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How the programme works

Programme structure

Summer Institute

Prepare for frontline work with your cohort in a five-week intensive teaching period.

Exchange ideas with your peers, and leaders in mental health and social work.

Year One

Learn on the job in a unit with four to six Think Ahead trainees, led by a Consultant Social Worker.

Gain a postgraduate diploma in social work.

Year Two

Work as a newly qualified social worker and undertake the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) programme.

Complete your master’s degree in social work via one of two pathways: a secondary research dissertation, or a portfolio evaluating a research base that can be applied to practice.

Programme overview

Summer Institute

The Summer Institute is an intensive learning experience that marks the beginning of our training programme. Taking place over five weeks, you will have four weeks of online learning and one week of face-to-face teaching at Middlesex University. You will have a week of leave before you start Year One.

Preparing you for frontline work

The Summer Institute prepares you for frontline work by giving you a grounding in approaches to mental health social work. You learn about different ways of understanding mental illness and its causes, the legal and policy framework that you will uphold, and begin your training in the interventions that you will deliver as a practitioner. The Summer Institute includes lectures, roundtable workshops, and participatory sessions, and is delivered with support from people with lived experience of mental health problems.

Leadership skills

Right from the start we work with you to develop the leadership skills needed to make you an excellent social worker now, and lead change in the future.

Integrated throughout our curriculum, you will develop the skills needed to build effective working relationships, advocate on behalf of others, and progress your career. Dedicated leadership sessions will prepare you for working in mental health services, and give you the self-reflection tools to observe how your academic learning and your experiences at work are building your leadership capabilities.

Building your network

The Summer Institute is also a chance to start building your network, exchanging ideas with peers and leading mental health and social work experts.

Watch this video from a past Summer Institute to find out more.

Year One

In your first year you will work in a dedicated unit of four to six Think Ahead trainees, led by an experienced Consultant Social Worker.

Working with adults with mental health problems

Your unit has shared responsibility for the care of the people it will be working with, and you will take on increasing responsibility as you progress through the year.

Your training will take place in a team where adults with mental health needs access services. This might be part of a multi-disciplinary community mental health service, or a local authority.

Working in other settings

Over the course of the year, you will also spend some time working in a social work team for children and family services, to give you a rounded experience.

You are also likely to work with other types of mental health teams, such as in child and adolescent services, learning disability services, or forensic services.

Academic study & qualifying as a social worker

Time is allocated during the year for academic study and leadership training. You will also have plenty of opportunity to put your learning from the Summer Institute into practice with support from your Consultant Social Worker.

At the end of the year you will gain your postgraduate diploma in social work and can register as a qualified social worker with the national regulator Social Work England.

Completing our programme gives you the opportunity to do this earlier than other postgraduate routes into the profession.

Year Two

In your second year you will work more independently, taking up a role as a qualified social worker on a minimum 12-month contract with your NHS trust or local authority. Your role will involve working with adults with mental health problems, and could be in a range of different teams. Previous trainees have worked in dementia, forensic, or crisis services, for example. You will hold your own cases and lead on the support and care of those individuals.

This year will be your Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE), which is recommended for all newly qualified social workers. This means that the number of people whose care you are responsible for will be capped, and you will put together a portfolio of evidence demonstrating the set of capabilities all social workers are required to possess.

You will also continue your academic study, culminating in a master’s degree in social work. By finishing your MA in parallel with your ASYE, you will complete your ASYE one year earlier than on conventional master’s-based routes (in which the ASYE would follow a two-year master’s course).

Your leadership development will continue, to help you build confidence and influencing skills in your new role. Throughout the year there will be an increased focus on advanced leadership practice and planning for your career after Think Ahead.  You will also gain access to leadership workshops hosted by our Alumni Network, which you will fully join once you have completed the programme.

Your career after Think Ahead

You will finish the programme with:

  • An advanced degree and a completed Assessed and Supported Year in Employment, qualifying you to work in any area of social work.
  • Extensive experience in social work and mental health settings.
  • Highly transferable leadership skills, gained through your experience and your leadership training.
  • Membership of the Think Ahead Alumni Community, providing you with access to continuing professional development opportunities and a network of your peers and other experts.

You can then follow any career direction you choose. In broad terms, your options will be to:

  • Become a leading frontline practitioner.
  • Move into service leadership.
  • Use your leadership experience in an alternative career.

You can read more about these options on our about mental health social work page.

Where you will work

Please note, for our second round we are only accepting applications in limited locations.

We partner with NHS trusts and local authorities across England to run our training placements. You will be expected to travel in your job, and where you are based may change over your two years, but you will always be working within the same broad geographical area.

Below you will find information about the areas we expect to be working in during 2024. Please note these are subject to change and we will be updating this throughout the recruitment cycle as and when we are able to provide more specific information.

