Health and Social Care￼

Health and Social Care

Curriculum Intent

Our Health and Social Care BTEC curriculum aims to offer a diverse curriculum which inspires, engages and provides every pupil with a firm understanding of the Health and Social Care Sector so that they are empowered to proceed with confidence to vocational employment or higher level study. Students will develop a broad range of knowledge and transferable lifelong skills, useful across subjects and highly valued by employers.

BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma

Type: Applied General Qualification

Course code: 601/7193/5

GLH: 1080

Structure of Course

The qualification is a two-year full-time qualification, with an integrated weekly professional work experience placement. It is designed for post-16 learner’s interested in progressing into a career in the health and/or social care sector. It is equivalent in size to three A’ Levels and the qualification enables students to gain entry to University or gain employment in the health and social care sector.

Students will study 13 units in total, 4 of which are externally assessed through a formal examination or controlled assessment, all other units are assessed through assignment based coursework. The qualification underpins in-depth study into the health and social care sector and gives students direct practical experience through their professional work placement. Students are required to undertake 150 hours of professional work placement across 2 different health and social care settings. The course is structured so students will spend 4 days a week in college studying theory and 1 day a week in a health and social care setting gaining their practical experience.

Externally assessed units assesses via either formal examination or controlled assessment

Unit 1: Human Lifespan Development – written examination

Unit 2: Working in Health and Social Care – written examination

Unit 3 – Anatomy and Physiology for Health and Social Care – written examination

Unit 4: Enquiries into Current Research in Health and Social Care – controlled assessment

Internally assessed units assessed via assignment based coursework

Unit 5: Meeting Individual Care and Support Needs

Unit 6: Work Experience in Health and Social Care

Unit 7: Principles of Safe Practice in Health and Social Care

Unit 8: Promoting Public Health

Unit 9: Infection Prevention and Control

Unit 11: Psychological Perspectives

Unit 12: Supporting Individuals with Additional Needs

Unit 18: Assessing Childrens Development Support needs.

Unit 19: Nutritional Health

Assessment

Equivalent in size to three A Levels. 13 units, 8 are mandatory, 5 are optional. Students will also produce a work placement portfolio linked to their professional placement that will assess their skills and competencies as a health and social care professional.

Destinations

Many of our student’s progress onto a wide range of higher education courses to include:

BSc (Hons) in Nursing
BA (Hons) in Social Work
BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy
BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy
BA (Hons) in Health and Social Care

Students that opt to go directly into the work place have secured employment in roles to include:

Health Care Assistant, Care Workers, Pharmacy Assistant, NHS Administration Workers and Doctors Receptionist.

BTEC Tech Award in Health and Social Care Level 1/2

Course code: 603/7047/6

Why study Health and Social Care Level 2

The Award gives learners the opportunity to develop sector-specific knowledge and skills in a practical learning environment. The main focus is on four areas of equal importance, which cover the:

developmentof key skills that prove your aptitude in health and social care such as interpreting data to assess an individual’s health
processthat underpins effective ways of working in health and social care, such as designing a plan to improve an individual’s health and wellbeing
attitudesthat are considered most important in health and social care, including the care values that are vitally important in the sector, and the opportunity to practise applying them
knowledgethat underpins effective use of skills, process and attitudes in the sector such as human growth and development, health and social care services, and factors affecting people’s health and wellbeing.

This Award complements the learning in GCSE programmes such as GCSE English. It will complement the more theoretical aspects covered by GCSE Biology or GCSE Psychology by allowing you to apply your knowledge and skills practically in a vocational context.

The structure of the course

There are three components that make up the structure of the course: Component 1 Human Lifespan Development, Component 2 Health and Social Care Services and Values and Component 3 Health and Wellbeing. The components are interrelated and they are best seen as part of an integrated whole rather than as totally distinct study areas. Learners will normally take this qualification over a two-year period or longer. This means that they must be given the opportunity to build their confidence in understanding the sector, vocational contexts and vocational attributes over a long period during the course of study before they are assessed.

As the interrelated components are not linked to occupational roles, certification is not available at component level. The three components in the qualification give learners the opportunity to develop applied knowledge and understanding of the health and social care sector, at Levels 1 and 2.

Internal assessment – externally moderated Components 1 and 2 are assessed through non-exam internal assessment. The non exam internal assessment for these components has been designed to demonstrate application of the conceptual knowledge underpinning the sector through realistic tasks and activities. This style of assessment promotes deep learning through ensuring the connection between knowledge and practice. The components focus on:

the development of applied knowledge and understanding of human growth and development across life stages and the factors that affect this, and how individuals deal with life events
the development of applied knowledge and understanding of different types of health and social care services and barriers to accessing them, and the skills, attributes and values required to give care. Non-exam
internal assessment is delivered through Pearson-set Assignments. These assignments are set by Pearson, marked by the centre and moderated by Pearson.

External synoptic assessment There is one external assessment, Component 3, which provides the main synoptic assessment for the qualification. Component 3 builds directly on Components 1 and 2 and enables learning to be brought together and applied to realistic contexts.

Where will it take you – Next steps

Study of the qualification as part of Key Stage 4 learning will help learners to make more informed choices for further learning, either generally or in this sector. The choices that learners can make post-16 will depend on their overall level of attainment and their performance in the qualification. Learners who generally achieve at Level 2 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:

A Levels as preparation for entry to higher education in a range of subjects
study of a vocational qualification at Level 3, such as a BTEC National in Health and Social Care, which prepares learners to enter employment or apprenticeships, or to move on to higher education by studying a degree in aspects of health or social care. Learners who generally achieve at Level 1 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:
study at Level 2 post-16 in a range of technical routes designed to lead to work, to progression to employment, to apprenticeships or to further study at Level 3. For these learners, the attitudes and the reflective and communication skills covered in this qualification will help them achieve
studyof health and social care post-16 through the study of a Technical Certificate. Learners who perform strongly in this qualification compared to their overall performance should strongly consider this progression route as it can lead ultimately to employment in the health or social care sector.