Involving People with Lived Experiences in Role-Play Assessment in Social Work Education in England: Implications for Practice

The involvement of people with lived-experience in social work education in England is mandated by the social work regulator. Our colleagues from the ‘SUCI Group—Supporting Social Work Education with Lived Experience’, increasingly contribute to assessment processes in our social work programmes, as well as to other aspects of the curriculum. For some years our SUCI colleagues, as they are known, have supported the assessment process in the preparation-to-practice module delivered at our university through the medium of live role-plays; now, due to changes in delivery brought about by Covid-19, these assessments are conducted virtually as part of the summative procedures. In this article we highlight the need to implement a robust assessment to confirm students possess sufficient practice skills to progress to their initial placement. We explore how we manage this activity through a simulated role-play to ensure a safe experience for both students and our SUCI colleagues. We conclude by affirming that receiving feedback from people with lived-experience should be normalised for social workers throughout their professional development.