Health and Social Care

Study options

Full-time, Stoke-on-Trent campus

Full-time, with a foundation year at City of Stoke-On-Trent Sixth Form College

Award

BSc (Hons)

Key facts

UCAS code:: L512
UCAS code:: L516
Location:: Stoke-on-Trent campus
Location:: City of Stoke-On-Trent Sixth Form College
Study option:: Full-time, Stoke-on-Trent campus
Study option:: Full-time, with a foundation year at City of Stoke-On-Trent Sixth Form College
Duration:: 3 Years
Duration:: 4 Years
Start date:: 23 September 2024; 23 September 2024
School:: Health, Education, Policing and Sciences

Expert academics

Learn from knowledgeable and experienced teaching teams

Simulation-based immersive learning

Work in realistic environments and get work-ready

Work placement

Work experience will complement your classroom-based studies

This course has been designed to produce the professionals of the future, who can positively address the challenges that health and social care presents.

Meeting the health and social care needs of the population is one of the greatest challenges facing any society. It extends to almost every facet of social life, from the person who is unwell and seeking support for themselves, to political decisions about how to structure national systems of healthcare delivery.

Throughout your studies you will be taught by friendly, knowledgeable lecturers, who have been employed in either health or social care and are well equipped to help you relate your study topics to current policy and practice.

We also offer Health and Social Care BSc (Hons) with a foundation year, delivered at Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College.

The first year of your study is undertaken at your chosen college and, once successfully completed, you’re then able to progress onto the three-year BSc (Hons) course delivered at the University.

This offers you the opportunity to develop core transferable skills and knowledge relevant to health care, social care and public health.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care

Our students undertake work experience of 70 hours at a minimum. They can undertake their work experience ideally in a health and social care setting which they will ideally find themselves if they can, or we will support them if they need.

If the student is already working in a health and social care setting (e.g. Healthcare Assistant etc), then this can count as their work experience and they do not need to look for an additional placement.

Some of the places our students complete their work experience are:

Probation Service Manchester
Stoke YOT (Youth Offending Team)
Health Watch
Various Care and Nursing Homes
Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust (MPFT)
North Staffs University Hospital
Various Food banks
Local Charity organisations such as Dougie Mac, Barnardos etc.

Course content

Your learning will help you to develop the knowledge relevant to a productive future in the health and social care sectors. Employability skills are embedded throughout the course, with a clear focus on how studies can be applied within the workplace.

These skills, which include professionalism, effective communication and the evaluation of evidence, can be applied in a range of areas, such as management, education and public health.

Work experience will complement your classroom-based studies and an option module in Year 2 will allow you to select a topic in line with your goals. In short, we will help you to develop a clear direction, so that you will be ready to progress into employment or further study at the conclusion of your degree.

The scope of the programme will provide a breadth of opportunities in health and social care.

Academic year

Total study time includes scheduled teaching, independent study and assessment activity. Full-time students take modules worth 60 credits per semester, with part-time students taking proportionately fewer credits per semester. All students take a total of 120 credits per level and 360 credits for the degree as a whole. Your overall grade for the course and your degree classification are based on the marks obtained for modules taken at levels 5 and 6. The full-time course has one start point in September. The course operates on a modular basis that provides flexibility and choice.

Typically the majority of modules are 30 academic credits with a smaller number of 15 credit modules. Each credit taken equates to a total study time of around 10 hours. Total study time includes scheduled teaching, independent study and assessment activity. Full-time students take modules worth 60 credits per semester, with part-time students taking proportionately fewer credits per semester. All students take a total of 120 credits per level and 360 credits for the degree as a whole. Your overall grade for the course and your degree classification are based on the marks obtained for modules taken at levels 5 and 6. The full-time course has one start point in September.

CPR: It's not just for nurses and paramedics

Video

Health and Social Care students got to learn some valuable CPR skills in our Clinical Skills Labs benefitting from staff expertise and using realistic mannekins.

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Modules

The tables provide an indicative list of the modules that make up the course for the current academic year. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run we will advise you as soon as possible and will provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module.

