This study reports the results of the first British study of how prepared to practise newly qualified social workers and probation officers are during their first year of employment. It examines the fit between training and employment, and prominence is given to the views of the newly qualified and their supervisors. Students were asked their views about their knowledge of key areas, the matching of skills and tasks, development of conceptual abilities and the links and support between the course and the first year. It was of particular interest if the newly qualified suggested an area dominant within their work which was badly covered in training.