute, five weeks of immersive teaching that takes place online and in-person. You’ll join a cohort of around 450 other trainees and begin to learn how to bring about positive change in people’s behaviour from leading academics in social work.   

After the summer institute you’ll start learning the theory over 21 taught study days, and applying it with 200 days of practice-based learning. You’ll work in a team of four with an experienced child protection social worker overseeing your work with families and supported by a tutor. You’ll also undertake a contrasting learning experience in an adult social care setting while working towards the first 120 credits of your Master’s degree. Upon passing your first year you'll be a newly-qualified social worker and will register with the professional regulator, Social Work England.  

In your second year, you’ll be employed in children’s services by your local authority and supported to hold your own caseload. You’ll continue working towards your Master’s degree through a combination of lectures and workshops delivered over eight dedicated learning days and work with a peer group to continuously develop your skills. Alongside this you’ll conduct research into your practice, supported by a dissertation supervisor, and be offered one-to-one coaching to help you hone your leadership skills. At the end of your second year you’ll have completed your Master’s degree.  

Find out more & apply!