Year 1 compulsory modules
Year 1 compulsory modules
An Introduction To Academic Study And Employability Skills For Health And Social Care	20 credits
Communication Skills In Health And Social Care	20 credits
Context Of Health And Social Care	20 credits
Human Growth And Development Through Bio-Psycho-Social Lens	20 credits
Introduction To Safeguarding Children And Adults	20 credits
Professional Issues In Health And Social Care (With Work Experience)	20 credits

Year 2 compulsory modules
Year 2 compulsory modules
Employable Graduate	20 credits
Introduction To Public Health And Health Promotion	20 credits
Research Skills For Health And Social Care	20 credits
Understanding Health And Social Care Organisations (And Work Experience)	20 credits

Show 4 optional modules

Year 2 compulsory modules
Year 2 optional modules
Basic Counselling Skills In Health And Social Care	20 credits
Dementia Awareness	20 credits
Mental Health And Wellbeing Perspectives	20 credits
Supporting Individuals, Families And Households	20 credits

Show 4 compulsory modules

Year 3 compulsory modules
Year 3 compulsory modules
Contemporary Issues In Health And Social Care	20 credits
Extended Health And Social Care Study Project	40 credits
Human Factors And Safe Practice In Health And Social Integrated Care	20 credits
Leadership And Management In Health And Social Care	20 credits

Show 3 optional modules

Year 3 compulsory modules
Year 3 optional modules
Specialist Care Skills: Housing, Homelessness And Supporting Multiple Disadvantage	20 credits
Specialist Care Skills: Substance Use And Society	20 credits
Specialist Care Skills: Youth Crime And Criminal Justice	20 credits

Show 4 compulsory modules

Year 0 compulsory modules
Year 0 compulsory modules
An Introduction To Health And Social Care Policy And Practice	20 credits
Communication And Employability Skills For Personal And Professional Development	20 credits
Developing Academic And Research Skills For Higher Education	20 credits
Health, Choice And The Lifespan	20 credits
Introduction To Health And Social Science	40 credits

Entry requirements

Typical UCAS Offer: 96 points / 112 points

A levels: CCC, this equates to 96 points
BTEC Extended: MMM, this equates to 96 points BTEC 90 credit: D*D*, this equates to 112 points Access awards (60 credits, with 45 at Level 3)

Successful completion of the Foundation Year in Health and Social Care at a partner college, or the Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care at a partner college, enables students to progress directly onto the BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care course.

We understand that you might have experienced a challenging run up to higher education and may have not met the entry requirements as listed. If this is the case don’t worry, contact us and our team of expert advisors can guide you through the next stages of application, or help you find the perfect course for your needs.

Tamara Booth - Family Intervention Worker

Health and Social Care graduate, Tamara Booth works in the STARS team which is an intensive early help offer for parents / mothers who have had children removed from them previously.

For equivalent entry requirements in your home country, please see the information on our country pages.

Choose your country

Check our entry and English language requirements for your country.

Facilities

Community House (Stoke)

A fully furnished house used for simulated, scenario-based training. It includes audio and video facilities to record simulated exercises and allow detailed tutor and peer feedback.

Immersive Suite

Our Immersive Suite can simulate almost any environment including home, hospital and pub. The suite allows 360 projection putting you in a more realistic environment to enhance simulations.

Video

Mock Courtrooms

One room is designed as a crown courtroom and the other for cases at magistrates’ court. Students can present legal arguments, act as expert witnesses, or take part in mooting.

Video

Libraries

We have Libraries and service desks at both sites in Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford. Our experienced and friendly staff can answer your IT queries, help you to access resources, show you how to research for your assignments and help with referencing.

Immersive Technologies

This collection of rooms and resources allows for exploration and development with Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies.

Video

Careers

Our graduates get excellent careers working both in public and private sector, some examples are:

Public Health Analyst (starting salary £32,585)
Residential Home Manager (starting salary £32,500)
Children’s Home Deputy Manager (£28,000).

