How to become a Residential Support Worker in Wales (no experience needed)

You don’t need experience or a qualification to become a residential support worker in Wales. You need to pass an Enhanced DBS check and safer-recruitment checks, register with Social Care Wales within six months of starting, and then work towards a recognised qualification while you work. Here’s how each step works, and how we help you through it.

I’m Rhys Herbert, Managing Director of Silver Lining Care. We run three small children’s homes in South Wales, in Ystradgynlais, Coelbren and Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen. Neither of the roles we’re recruiting for needs previous care experience, and many of our permanent staff started on our relief team. This guide is for anyone thinking about making the move.

What does a residential support worker do?

A residential support worker (Social Care Wales calls the role a residential child care worker) looks after children and young people living in a children’s home. The work is a mix of ordinary family life and specialist care: routines, school, appointments and activities, alongside building trusting relationships, following each young person’s care plan, keeping clear records, and keeping young people safe when things get hard.

For a closer look at the day-to-day, read what a Residential Support Worker does: a shift in our homes.

Do you need qualifications to work in a children’s home in Wales?

Not to start. In Wales you can begin work and gain the qualification on the job. The qualifications that Social Care Wales lists for a residential child care worker are:

• Level 2 Health and Social Care: Core together with Level 3 Health and Social Care: Practice (Children and Young People), or
• Level 4 Professional Practice in Health and Social Care, or
• a degree in social work.

Some older qualifications are still accepted too. You can check the full list on Social Care Wales’s qualification framework for residential child care workers.

Social Care Wales gives social care workers six years to complete the qualification they need, and expects most to finish within their first three-year registration. At Silver Lining Care, your Level 3 Health and Social Care (Children and Young People) qualification is fully funded.

How do you register with Social Care Wales?

Residential child care work is a registered profession in Wales. Everyone doing it must register with Social Care Wales, the workforce regulator, within six months of starting.

If you don’t have a qualification yet, you register through the employer assessment route. During your induction you build your understanding of the areas Social Care Wales sets out, and when your manager is confident you’ve covered them, you apply and your manager confirms it.

What is the All Wales Induction Framework (AWIF)?

The All Wales Induction Framework for Health and Social Care, usually called the AWIF, sets out what new social care workers need to know and be able to do in their first six months. Every new worker should complete it. It isn’t needed to register, but it’s the foundation everything else builds on.

With us, the AWIF is part of a full induction, alongside specialist training from our own training company: safeguarding (up to Level 3), de-escalation, and BTEC Level 2 Physical Intervention. You can read more about our training and the support around it.

What checks will you need?

Because you’ll be working with children, every appointment depends on safer-recruitment checks. With us, that means:

• an Enhanced DBS check for the child workforce (which we pay for),
• satisfactory references,
• a full employment history, with any gaps explained, and
• proof of your right to work in the UK. We can’t offer visa sponsorship.

Our roles are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, so you’ll be asked about convictions and cautions, including spent ones, apart from those that are protected. If you already have an Enhanced (child workforce) check on the DBS Update Service, tell us on your application: you could start much sooner.

What skills make a good residential support worker?

Qualifications can be learned on the job. What we look for is the temperament for the work: staying calm under pressure, keeping your word, and holding kind, consistent boundaries. People who have worked in emergency services, health, education, youth work or the justice system often do well with us, and so do people from completely different backgrounds.

Our young people have their own views too. When we asked what they want from new staff, they told us:

They also asked for staff who are kind, caring and empathetic, and resilient enough to come back after an incident without looking at them differently. They even write one of the questions we ask at interview.

How to become a residential support worker with Silver Lining Care

1. Read the job descriptions. We’re recruiting for a permanent Residential Support Worker and a Relief Residential Support Worker.
2. Apply online. The application form takes about 20 minutes. Have your CV, your history since leaving full-time education, and two referees’ details ready.
3. Hear from us. We aim to call every suitable applicant within 2 working days.
4. Interview. If you’re shortlisted, you’ll have an interview, including a question written by our young people.
5. Checks. Then come the pre-employment checks above.
6. Induction and training. You start your induction and training, register with Social Care Wales within six months, and begin your funded qualification.

How much do residential support workers earn with us?

We’re a Living Wage Employer. Our permanent Residential Support Workers earn £13.45 to £15.50 an hour, depending on qualifications and experience, plus monthly and six-monthly performance bonuses, on a 4 on / 4 off rota of 12-hour days and waking nights that averages 42 paid hours a week. Relief Residential Support Workers earn £13.45 an hour from their first shift, and work at least 4 shifts a month.

Both roles also come with a company pension, a cycle-to-work scheme, free parking and eligibility for a Blue Light Card. See every detail on our current vacancies.

Frequently asked questions

Can I become a residential support worker with no experience?

Yes. Neither of our roles needs previous care experience. We train you fully and fund your qualification.

Can I work part time?

Our relief role is flexible: you work at least 4 shifts a month, including some weekends, and choose how much more you do. It isn’t agency work; you’re part of our team and paid directly by us.

Do I need a driving licence?

For our roles, yes. You need a full UK driving licence and reliable transport to our homes for handover before 8am and 8pm shifts.

How long does Social Care Wales registration last?

Three years, and it moves with you if you change employer.

There are more answers on our FAQs page, or you can get in touch with any question.