Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)

The Scottish Social Services Council are the regulator for the social work, social care and children, and young people workforce in Scotland. The SSSC Codes of Practice set out

  • the standards of practice and behaviour expected of everyone who works in social services in Scotland
  • the standards expected of employers of social service workers in Scotland.

Social workers and social work students

Social workers can register with the SSSC if they hold an appropriate social work qualification and are either living in or have gained employment in Scotland. You cannot work as a social worker until you complete your assessment and accept your qualification.

Once you accept your qualification, the registration rules are the same as for those with a qualification gained in Scotland.

This means

  • if you have not worked as a social worker in Scotland before, you can work but must be registered within six months of starting work as a social worker
  • if you have worked as a social worker in Scotland before, you must be registered before you can start work.

Workers in social care and children and young people services 

It's important to apply for registration as soon as possible and within three months of starting your role and you must be registered within six months. To register you need to hold a relevant qualification or agree to work towards achieving the qualifications required for the job you do. 

How to apply for registration

You can apply for registration through the MySSSC portal.

Before you apply, you'll need to know

  1. Your endorser's name
    • We use 'Yvonne McWhirr' as a placeholder so that the business support team can process your endorsement. If you have any issues or queries, please speak to your line manager in the first instance they should be able to help.
  2. Your National Insurance number
  3. The register part you need to apply for
    • Social Care Workforce: all adult care and support services
    • Children and young people workforce: all children and young people services
    • Social Worker

Support

Please refer to the detailed guidance on the SSSC website for further support. If you have any further issues email sssc@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Once you start with us, there is detailed SSSC support on our intranet, the Orb.