HNC (Social Care) as an entry qualification for the diploma in social work in Scottish higher education institutions

This paper describes a study of the first cohort of students who progressed from HNC (Social Care) to DipSW. Though these students had performed well in HNC, they were experiencing more difficulties than expected in both academic and practice components of DipSW. The paper describes the views of the students, and their teachers, and discusses the findings within a broader context of the articulation of further and higher education courses.