Residential support worker
Residential support workers look after the physical and mental wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults in care.
- Starter salary£22,000 a year
- Experienced£30,000 a year
- Typical hours37 to 43 a week
What you'll do
As a residential support worker, you might:
- help people to develop personal skills and grow in confidence
- respond to residents' needs
- provide one-to-one advice or group support sessions
- teach daily living skills like budgeting, shopping and claiming benefits
- provide physical care in some cases, such as bathing and dressing
- speak to residents' families and arrange family and home visits
- organise travel for work, health and education purposes
- keep care plans and records up to date
- work closely with professionals in the health and social care team
Working environment
You could work in the community, at an adult care home or young people's care home.
Your working environment may be emotionally demanding.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- sensitivity and understanding
- the ability to work well with others
- a desire to help people
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- active listening skills
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
How to become a residential support worker
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- applying directly
College
You could take a course at college to learn some of the skills and knowledge you need to do this job.
Courses include:
- health and social care
- diploma for the children and young people's workforce
- youth work practice
- residential childcare
Many courses include work placements, so this could be a good way for you to get experience.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
Apprenticeship
You could apply to do an apprenticeship, such as:
- Health and Social Care Level 2 Foundation Apprenticeship
- Adult Care Worker Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
- Lead Adult Care Worker Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
Work
You could start as an assistant support worker in a children's or adult care setting. You could then move into a residential support role through training and promotion.
Volunteering
You can get voluntary experience in a number of ways, which can help when applying for paid jobs. This might be from:
- volunteering at a youth club
- having personal experience of caring for a family member
- doing voluntary work in a care home, nursery or relevant charity
Direct application
To apply directly for jobs in residential support, you'll need a qualification and paid or voluntary experience in the social work and care sector.
Experience in fostering could also be helpful.
Foundation apprenticeship
You can apply for a foundation apprenticeship if you're aged 16 to 21.
If you're aged 22 to 24, you can apply if you:
- have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
- are in care or have been in care
- are in prison or have been in prison
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- no specific qualifications or experience to apply for a foundation apprenticeship
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
Restrictions and requirements
You'll need to:
- pass enhanced background checks
A driving licence may be required for some jobs.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could take on more responsibility as a senior support worker or residential support manager.
You could also train to become a social worker or counsellor.
Career tips
Personal qualities are very important in this job. Employers will be looking for:
- your ability to build positive relationships with people
- flexibility, initiative and ability to handle change
- kindness and compassion
- an undertsanding of safeguarding issues when working with vulnerable people
Guides for this industry
Related roles
- Job roleFamily support worker
- Job roleHealthcare assistant
- Job roleFoster carer
- Job roleAccommodation warden
- Job roleSubstance misuse outreach worker
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0