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Non-local Social Work Qualifications from other Countries/Regions

For countries or regions which are yet to be known of having any accreditation and registration body in social work or if the accreditation principles of theirs are not accepted by the Board as comparable to the social work qualifictions awarded in Hong Kong, the Board may at its sole discretion conduct an assessment of the qualification or may upon application conduct such on an individual basis. The Board would compare the concerned social work qualifications with the Board's criteria and standards set out in the "Principles, Criteria and Standards for Recognizing Qualifications in Social Work for Registration of Registered Social Workers"("PCS") and decide it is satisfied that the professional standards of the programme are equivalent to those in Hong Kong or not. The Board is not to list out the social work qualifications which have been assessed individually. 

Criteria and Procedures for Individual Assessment

A graduate holding a social work qualification conferred outside Hong Kong and which is not deemed recognized by the Board may apply for Individual Assessment to the Board when he/she submit his/her application for registration as a registered social worker in Hong Kong. The applicant should submit the application for registration to the Committee on Committee on Qualification Recognition (“Committee”) via the Board office. The application should be accompanied by the following materials:

  1. Application form for Registration and related document ( Details )
  2. Application letter addressed to the Chairperson of the Committee
  3. An assessment report issued by the HKCAAVQ on the totality of the educational qualification of an individual meets the standard of a particular level of qualification in Hong Kong. This report, however, will not fetter the Board’s decision on the application for registration or the basis of approval
  4. A copy of the certificate
  5. A copy of the academic transcript
  6. Details of each subject course contained in the academic transcript 
  7. The prospectus and details of the curriculum of the programme leading to the social work qualification
  8. Details of fieldwork placement
  9. A list of teaching staff including teachers responsible for the applicant’s fieldwork placement
  10. The profiles of the teaching staff, including their academic qualifications, years of awards, awarding institutions, and subject areas of teaching, should be put on the list to be issued by the tertiary institution concerned
  11. The faculty to student ratio of the programme but excluding teachers responsible for fieldwork placement

The above documents of (g) to (k) should be those published and certified by the tertiary institution concerned and the information provided should be within the timeframe of the studying period. If the documents are in a language other than English or Chinese, the applicant is required to submit an English version officially certified as properly translated from the original documents.
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