School Leaver

Start Date: Duration: Level: Study mode: Course Location: Course Type:
September 1 year Level 2 Full-Time Bede Campus Full-time Vocational Apply Enquire

What’s it all about?

A career in health and social care can give you the chance to make a real difference to people’s lives. The sector includes a wide range of roles, with different skills required and varying levels of demand.

The industry includes work within hospitals, care homes, nursing homes, hospices and dental practices. The course can help you take your first steps towards a career in the care sector. You’ll learn essential skills such as understanding people’s rights and needs, working with individuals, families and carers, and providing therapeutic activities.

You will need 4 GCSE'S at grade 3-9 including Maths and English

Study level Cost Additional fees
19+ please enquire Students are required to purchase their own stationary for the course (pen, paper, file etc).

Students follow the CACHE Level 2 extended diploma specification.

In class, you will complete active learning tasks that promote long-term learning and help you to develop skills in communication, working effectively with others and independently.

Lessons may also happen outside of the classroom environment in our Health Hub simulation area where you can work on more practical skills, such as carrying out risk assessments, recording blood pressures and having some fun with our ageing and fat suit simulators to help you see first hand what it is like for different service users.

All assessment work is coursework based and will involve writing essays, using case studies and recording data.

Maths and English skills are essential for working in the health and social care sector and are embedded within daily tasks such as reading care plans, giving service users medication and being able to communicate effectively. Being able to do these things effectively is essential to maintain the wellbeing and safety of any service users in your care.

If you do not have a grade 4 in Maths and English, you will be required to keep studying them at college alongside your main health and social care programme.

We work in close partnership with many of the North East's leading health and social care employers to ensure our students get the best opportunities to progress in their future career path. Some of our employer partners offer students who complete their programme of study a guaranteed interview with their organisation.

Employers include Sunderland Care and Support, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, and Cumbria, Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

As timetables change on a yearly basis we cannot give you exact days and times until you are enroled on the course. Timetables normally run over 4 days in college and are timetabled between 9am-4pm.

Students who don't have at least a grade 4 in maths and English will have an additional 6 hours on their timetable to support with achieving these essential qualifications.

This Level 2 certificate and extended diploma in Health and Social Care enables the applied study of the health and social care sector, providing learners with an introduction to key areas relating to current practice.

The mandatory units aim to provide learners with knowledge and understanding of key subject areas in health and social care. The optional units within the extended diploma allow learners to pursue an interest in chosen subject areas.
These qualifications are made up of a common bank of units and have been designed to allow direct progression from the certificate to the extended diploma.

The Level 2 certificate and extended diploma in Health and Social Care have also been designed to enable learners to progress to the Level 3 award, certificate and extended diploma in Health and Social Care (which supports progression to Higher Education), further learning at Level 3 and above, or to the workplace.

You will cover units that explore topics such as:

- Equality, diversity and human rights
- Safeguarding and protection in health and social care
- Human growth and development
- Communication in health and social care
- Creative activities
- Working in health and social care
- Mental health and wellbeing

These topics cover a wide range of health and social care settings, as well as job roles that will allow you to gain knowledge in a wide range of areas, enhancing your desirability to employers.

You will experience a range of activities to support you in achieving your career goals, these will include:

- Opportunities to complete a work placement
- Masterclasses with employers
- Guest speakers
- Visits and trips
- Employer led projects

What’s next?

Level 2 is the first step on the ladder to a career in health and social care and if you successfully complete the course you will be able to progress onto our 2 year programme at Level.

There are also a number of health and social care jobs that you would be qualified to do with a Level 2 qualification if university was not something you had considered for your future.

Guaranteed interview with partner organisations

We work in close partnership with many of the North East's leading health and social care employers to ensure our students get the best opportunities to progress in their future career path. Some of our employer partners offer students who complete and achieve their programme of study a guaranteed interview with their organisation.

Employers include Sunderland Care and Support, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

Our employer partners

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93.1% of our students have progressed to further study, university of employment.

(*Based on 16-18 year olds destination data, 2019/20 academic year)

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Summer 2021

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Destination data for Sunderland College 2019/20, Apprentice completers. 

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