Social work - Practice Learning Support Grant: equality impact assessment

Executive summary

Scottish Government continues to provide a financial contribution to offset costs incurred by social work students undertaking the assessed practice learning placements required for their qualification.

Scottish Government proposed a new grant, the Practice Learning Support Grant (PLSG). This will increase the award associated with practice learning to £750 per student. Eligible students include:

• undergraduates in third and fourth year of four-year course
• postgraduates in first and second year of two-year course

The PLSG will replace the Interim Travel Grant 2023–2024, which was the previous financial support for social work students with assessed practice learning placements in-year.

Eligibility for this new grant was aligned with Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) criteria. Discretionary support for exceptional travel and accommodation costs is also available, via the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).

The development of this EQIA aligned with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty, as applied to the relevant groups with protected characteristics: age, disability (physical and mental), gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

As well as groups with protected characteristics, we also considered the potential effect on students who are resident in rural and island communities, and those from various socio-economic groups.

The EQIA was informed by:

• review of the data profile of equalities categories in Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)^[1] data for social work students in Scottish universities
• findings from monitoring and evaluation of the previously available Interim Travel Grant 2023–2024
• review of available reports on cross-UK and Scottish student financial wellbeing and equalities characteristics

The EQIA identified potential positive outcomes of the new grant for a number of protected groups: age, disability, race and sex. Students in rural and island communities, and from more deprived socio-economic backgrounds may also benefit. Based on the available evidence, no negative outcomes were identified across protected groups.

The EQIA concluded that the PLSG may have an overall positive effect on protected groups and may contribute to widening access to social work education for those who may be experiencing financial barriers.

We will update the EQIA with the latest available verified data and seek further equalities data specific to the PLSG cohort.

We will conduct a wider literature review as part of ongoing policy work on social work student funding and practice learning improvements.