Link Work

A link worker is essential in practice learning for social work students, bridging the gap between academic institutions and placement agencies. By working with students and practice educators to develop learning agreements and monitor progress, they ensure that placements meet educational standards and prepare students for professional practice.

Learning Network West organises link worker training for all agencies providing placements across Scotland. This training ensures that link workers are well-equipped to support social work students during their practice learning.

Link workers play a key role in the training of social work students on placement through providing day-to-day management and support in the agency where the student is placed. At the Learning Network we’re keen to ensure link workers are supported to carry out this crucial role in training the social work workforce of the future.

We’ve reviewed our existing training and have developed a new one-day, online course – Introduction to Link Work. The learning outcomes of the course are designed to help you:

Gain an overview of social work education and practice learning
Understand the outcomes social work students need to meet whilst on placement
Understand the role of the Link Worker
Prepare your agency to support students on placement

The course is currently free of charge and open to anyone who is planning to take on the role of link worker. We can offer the course to workers at any level in their agency, whether they are qualified in social work or not. The aim is to help workers prepare to take on the role of supporting students, and through this also contribute to continuous professional development for the staff involved.

Anyone who is planning to take a student can apply by clicking the button below. We will prioritise applications whereby staff who are due to take students in the near future will be offered a place on the course as soon as we can, to ensure placements are ‘ready to go’.

Placements sometimes need to be organised at short notice, if so, we will endeavour to get you on a course as soon as is possible. We recognise that staff turnover in agencies means that there could be a regular need to train new link workers, so managers may want to plan ahead for this and identify new applicants for the course.

And in certain circumstances we can arrange tailored courses for larger agencies who are planning to take a number of students and need a number of staff trained in the link work role. Please contact us to discuss this possibility.

Click Here to Register

We will acknowledge your application and let you know when we are able to offer you a place on the course. We will be planning to deliver more courses to coincide with the times of year when student cohorts go out on placement – generally August/September and January/February. Outwith of these times we will run courses periodically – see the following dates of currently planned future courses.

We look forward to seeing you at a future training event!

Practice Learning Hub

Welcome to the Practice Learning Resource Hub, your go-to platform for continued learning and support. Here, you’ll find a wealth of resources, including detailed training notes and summaries, practical guides and toolkits, useful videos, and expert talks. You can also join our forum to connect with other link workers and find answers to various questions.

Access Practice Learning Hub