Health and Social Care

Why study Health and Social Care?

We all experience health and social care during our lives.  From newborn to elderly, we need and use health and social care services and meet with professionals in many different areas of the industry.  From doctors and surgeons, nutritionists and radiographers, to psychologists and therapists, there are a multitude of professional careers in the health and social care sector.

Course Outline ‐ What will I learn?

Component 1 – Coursework

  • Human Lifespan Development across the 6 life stages and the factors which affect this
  • Expected and unexpected life events, how we cope with these and the support we could receive

Component 2 – Coursework

  • Health and social care services (primary, secondary and tertiary) and the barriers individuals may face accessing these
  • Health and social are values and be able to demonstrate them in a role play

Component 3 – Written Exam

  • Factors affecting health and wellbeing 
  • Understanding health indicators and creating a health and wellbeing improvement plan for a case study 

Skills

Health and social care involves a lot of coursework, you will need: 

  • An interest in health and social care related jobs 
  • Good reading and extended wring skills 
  • Good organisational skills and the ability to meet coursework deadlines
  • The confidence to go out into the community and talk to people involved in health and social services
  • The ability to find your own information and conduct research.
  • To be able to think for yourself and work independently
  • Determination and the ability to remain motivated whilst completing extended wring assessment

Knowledge

Component 1

  • Human growth and development across the life stages
  • Factors affecting growth and development
  • Different types of life events
  • Coping with change caused by life events

Component 2 

  • Health and social care services
  • Barriers to accessing services
  • Core values and reviewing your application of these

Component 3

  • Factors affecting our health and well being. 
  • Physiological indicators
  • Lifestyle indicators
  • Health and wellbeing improvement plans
  • Obstacles to implementing plans

How will it be assessed?

Pupils achieve grade Pass, Merit, Distinction or Distinction*

Component 1 ‐ Coursework – 30% of overall grade

Component 2 ‐ Coursework – 30% of overall grade

Component 3 ‐ A written 2 hour exam – 40% of overall grade

What parents need to know

Please be aware that this course has nine extended writing assignments which are worth a total of 60% of the pupil’s final grade. We work to tight  exam board deadlines and therefore it is essential that these assignments are completed in the given timeframe. Failure to meet these deadlines will  affect the pupil’s final grade. 

Pupils will be expected to participate in a variety of visits to local health and social care providers  in order to experience how skills learnt in the classroom can be transferred into a real life setting. 

Potential further study and careers

  • A Level Health & Social Care (Applied); 
  • BTEC Level 3 in Health & Social Care; 
  • BTEC Level 3 in Health & Social Care (Trainee Health Professionals);
  • BTEC Level 3 in Health & Social Care (Community) 
  • Childcare and Education Diploma Level 3; 
  • CACHE Level 3 Award, Certificate and Diploma in Childcare and Education.
  • WJEC Level 3 in Medical Science 
  • Apprenticeship/traineeship L2 to University level 

Careers 

There are various careers in health and social care, and childcare. Here are some examples: 

  • Nurse 
  • Midwife 
  • Doctor 
  • Surgeon 
  • Psychologist / psychiatrist
  • Operating department practitioner
  • Radiographer 
  • Biomedical scientist 
  • Community health nurse 
  • Social worker 
  • Paramedic 
  • Carer for the elderly 
  • Early years practitioner 

Ex pupils’ experiences

‘‘Completing coursework is difficult, but it means less exam pressure at the end” 

“I like the fact that the coursework is spread over a long period of me and I  build up my grade as I go along” 

“Surprised how many different health and  social care careers there are in the NHS”  

(Hospital careers event) 

“I can see now how the care values are put into practice when looking after the elderly  and children!” 

(Care home and nursery school visits) 

For more information

Please contact: E.Ronan or L.Fox on info@oakwood.ac

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