Our students also have excellent postgraduate opportunities such as following a route to social work, adult or mental health nursing, public health, or opt to follow an academic route completing a teaching qualification (PGCE) and become lecturers in further education.

One of our graduates has successfully completed this qualification after graduating and she is now a lecturer at Cheshire College (starting salary range: £24,000 - £34,500).

Our graduates also have opportunities to work as research assistants (we have one working with us currently) and even undertake research postgraduate qualification.

Successful completion of this course will place you in a position to take full advantage of a diverse range of graduate-level health and social care positions, not only within the public sector, such as the Local Authority, National Health Service (NHS), Public Health England but also the not-for-profit (voluntary) and private/independent health and social care sectors.

Some examples of these roles include:

The provision of health and social care, such as working with vulnerable adults, children and the elderly
Management and administration positions within health and social care organisations
Public health and community development-related roles, such as health promotion, public information and health training
Personnel and resource management posts in the private sector, local authorities and voluntary organisations
Policy-oriented work (including lobbying and advocacy) in the NHS, local government or voluntary sector
Research and evaluation of health and social care services

This degree programme is also excellent preparation for research or postgraduate study.

Courtney Baddeley - Trainee Probation Officer

Courtney Baddeley is a Trainee Probation Officer for HM Prison and Probation Service. After graduating from Health and Social Care, Courtney progressed to a Masters in Criminal Justice.

Undergraduate Open Day

Saturday 8 June 2024

Explore our campus and facilities, find out more about the courses you're interested in and connect with our lecturers and current students.

Book now

Undergraduate Open Day

Saturday 8 June 2024

Explore our campus and facilities, find out more about the courses you're interested in and connect with our lecturers and current students.

Book now

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Simulation

We use immersive and simulated learning environments to help our learners develop their practice, knowledge and skills. Simulation and immersive learning  provide artificial, digitally created content and environments that accurately replicate real-life scenarios so that new skills and techniques can be learned and accomplished.

Learners actively engage on these scenarios to solve problems within a realistic and controlled environment, in a risk-free and safe space where learning can be repeated and success can be accurately measured.

You will also have the opportunity to learn safely through simulated and immersive environments in our fully equipped skills labs and develop new knowledge and skills such as Basic Life Support, A to E assessments, etc.

We have a fantastic immersive suite, designed to provide a visually engaging experience for our learners, using equipment such as video walls to fully immerse you into different virtual/simulated environments such as in the hospital ward, road traffic accident or a home visit etc. We also have a fully equipped Community house, which we can use for role plays, case study scenarios.

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. Seminars enable you to discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures in smaller groups of around 8-10 students. In addition, you will have timetabled meetings with your personal tutor at least twice a year. You will be taught in first-class learning spaces throughout your course. Many of our courses are accredited or recognised by professional, statutory or regulatory bodies.

Assessment

Your course will provide you with opportunities to test your understanding of your subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your final mark. Each module normally includes practice or ‘formative’ assessments, for which you receive feedback from your tutor. Practice assessments are developmental and any grades you receive for them do not count towards your module mark.

There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module. This includes a range of coursework assessments, such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations, final year, independent project and written examinations. The grades from formal assessments count towards your module mark.

Learning support

In addition to the excellent support you will receive from your course teaching team, our central Academic Skills team provides group and one-to-one help to support your learning in a number of areas. These include:

study skills such as reading, note-taking and presentation skills
written English, including punctuation and grammatical accuracy
academic writing and how to reference
research skills
critical thinking and understanding arguments
revision, assessment and examination skills
time management

Additional support

Our Student Inclusion Services support students with additional needs such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Placements and career goals - Health and Social Care

Video

Level 6 students Amy, Jill and Jo talk about the work placements that gave them valuable insights to the careers they want to ultimately follow after graduation.

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Your study time will consist of class contact hours, self-directed learning, assessment and placements where appropriate. Your actual contact hours will depend on the subject area, on the option modules you select and professional body requirements.