Program Overview
This two-year Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care prepares students for careers in the health and social care sector. Through interactive workshops, lectures, and work-based learning, students develop skills in reflective practice, self-awareness, and interpersonal communication. The program offers opportunities for placement in various settings, enhancing employability and providing a foundation for further study in related fields.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
This course is offered at Hereford, Ludlow, and North Shropshire College Only. When you choose to work in Health and Social Care, you face a wide range of opportunities. We help you explore your options and discover evidence-based and contemporary issues pertinent to many aspects of the health and social care sector. Our Foundation Degree is all about experiencing a variety of roles and supports students in developing skills including reflective practice, self-awareness, and interpersonal skills essential for a career in health and social care. The Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care is a full-time, two-year course designed to support students wishing to work within the health and social care sector as well as those currently practicing within the field who may be looking for career development and promotion into management positions. Students will be equipped to work within a range of different settings such as schools, community centers, care settings, and hospitals. As a partner organization to the University of Worcester, we have excellent links to a variety of community organizations, to support students to identify and undertake a placement, as part of work-based learning. You can complete the one-year, level 4 CertHE program or stay with us for two years to complete the level 5 foundation degree. If you wish to progress after the two-year foundation degree onto the one-year top-up degree in Applied Health and Social Care, you can complete further study such as Masters degree in Nutritional Therapy, Physician Associates, and PhD study.
Outline:
Year 1
- Certificate in Higher Education (Health and social care) Year 1, Level 4
- Preparing for Practice in Health and Social Care
- Contemporary Issues in Health and Wellbeing
- Ethics, Values, and Use of Self in Practice
- Communication Skills for Practice
- Human Development across the Lifecourse
- Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology (optional module)
- Working with intersectionality in social care (optional module)
Year 2
- Foundation Degree in Health and Social Care Year 2, Level 5
- Innovative Working in Health and Social Care
- Understanding Health Conditions in Person-centered Practice
- Research and Evidence-based Practice
- Understanding Teamwork in Professional Practice
- Promoting Health and Wellbeing
- Equality, Diversity, and Anti-oppressive Practice
Assessment:
The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade. Assessment methods include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, presentations, and a final year placement project. The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:
Year 1
- Communication Resource
- Case Study Essay
- Group Presentation
- Written Essay
- Work-based Learning Portfolio
- Patchwork (quizzes and written work)
Year 2
- Written Essay
- Literature Review
- Reflective Essay
- Individual Project in the Workplace
- Report
Teaching:
You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, and seminars. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities. Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures and are focused on developing subject-specific skills and applied individual and group work. Each work-based learning module requires the completion of a minimum of 150 hours of work-based learning. Students will identify and apply for placement in a relevant area of practice that interests them and best suits their career aspirations. The timing of practice-based learning will allow for some flexibility, although it is essential that certain parameters are met to ensure opportunities to link university-based learning to practice, facilitate reflection on work-based learning, and ensure that assessment deadlines can be met.
Careers:
Employability
Career opportunities and links with employers Through the substantial work-based learning infrastructure maintained across the University, we hold established links to the statutory, voluntary, and independent sector. This includes the local geographical area and beyond. Combined with research and feedback from students, the course is constantly revised and updated to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. Students are able to locate their own practice within a diverse variety or placement contexts and are encouraged to seek out placement opportunities best suited to their future career aspirations. To ensure that the Foundation Degree remains updated and relevant it has been designed in collaboration with representatives from health, education, and social services. Service user involvement is key to the development of the curriculum content. Service integration, collaboration, and multi-disciplinary working in health and social care settings have informed the dynamic context for this program. In consultation with employers, the course seeks to prepare students for future careers in a range of operational contexts as identified in the section graduate destinations below.
Graduate destinations
Graduates are expected to seek employment working in statutory, voluntary, and commercial organizations. Examples of the types of paid employment in health and social care contexts include:
- Care services
- Advice and guidance services
- Police and probation
- Advocacy and rights-based services
- Preventative health, care, and welfare services
- Housing support services
- Health care provision
Student employability
The Course will enhance student employability in a variety of ways. Sound work-based practice and values will be established and strengthened during the one-year Cert HE. This includes the ability to meet deadlines, to prepare well, and to communicate effectively within a professional context. Fundamental to this is the consistent analysis, within the course’s design and delivery, of the workplace and classroom. Thus, students enhance their employability by using and developing a range of different skills in different contexts, and by bringing learning from one context to the other. Student employability remains a high priority which reflects both university aspirations and the vocationally focused nature of the course. The University’s dedicated Career and Employability Services ensures that students can receive support and guidance relevant to their own particular situation and employment ambitions.
Other:
- You will be working with a team of academics, clinicians, and work-based learning tutors who hold a range of expertise and experience relevant to health and social care.
- You will identify a suitable placement to complete two practice placement modules to apply your skills and knowledge in an area of practice that interests you. As part of this, you will complete a minimum of 150 hours a year in placement to enhance your employability.
- You will examine the theoretical concept of reflective practice and apply system-based knowledge of anatomy and physiology to practice.
- You will develop and enhance your self-awareness and interpersonal skills alongside gaining an insight into the importance of evidence-based practice within health and social care.
- Progression routes exist on to the BA Applied Health & Social Care or Child and Adolescent Mental Health top-up degree programs. Students can also apply to the BA Top-up degree Working with Children and Families. In addition, students can apply to progress onto professional courses, such as nursing (adult or mental health), Midwifery, Paramedic Science, Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Psychology.
- Study at our partner organization Herefordshire, Ludlow & North Shropshire College
