The Practice Assessment Panel – An Example of Information for Service Users and Carers from the Open University

About the Practice Assessment Panel

Social Work students have two work placements during the course. On each placement they have a supervisor, a qualified social worker, who is known as the practice assessor.

Practice assessors meet regularly with the students and observe them working with service users. At the end of the placement the assessors write a report about the students’ practice. They then send this report to the University and it is considered by a Practice Assessment Panel of lecturers and tutors. The panel confirms the recommendation and discusses any recommendations for a fail.

What will you be asked to do for a Practice Assessment Panel?

The task is to read a small selection of the reports (probably three) and discuss them with one of the members of the Panel in advance of the meeting. The kinds of comments we are interested in might include these:

• Does the report give a good picture of the student’s practice?
• Have service users’ comments been included? If so, are they sufficient in quality and quantity to make a real contribution to the assessment of the student?
• Is there anything missing from the report that you think should have been included in order to provide evidence that the student has worked well with service users and carers?
• What are your views on the practice of the student, as described in the report?

Preparation

In order to prepare for this work a member of the panel will meet with you to explain a bit more about how the panel works and what your role will be.

Person Specification

This piece of work usually takes place in the early autumn and will require the equivalent of two days of your time, spread out over a period of about one month.

You will be interested in this work if:

• Have the time (and patience!) to learn about student assessment on social work courses
• You have views about social work training and want to have a role in making sure students are fit to practice as social workers at the end of their training
• Have the time to read a small number of lengthy documents, with support if necessary

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