To be successfully placed on our programme you will need to be able to live and work in one of the listed locations. We would recommend considering this carefully before applying. You are still welcome to apply, but we may inform you that it is unlikely there will be a suitable location for you.

Social workers often support people over a large area and in more rural places you will need to travel by car. When you apply, you can also let us know whether you will be able to drive before you start the programme.

You can find out more in our guide on how we find a placement that is right for you.

North-West 

We expect to have training placements in Birkenhead, Bolton, Chester, Halton, Knowsley, and Lancashire.

Second round applications will only be open in Birkenhead, Blackburn, Chorley and Chester. Applications for Blackburn and Chorley will be closing on Tuesday 26 March.

North-East 

We expect to have training placements in Durham and Newcastle.

Second round applications are currently closed in the North-East.

Yorkshire  

We expect to have training placements in Harrogate, Leeds and North Yorkshire.

Second round applications are currently closed in Yorkshire.

West Midlands 

We expect to have training placements in Dudley, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford and Warwickshire.

Second round applications will only be open in Lichfield and Stafford. Applications for Lichfield will be closing on Tuesday 26 March.

East Midlands 

We expect to have training placements in Lincolnshire and Nottingham.

Second round applications will only be open in Lincolnshire.

East of England 

We expect to have training placements in Braintree, Cambridge, and Ipswich.

Second round applications will only be open in Braintree and Ipswich.

Greater London 

We expect to have training placements in Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham, Richmond, Southall, Waltham Forest, and Wandsworth.

Second round applications will only be open in West London: Brentford, Hounslow, Southall, Acton, Wandsworth, Twickenham and Hammersmith.

South

We expect to have training placements in Southampton.

Second round applications will be open in Southampton.

South-East 

We expect to have training placements in Ashford (Kent), Guildford, Canterbury, and Leatherhead.

Second round applications will only be open in Guildford and Leatherhead.

South-West 

We expect to have training placements in Bristol, Cornwall (St Austell), and Swindon.

Second round applications will only be open in St Austell (Cornwall) and Swindon.

When you will work

Our programme is full-time, Monday to Friday. You will not usually have to work out-of-office hours, but may want to attend occasional events and find you use some evenings and weekends for your academic studies.

In Year One, you will have 25 days leave. In Year Two your annual leave allowance will be set by the NHS trust or local authority you are training with.

Some leave days must be taken on pre-determined dates, and there are some periods, such as the Summer Institute and recall days, during which you cannot take any time off.

How you will be paid

You will receive a tax-free training bursary for the Summer Institute and Year One. This will be around £18,250 (£20,250 with London weighting), paid monthly. You will receive the bursary in 13 instalments, starting with a pro-rata payment in your first month (likely July), to cover the time you will have been on the programme so far.

In Year Two, you will be employed as a newly qualified social worker and receive a taxable salary. Your exact salary will depend on the NHS trust or local authority employing you, typically ranging from around £27,000 – £35,000, location dependent.

Please be aware that this does vary across the country, depending on your regional location and whether you are employed by an NHS Trust or Local Authority. Think Ahead participants do not receive a set amount in Year 2, and so it is possible you may be paid a different starting salary to others in your cohort.

There are no programme fees, and all your qualifications are fully funded.

How you will be supported

Our programme is designed to provide accelerated learning and experience in an intensive environment, so we provide thorough support for participants.

In Year One, your Consultant Social Worker will be your full-time manager, responsible for your personal and professional development in your host organisation. Our Consultant Social Workers are highly experienced mental health social workers, who have been given tailored training by us. They will be able to provide technical coaching, and support and advice in dealing with the pressures of your work.

In Year Two, you will be supported by the line manager for your NHS trust or local authority role.

Throughout the two years, you will get tuition and support from an academic tutor.

You will also be able to exchange advice and support with colleagues in your NHS trust or local authority, and with your Think Ahead peers, including within your organisation, across the whole group of people within your cohort, and within other cohorts.

What you will study

Our programme has an innovative curriculum, which brings together international best practice with a focus on theories and interventions that can be put into use straight away.

Currently both the postgraduate diploma and the master’s degree are awarded by Middlesex University.

Research shows that social workers are most effective in mental health services when they work at three levels:

  • With individuals.
  • With families and groups.
  • With communities.

The Think Ahead curriculum allows you to develop expertise at delivering evidence-based social interventions at all three levels – for example, through talking therapies, practical support, and community action.

You will also study topics to help you judge when and how to use the social interventions you learn, such as:

  • The legal and policy framework relevant to mental health and human rights.
  • The different mental health problems you may encounter.
  • The range of issues which influence people’s mental health – including, for example, physical illness, childhood experiences, discrimination, domestic situations, employment, and substance misuse.

How you will study

Your studies will begin at the Summer Institute, and carry on throughout the programme, and there is a strong emphasis on integrating theory and practice.

In addition to on-the-job learning, there are a number of teaching days. You will also complete assignments in your own time.