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- Help make sure children are safe and have access to education and support
- Rewarding but challenging work with families, schools, children and the authorities
- Opportunities to progress into senior leadership roles
As an education welfare officer, you'll work for a local authority education welfare services department or a group of schools or academies in an area.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Work closely with key staff in schools to identify and resolve attendance problems
- Meet parents and pupils at school or home to explain legal responsibilities
- Help families get benefits for school meals, transport or clothing
- Take necessary action through the magistrates' court
- Arrange education for pupils who are excluded
- Write case notes and letters to parents
- Handle sensitive information
- Keep to deadlines and targets
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You'll be based at an office or school, but will spend most of your time travelling to different schools and pupils' homes. You'll usually need a driving licence.
You'll need
For this role you'll need to understand the law around education and keeping children safe, excellent listening skills, the ability to use IT to analyse data and write clear and detailed reports, excellent accuracy and attention to detail, networking skills to work with a range of other agencies, and the ability to manage your own work and meet deadlines.
There are no set requirements for this role and you can apply directly to become an Education welfare officer if you've got relevant experience and qualifications. Employers usually look for people who have a background in social work, teaching and youth and community work.
You may also be able to work as an assistant welfare officer with a local authority and do training on the job to qualify. For this you'll usually need experience working with children or young people, GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English and maths and 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent.
You can get experience of working with young people through Volunteering Matters.
You could also do a degree in social and human sciences, social work or education.
You'll need to pass enhanced background checks and have a driving licence for this role.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience and training you could become a team leader, senior education welfare officer or head of service. You could also train for a career in social services, the probation service, youth work or pastoral care.