Innovation in practice learning: messages from the review of a student-centred unit

Social work education in England is currently undergoing a process of review and change reflecting broader reforms in the profession as a whole. It is therefore timely to identify the achievements of the Centre for the Development of Social Care Practice at the University of Bedfordshire which since 2006 has offered a range of practice learning opportunities to social work students in partnership with the local authority and with the participation of service users and carers. This article places this initiative in the context of other broadly similar non-traditional practice learning provision and reviews recent feedback to identify its particular characteristics. Strengths in the provision of student-centred and empowering practice learning are explored and the need for further evaluation acknowledged.