The entry requirements for social work degrees should be tougher so that the calibre of students who will graduate as a qualified social worker are higher, the Social Work Reform Board has claimed.

According to Community Care, the Board expressed their belief that all degrees should require at least 240 UCAS points, which is equivalent to 3 Cs at A level, before a candidate is accepted. Those who want to complete Masters-level courses should have at least a 2.1 degree, they added.

The claims are set out in their report 'Building a Safe and Confident Future: One Year On', which proposes that anyone wanting to become a qualified social worker should be tested to assess their standard of written English and analytical thinking, and be assessed individually for communication skills and understanding of social work.

"Raising the academic thresholds is likely to raise the profile of [higher education institutions] offering social work degree courses and the status of social work as a discipline," said the report.

However, institutions remain free to set their own entrance requirements and as a result they are varied across universities. Leeds University, for example, says students must have at least three B grades at A level, while Havering College in London needs just two A Levels, or a year's experience and no qualifications if aged over 21.