Health & Social Care

If students want to make a real difference in this world, Health and Social Care is a great start towards this aspiration and will enable them to make a real chance to service users and their families lives in difficult situations. The intent is to provide a fluid and dynamic knowledge rich curriculum, which gives learners access and opportunity to progress to KS5 and beyond. The course is planned and sequenced towards developing knowledge and confidence for future learning. Health and Social Care jobs are jobs that can last a lifetime. There are such wide and diverse fields to get involved in and the opportunities for advancement are nearly endless without the need to switch focuses entirely. By working in health care, you help others improve their physical health and by working in social care you can help improve the sociological wellbeing of those in your community.

The BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care provide the knowledge and employability skills students need to succeed at a higher level of study and in their chosen career. Students who have experience of research, extended writing and meeting deadlines will be well prepared for Higher Education. A career in Health and Social Care lets students truly make a significant difference in the lives of clients and their families. They would be working with lots of different people every day and have the opportunity to make a big improvement to someone’s life. This can make it a very rewarding role, making health professionals enjoy the personal relationships they make and the feel of achievement that comes with seeing they’re improving an individual’s quality of life.

This Level 1/2 BTEC Tech Award has 3 compulsory components;

1. Human Lifespan Development
2. Health and Social Care Services and Values
3. Health and Wellbeing

Components 1 and 2 are assessed through internal assessment. Internal assessment for these components has been designed to relate to the sector through realistic tasks and activities.

The components focus on:

• knowledge and understanding of human growth and development
• knowledge and understanding of how people deal with major life events
• knowledge and understanding of health and social care services
• practical demonstration of care values, together with the ability to reflect on own performance.

Component 3 is assessed externally. It requires learners to assess an individual’s health and wellbeing and use this assessment to create a health and wellbeing improvement plan. The design of this external assessment ensures that there is sufficient stretch and challenge, enabling the assessment of knowledge and understanding at the end of the learning period.

What is the course about?

The course provides a broad basis of study in the Health and Social Care sector. In the first year students will study two units. Unit 1 covers human lifespan and development looking at what happens from a biological perspective across the life stages and factors which affect growth and development. This unit will be externally assessed in an exam. The second unit to be studied is unit 5 – meeting individual care and support needs. This unit will cover the key principles, skills and ethical issues involved when providing care to individuals. It will also investigate the roles of professionals and how they work together to provide care and support to meet individual needs. This unit is internally assessed with coursework throughout the year. Units 1 and 5 provide a grounding for the second year units. If a student wishes to leave the course in the first year they can achieve a BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care which is equivalent to half an A-level. In the second year students will study two more units. Unit 2 will explore what it is like to work in the health and social care sector, including the roles and responsibilities of workers and organizations. This will be an externally assessed exam. The other unit will be internally assessed with coursework throughout the year.