Fast-track programme to train 320 more social workers in £19m contract extension

Fast-track programme Think Ahead will train 320 more mental health social workers after the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) extended its contract up to 2027.
The £18.9m extension covers two cohorts, starting in 2024 and 2025, each of 160 trainees, the same size as the 2023 cohort.
Following a five-week grounding in social work law and theory, mostly delivered online, the participants will be placed in NHS or local authority mental health services and expected to qualify as a so