Practice Educator

This permanent role has a starting salary of £38,307.20, based on a 28.8 hour working week (4 days) pro rata to £47,884 per annum for full time working.

We have a great opportunity to join our New & Developing Social Workers (Students) team as a Practice Educator.

We support hybrid working with the right balance. We come together in person for 1 day per week on average (25% of the working week) at our base in Dakota, Weybridge, and support a mixture of seeing students across the county face-to-face and working from home.

Our Offer to You

• 28 days' holiday, rising to 31 days after 5 years' service (pro rata)
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave (pro-rata)
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year (pro-rata)
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
• A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents

About The Role

Surrey Children's Academy leads on work to support, guide and assess social work students and internal apprentices in their journey towards qualification, and contribute to our future workforce with Surrey's residents and communities.

Practice Educators and Advanced Social Workers in our New & Developing Social Workers team work together to provide high quality learning experiences. We recruit, support and assess student social workers on their placements in training, and also Newly Qualified Social Workers undertaking their first year 'Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)' and beyond.

The role involves a blend of coordination, administration, supervising and supporting others. You will be the practice educator for a number of students and will see them through their placement, supporting and assessing them. You will produce evidence-based reports and are responsible for the decision as to whether or not they pass their placement.

On a day-to-day basis a Practice Educator will be involved in the following:

• Liaising and working closely with a wide range of universities and training programmes to the benefit of the students, and teams, so that a variety of learning opportunities are offered during placements.
• Providing support and assessment to students in accordance with the regulatory frameworks for practice education (Professional Capabilities Framework).
• Facilitating regular learning and support groups for those engaged in student social work programmes (students, apprentices, trainee & qualified practice educators)
• Leading on pieces of work linked to development programmes within the Academy for new and developing social workers.
• Key Projects and Goals (12-18 Months): You will contribute to the continuing success of our degree apprenticeship programme where we recruit students from our own children's workforce who then do the degree apprenticeship in collaboration with the University of Chichester for three years which includes two placements in different teams in Surrey. You will also supervise students on the fast-track Step-Up course from Kingston University.

Opportunities for Impact

Our focus is to have the right support in place to enable students and newly qualified social workers to learn, grow and develop in their early career. By doing this we are helping to ensure our workers are able to provide the best possible services to children, young people and families in Surrey.

Your Application

In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours:

• You are a qualified social worker with experience of working in statutory children's social work
• You have practice education qualifications and experience of supervising, teaching and assessing student social workers.
• An understanding of different social work training pathways, including apprenticeship frameworks, would be helpful
• Commitment to supporting the next generation of social workers in their journey to qualification

To apply, we request that you submit a CV and you will be asked the following 4 questions:

• Please tell us about your experience of supervising/assessing social work students. What has been a highlight?
• Please tell us about your experience of facilitating/delivering learning opportunities to meet the different needs of learners.
• What do you see as important in communication with internal and external partners.
• What skills do you bring from your own work as a social worker with children and families to the role of practice educator?

Surrey is a large and diverse organisation, ambitious about safeguarding children and young people and ensuring they and their families receive the right support at the right time. We have both urban and rural areas and qualified social care workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK and access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on the 1st of February 2026 with interviews in person on 13th February 2026

Contact Us

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.

Local Government Organisation (LGR)

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to new unitary councils in April 2027. Your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of these new councils, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.

Our Commitment

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum criteria, we guarantee you an interview.

Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day, we're committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.