The drive aims to swell numbers in the profession

An extra 450 graduates will be trained in less than half the time it usually takes to complete a social work degree.

The Scottish Executive is planning to invest �14m over the next five years.

A further �9.25m will go towards improving on-the-job training for students and training for care staff at voluntary organisations.

The investment will bring the number of fast-track social workers to 550 - more than 10% of the current national workforce.

It enables graduates with any degree or experience to retrain as social workers within 16 to 23 months, instead of four years to complete a social work degree.

The benefit to local authorities is that we get a fresh pool of high calibre graduates into the profession Eric Jackson Cosla

Scotland's Deputy Education Minister Euan Robson said there are more than 4,000 social workers in Scotland but demand for their services means councils need to employ over 600 more.

He added: "The fast track scheme enables suitable graduates to qualify more quickly and today's massive expansion of the scheme comes on top of other measures to recruit new social workers.

"The additional �6.25m we have announced today for the practice learning framework will allow universities to work with councils and the voluntary sector to enhance the quality, quantity and diversity of student placements."

'Permanent job'

The investment has been welcomed by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) and Community Care Providers Scotland (CCPS), which represents voluntary sector service providers.

Councillor Eric Jackson, Cosla's social work spokesman, said: "The benefit to local authorities is that we get a fresh pool of high calibre graduates into the profession who are eager to make a difference and who have made a positive life choice to do so.

"The benefit to the students is that they are employed and paid a salary while they train and are guaranteed a permanent job when they qualify.

Annie Gunner, of CCPS, said: "Voluntary organisations now provide a very substantial proportion of Scotland's care services, and we recognise the need for staff to be trained and qualified to a high standard.