Children’s social work workforce census: guide to submitting data
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-10)

How local authorities should collect and submit data to complete the children’s social work workforce census.

The children’s social work workforce census is an annual statutory census for all local authorities. You must complete statutory censuses by law unless there’s a good reason not to.

The census covers the year from 1 October to 30 September.

It collects data on all children and family social worker staff employed during the census year. This includes staff:
- who were employed on or before 30 September
- who left employment during the census year
- who were employed through an agency on or before 30 September
Local authorities should issue privacy notices (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-protection-and-privacy-privacy-notices) to all members of staff. Privacy notices tell staff members about the details of the census and their rights under the Data Protection Act (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents).

Important dates

2025 to 2026 census dates:
- the census opens on Thursday 1 October 2026
- return census submissions by Friday 30 October 2026
- the database closure date is Friday 4 December 2026
Submit your data

You’ll need to:
- register and log in with DfE Sign-in (https://services.signin.education.gov.uk)
- use COLLECT to submit your data
You should contact your school or local authority approver if:
- you want to request a DfE Sign-in username or password so you can access COLLECT
- ‘children’s social work workforce census’ is not on the list of collections you can see in COLLECT
Get help using DfE Sign-in

If you do not know who your approver is, you should use the DfE Sign-in request form (https://help.signin.education.gov.uk/contact/form).

If you’ve forgotten your password, use DfE Sign-in (https://services.signin.education.gov.uk) to reset it. You will need to click ‘Start now’ and then the ‘I’ve forgotten my password’ link.

Note that we’ll only be able to change the status of your data submission to ‘authorised’ once you’ve cleared all errors in the data in COLLECT.

Census documents

The following guidance documents will help you complete the census:
- acceptable notepad entries (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6904e03def26c341988b2522/2025_CSWW_Acceptable_Notepad_Entries_v1.1.ods) (ODS, 7.95 KB)
- census guide (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-work-workforce-guide)
- census business and technical specification (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-work-workforce-census-technical-specification)
- COLLECT reports specifications (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-work-workforce-census-reports-specifications)
- COLLECT guides (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/collect-guides-for-schools-and-local-authorities)
If you need help submitting data

For complex questions, you can use the service request form (https://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/stats/requestform). We aim to answer your question within 5 working days.

Feedback

You can use the feedback form (https://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/stats/feedbackform) if you have any comments about our data collection service, including COLLECT and the service desk.