The article describes the route of continuous education in social work. The comparative analysis of the professional standard “Specialist in social work” and Federal state educational standard of higher education in “Social work”, the analysis of the results of the research of urgent demands of specialists in the Volgograd region determine the contents of additional education in social work and its organizational forms.

The article deals with the factors of development of the modern system of higher education in the field of social work. The artistic and creative technologies are regarded as the means of development of the professional competence of students specializing in the field “Social work”. The author determines the stages of mastering the artistic and creative technologies and the factors of optimization of the educational process.