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Health and Social Care provides students with an interest in any of the caring professions with an invaluable and thoughtful perspective on contemporary issues in health and social care, education and the criminal justice sectors.
Miss K Read
Head of Health and Social Care
[email protected]
“Health and Social Care has been a great subject to study. I chose to study the full Diploma. The majority of the work is coursework which is quite simple and if you struggle the teachers are a great help. The exam side is similar to any other subject – you’ll have to retain information and produce it in your exams. Health and Social Care will provide you with knowledge and skills on how to effectively interact with individuals in health and social care environments. This is a considerable advantage if you plan on following a career which requires lots of interaction. So far I’ve enjoyed my first year and am looking forward to my second year!” (Jess)
Please note: Mrs Allen is the former Head of Health & Social Care. Miss Read is the current Head of Health & Social Care.
The Course
A valuable introduction for anyone wishing to work in any kind of people orientated career in the future and considering professions such as nursing, teaching, childcare, social work, policing and counselling. You must have an interest in working with people and be concerned with individual needs and diversity. Due to the considerable proportion of coursework, this course allows you to rapidly improve your communication skills. A very high proportion of students on these courses go on to study related degrees at university, while many others choose to pursue apprenticeships, especially with the NHS, the UK’s largest employer.
Health and Social Care students particularly enjoy the vocational aspect of the course and the emphasis on application to practice. Students consistently achieve excellent results in this subject at Dereham Sixth Form.
We will follow the OCR Technicals specification, which was offered for the first time in 2016 and which allows you to gain equivalent UCAS points to the linear A Levels. You can opt to take the equivalent of either one A Level (the Extended Certificate) or two A Levels (the Diploma) in Health and Social Care.
Extended Certificate
(equivalent to one A Level; approx. 60% exam, 40% coursework)
Over the two years you will study the following mandatory units:
- Building positive relationships for health and social care
- Equality, diversity and rights for health and social care
- Health, safety and security for health and social care
- Anatomy and physiology for health and social care
This challenging unit is specifically designed to prepare aspiring nurses and other clinicians for the demands of degree level health courses.
In addition, you will study two optional units, likely to be:
- Psychology for health and social care
- Nutrition for health
Diploma
(equivalent to two A Levels; approx. 46% exam, 54% coursework). Over the two years you will study the six units above in addition to the following mandatory units:
- Infection control
- Personalisation and a person centred approach
- Safeguarding
- Promoting positive behaviour
Diploma students will also study two additional portfolio units which are likely to be taken from the following options:
- Creativity and activity for children and young people OR for adults
- Supporting people with learning disabilities OR dementia OR mental health conditions
- Sexual health, reproduction and early development stages
- Promoting positive health and wellbeing
Destinations of some of our Health and Social Care students:
Our students have gone on to study – amongst other things – nursing; teaching; occupational therapy and social work. They have secured apprenticeships with the NHS, with local pharmacies and nurseries and employment with various care organisations.
Assessment
Portfolio (i.e. coursework) units are internally assessed but externally moderated.
Entry Requirements
Minimum 55444 including Level 4 in English and Mathematics GCSE.
