National Assessment and Accreditation system (NAAS) for child and family social workers: future content development and maintenance service (reference: ITT 30426)

The Department is appointing a Content Partner to generate, validate and maintain assessment content for the NAAS to support national rollout scheduled to commence in spring 2020.

Initial rollout of NAAS began in a two-phased rollout in July 2018 (Phase 1) with a small group of volunteer local authorities. We expect Phase 2 to start in spring 2019 with a larger, more demographically diverse group. Subject to successful implementation of Phase 1 and 2, we would expect full national rollout of NAAS from spring 2020.

Between 2016 and 2018, the Department developed a rigorous assessment system. This assessment process was first tested with 954 social workers between December 2015 and February 2016 through the Proof of Concept Phase. Following a public consultation on the future of NAAS, the Department decided to rollout NAAS in a two-phased approach with a full national rollout that is being supported by in-depth analysis and evaluation. We have been delivering NAAS as a live service in the north of England since July 2018.

The development and rollout of NAAS is based on the principles of iterative, responsive and agile development, focusing on continuous improvement and sector input to develop and deliver quality assessments.

The contract is complex requiring a combination of technical assessment and psychometrics expertise, as well as input from experts with a social work background. Engaging the child and family social work sector in the content development and validation is key through collaborative initiatives and consultations with subject experts leading to co-created assessment outputs.

The Content Partner will work using an agile approach to developing new content responding to emerging requirements and embedding learning from current rollout phases. They will curate existing assessment content from the Phase 1 and 2 project work, create and manage assessment design documentation, trials and analysis documentation, and related quality assurance processes to ensure valid, reliable assessments.