Health and Social Care
Level 3 BTEC
Entry Criteria
- English Language GCSE Grade 4
- Mathematics GCSE Grade 4
Examination Board
- Pearson BTEC
Click here to visit the exam board course page for Health & Social Care.
Teaching Staff
- Miss Lockwood
This course will suit you if you have a genuine interest in Health and Social Care professions and especially if this is a career path you hope to pursue. You will sit two external exams and also complete two pieces of internally marked coursework. The coursework will focus on how care workers can personalise care and how principles of care underpin everything they do.
Students often choose Health and Social Care alongside subjects such as Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy and Ethics, Biology and English Language. However, the core skills of independent study, careful planning and communication skills makes Health and Social Care a great choice alongside most subjects, as it is covers many employment sectors in the UK.
This course is valued highly by employers; knowledge of caring skills and recent healthcare legislation means that employers in this field would be happy that course graduates could enter Health and Social Care service roles. However, many students use this qualification to go on to further study at university; students may use Health and Social Care and associated A-Levels to apply for a degree in Nursing, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Midwifery, Teaching or Social Work. There are a wide range of options available to students of Health and Social Care as it is covers many employment sectors in the UK.
What do our students say about Health & Social Care?
Alongside her A Levels, Amour is a member of our Student Management Team. She is particularly passionate about maintaining a positive Sixth Form environment.
My favourite thing about studying Health and Social Care is that as we are working through the course, each new topic allows me to keep on re-jogging my memory on the previous topics that we have learnt. In lesson when we go over it, I can understand each new topic without having to look back as much.
Before I began studying Health and Social Care, I should have looked up what the BTEC qualification gets me – most universities will see it as exactly the same as A Levels, but you should check. This course is especially useful if you want to go to work in the healthcare sector in the future.
For new Year 12s, I want to say don’t be afraid about starting Sixth Form even if you’re new to Crompton House, there are plenty of people who will easily come and talk to you to make sure you feel welcomed in your new environment and the staff are lovely people so if you have any concerns just knock on the Sixth Form office door and they will help you with anything.
I am studying Psychology and Sociology along with Health and Social Care, and I am doing my EPQ in whether more expensive skincare products are actually better than the less expensive ones. After Sixth Form, my plan is to go to University, though I have not decided exactly what I want to study yet.
The best thing about studying Health and Social Care is how it consistently links to everyday life. We are learning about life and how it works, as well as how our bodies function. We’re also learning about how social care systems exist to support people when their health deteriorates and the reasons this can occur.
Health and Social Care is a lot of work, especially with the mix of exams and coursework. The first real exams are in January of Year 12, so you have to be on top of your work from the start. If you are organised and keep up with everything, it is a hugely rewarding subject to study. My best advice is that you need to try not to get behind on your work and be honest with yourself and your teachers if you do. Being prepared for lessons, even looking ahead to what is coming up, is really helpful.
As well as Health and Social Care, I also study Biology and Psychology. All three have areas where they overlap, so I can use my knowledge from each subject together.
After Sixth Form I am planning to go to university. At the moment I am looking into courses in Children’s Nursing or Psychology, though I haven’t decided which I will apply for yet.
Sophie's three subjects - Health and Social Care, Biology and Psychology - all overlap and she's able to transfer her knowledge between the three.
Olivia's Gap Nurses placement in the Dominican Republic helped prepare her for her Children's Nursing application.
Having said that, I wish I’d realised how time consuming some of the coursework assignments are and how I would have to be on top of my time management in order to do the best coursework I could alongside being set work from other subjects.
