Health and Social Care

Health and Social Care is a vocational subject that looks at the growth, development, health and wellbeing of individuals of all ages. Students are introduced to a variety of knowledge and skills needed to work in various care settings. Underpinning the qualification is a focus on person centred values and the rights of individuals. Health & Social care will equip students with sound specialist knowledge and skills for everyday use. This includes;

Valuable communication skills

An understanding of life events and how to support individuals

An understanding of growth and development through the life stages

Vital knowledge and understanding of how to protect individuals through infection prevention, safeguarding and safety and security measures

Through the completion of coursework, students develop a range of transferable skills such as evaluation, planning, presentation/delivery and research skills. Initially, the focus is on health and social care settings, however the application of the core topics are transferable to many other working environments. Health and Social Care not only opens the door to one of the biggest employment sectors in the UK, but will allow students to make more informed choices for further learning generally. As a vocational subject, a vast variety of transferable skills are developed that transcend to many different fields. This often includes careers directly within the health and social care sector such as education, occupational therapists, counsellors, nurses, midwives etc. Upon completion of the Level 1/2 Certificate, there is also the opportunity to progress onto the Cambridge Technical as well as specialised apprenticeships.

Key Stage 4

The OCR Cambridge National in Health and Social Care consists of three units;

Principles of care in health and social care settings
Supporting individuals through life events
Health promotion campaigns

Students are able to make connections across all three units as they progress within the qualification. The course has proved to be accessible to many students through a combination of assessment by examination as well as non-examined assessment units. Non-examined assessment units include a range of tasks such as interviewing individuals to uncover the impact of life events as well as planning and creating a health promotion campaign.

At the end of the Cambridge National, students will be able to;

Develop learning and practical skills that can be applied to real life contexts and work situations
Think creative, innovatively, analytically, logically and critically
Have skills to manage their own workload and meet deadlines
Develop efficient research skills
Develop effective communication skills
Develop independence and confidence in using these skills