In the United Kingdom social workers perform two major functions: they work with students with behavior problems who have been referred to them by schools as a last resort, and they ensure that needy students receive benefits such as clothing, maintenance allowances, boarding school assistance, and transportation to and from school. These services are available through the Education Welfare Service, the social service department of the social authority, and through both school- and nonschool-based social workers. However, students need a comprehensive preventive social work service available throughout their school years. Research involving 120 adult offenders indicated that these offenders had experienced school-related difficulties as children. Individual case studies of students further illustrate the inadequacy of the present system in the early identification of problem students and the consequences of this inadequacy. Although social workers can improve their services by working with children, parents, teachers, and other professionals, attention must be paid to schools as institutions and to the educational experience which they provide in order to address the growing problem of older children's disaffection for school. The most common reasons children give for truancy involve institutional factors, the curriculum, and emphasis on examinations. New curricula to better meet the needs of disaffected students must consider the emotional, social, and vocational needs of the students, together with the inclusion of subjects of direct relevance to the world of work. (NRB)