Careers With Frontline
Frontline is a charity with a focus on social work for children and families. Its main route into the profession is Approach Social Work, known as the Frontline programme until June 2024: a three-year, fully funded master's programme that trains children's social workers in local authorities across England. In June 2024 Frontline said it had trained 2,420 social workers over the previous decade and that the programme brings 500 new social workers into the profession each year.
Frontline says around 700,000 children and their families in England rely on social workers each year. It looks for people who can show the qualities set out in its published competencies and who want to help children at risk of harm.
Types Of Frontline Jobs
Besides Approach Social Work, the charity runs leadership development programmes for team managers and heads of service in children's services.
The charity also employs its own staff in non-social-work roles, for example in its curriculum and business development teams.
How To Get A Job At Frontline
Frontline publishes its own assessment centre tips and sends registered applicants a portal with further guidance. Check the eligibility rules first: at least a 2:2 honours degree, GCSE English at grade C or 4 or an accepted equivalent, the right to work and study in the UK until September 2030, and living in England by the time the programme starts. Qualified social workers cannot apply, and Frontline does not accept work experience in place of any requirement.
Jobs at the charity itself are listed on its current opportunities page.
Frontline Application Process
Approach Social Work has five stages: registration, an application form, an online test, a virtual assessment centre and pre-employment checks. Frontline recruits on a rolling basis and recommends completing each stage as soon as you feel ready.
Frontline Registration
The process starts with registration, after which Frontline sends you the application form. To get a feel for the job first, Frontline suggests its short quiz, its career events and its stories page. These are optional and are not stages of the application process.
Frontline Application Form
On the application form, you will have to input your educational background to ensure that you meet the minimum requirements. Then there are two competency-based questions. Frontline is looking for you to demonstrate your experience; commitment to working with children and families; and your understanding of Frontline's mission and ethos.
Frontline Online Test
Once you submit the application form, you are sent a link to one online test, which you have 7 days to complete. It combines verbal reasoning with situational judgement questions set in realistic social work scenarios, and starts with practice questions.
Verbal Reasoning Questions
Frontline says the test shows your ability to understand information and use logic to solve complex problems, but it does not publish the question format. Verbal reasoning questions generally ask you to read a passage and judge what follows from it, so general verbal reasoning practice can help you read closely and accurately.
Situational Judgement Questions
Frontline says these questions ask you to respond to realistic, social work-related scenarios. Situational judgement questions generally describe a work situation and ask you to choose or rank possible responses, so general situational judgement practice can help you get used to the format. Frontline's published competencies show the qualities it looks for in your answers.
Frontline Assessment Centre
If you pass the online test, you are invited to the assessment centre, the last assessed stage before pre-employment checks. It is a virtual assessment centre lasting half a day, run online over video conferencing.
You complete three activities, each watched by a different assessor: a written exercise, a role play and a competency-based interview. Between one and three days beforehand you receive a pack with instructions and case information, and Frontline suggests allowing about an hour to digest it.
Frontline Written Exercise
You take the role of a social worker who has just joined a team supporting two families. You have 40 minutes to review the case information and write a response, and Frontline recommends starting to write with at least 30 minutes left.
Frontline Role-play
Acting as a newly qualified social worker, you have an 8-minute conversation with a family member, followed by a reflection with an assessor on what you would do differently. New information is introduced during the conversation, so Frontline advises against scripting.
Frontline Interview
The interview is a competency-based panel with a social worker and a person with care experience. They ask about your past experiences and why you want to become a social worker. Frontline suggests the STAR structure and recommends not scripting your answers.
Frontline Pre-employment Checks
If you pass the assessment centre and your qualifications and right to work are verified, you receive a conditional offer. It depends on references, health and conduct checks and a DBS check, after which Frontline finds you a placement with a partner local authority.
Tips To Get Hired At Frontline
Read Up On The Frontline Competencies
Frontline provides lots of resources on what kind of person would be right for the programmes and social work in general. The competencies show what skills you need, but also tell you a lot about the kind of work you will be doing and if it's right for you.
Ensure This Is The Right Job And Career
Frontline's short quiz can help you find out if children's social work is for you. Work experience or volunteering with children and families also gives you a realistic view of the job and examples to use in your application.
Practise For The Online Test
You need to pass the online test to be invited to the assessment centre. Frontline gives practice questions before the test begins, and general practice tests in verbal reasoning and situational judgement can help you get used to both question types.
Prepare An Example For Each Competency
Frontline asks you to consider its competencies at every stage of the application process, so prepare an example for each. Leadership is one of them: Frontline describes it as being accountable and reliable, challenging unfairness respectfully and influencing others towards good outcomes.
