DBS to brief social care students on course accreditation issues

College officials in Dublin Business School (DBS) are to meet social care work students on Monday to discuss a controversy around a lack of professional accreditation for the degrees.

Earlier this month, social care students in DBS were told the college had withdrawn its application for graduates of the course to be accredited by CORU, the regulator for health and social care professionals.

The decision means around 80 students who had anticipated being able to register to work as social care workers after graduating would no longer be able to do so.

The college informed students that it had withdrawn its application for professional accreditation for the degrees, after it became apparent that the application would not be successful.

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In an email to students who had raised concerns in recent days, CORU said it understood their “dilemma and have empathy for your situation”.

The professional standards body said “the responsibility lies with DBS who have been aware since 2017 that CORU cannot admit graduates to the register if their qualification does not meet the required standards”. It said that “other colleges have successfully met our standards”.

The Applied Social Care course was established by DBS in 2018 and received validation by the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) and had been in the process of seeking approval from CORU.

Catherine Byrne, head of education quality assurance, told DBS students that CORU was “committed to working with you and providing support to any educators undergoing a programme approval process”.

“We have engaged with DBS and provided further information on regulatory requirements and repeated what is required for courses to meet these required standards”, she said.

“DBS has not applied for programme approval by CORU, following the withdrawal of its application for recognition in July,” she said. Ms Byrne said the State body recognised “the difficult position students on the DBS Social Care Work course are in”.

However, she said “the responsibility for the current situation lies with DBS but we will continue to engage with all stakeholders on this situation”.

DBS is set to hold an online briefing for social care work students about the situation on Monday at 6pm.

A Department of Higher and Further Education source said it was understood the college may put forward potential “solutions” to students at the meeting. Department officials are due to meet DBS after the briefing for students, the source said.