MTU Cork social care course still awaiting accreditation approval

SOME 18 months after The Echo first reported that Social Care Work graduates at the Cork campus of Munster Technological University (MTU) were at risk of graduating without officially recognised qualifications, the course remains unaccredited.

The Social Care Workers Register opened in November of 2023, introducing regulation for the first time in Ireland.

The register lists approved qualifications and, if a qualification is not listed, it cannot be used to apply for entry to the register.

Approval of social care courses is determined by Coru, the regulator for health and social care professionals, and — as reported in The Echo in September 2022 — MTU Cork’s Social Care Work (BA) course is not currently approved.

The approval process for social care courses was introduced in 2017 and, according to Coru’s website, MTU Cork applied for accreditation for its social care courses only in March 2023. MTU’s Cork and Kerry campuses had both initially applied for Coru approval for their social care courses early in 2022. However, it is understood that MTU Cork subsequently withdrew its initial application.

A spokesperson for Coru told The Echo that its approval process is “dependent on each education provider demonstrating how their programme meets the minimum standards set by Coru. Where this is clearly evidenced, Coru’s programme approval process typically takes 12 to 18 months to complete.”

MTU Kerry’s successful application to Coru was submitted in March 2022, with the approval process taking 12 months.

Without recognition of MTU Cork’s Social Care Work (BA) course by Coru, graduates would not be able to become registered social care workers in Ireland. It is understood that MTU Cork has around 200 students in its course.

During a two-year transition period from last November until November 2025, Coru will offer an alternative option for applicants “who have been practising in the profession for a minimum of two years out of the previous five on the date the register opens; [or if they] hold the relevant qualifications”.

'GRANDPARENTING'

This means that until such time as MTU Cork’s Social Care Work (BA) course is recognised by Coru, its graduates would have to work for two years in the field under what is called a “grandparenting” process. With the grandparenting process closing in November 2025, third-year social care students graduating from MTU Cork last year would have to secure work in the social care field to accrue two years’ worth of experience by November 2025.

If MTU Cork’s Social Care Work (BA) course is not Coru-approved by October of this year, students who graduate this year would not have time to work for two years in the field before the November 2025 deadline.

However, this situation would change if MTU Cork’s Social Care Work (BA) course is subsequently approved.

A Coru spokesperson told The Echo: “If a person holds a qualification which is subsequently listed in an approved qualifications bylaw, they are eligible to apply for registration where they must also meet all the registration requirements such as Garda vetting before the registration board will consider the application for registration.”

On its website, Coru states: “Programme approval is not guaranteed, and a programme may not be approved. Coru cannot comment on the status of individual programme application while the process is ongoing.”

A spokesperson for Coru said: “The social care courses at MTU are still going through the approval process and we expect to have a decision from the Social Care Workers Registration Board later in the year.”

A spokesperson for MTU Cork told The Echo: “MTU is fully committed to the Coru programme approval process. We have one social care course awaiting approval, the BA in Social Care Work on our Cork campus, and we are proactively engaging with Coru to achieve this as soon as possible.”