Do OSCE Evaluations Predict Social Work Students’ Performance in the Practicum?

Objective-structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) have become a dominant approach for assessing clinical competence in many disciplines and are increasingly used in social work to determine whether students have the necessary skills to work safely and effectively with vulnerable clients. However, despite decades of use and refinement, questions continue to exist regarding the ability of OSCEs to predict actual clinical behavior in the field. The current study analyses administrative data on 141 Masters of Social Work students to determine the association between OSCE performance, academic performance, and performance in a first-year clinical practicum. Findings reveal a significant but weak to moderate correlation between OSCE scores and final practicum evaluations. This association was stronger for meta-competencies than for procedural competencies, that is, more enduring traits rather than skills that can be more readily learned related to interviewing techniques, assessment, and intervention. First year academic grades served as the strongest predictors of both OSCE scores and practicum evaluation scores, reinforcing the notion that broad-based abilities may be the strongest predictors of clinical competence.