Health and social care is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK with demand for both health and social care employees continuously rising. In 2019/20, the adult social care sector contributed approximately £41.2 billion a year to the UK economy. Social care employees, such as care assistants and social workers work with individuals to support them to be as independent as possible in their own homes, in care homes or nursing homes. Healthcare employees, such as doctors, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and physiotherapists, work with individuals to enhance their quality of life by improving their health. Approximately 3 million people are currently employed in the sector. In 2019, it was estimated that by 2035 approximately 2.17 million health and social care job vacancies will need to be filled.

Study of this sector at Key Stage 4 will complement GCSE study through providing an opportunity for practical application alongside conceptual study. There are also strong opportunities for post-16 progression in this important sector.                

The BTEC Level 1/2 Tech Award is equivalent to a GCSE over a three year programme.

• Students will have the opportunity to learn about both health care and social care services, jobs and the behaviours professionals should use, when dealing with people.
• Students will delve into the changes that happen during a life time, such as physical growth or puberty, learning about ‘people’ of all ages.
• Students will gain an understand about the impact of life events, such as starting school or divorce, too

Curriculum Aims

Health and social care is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK with demand for both health and social care employees continuously rising. In 2019/20, the adult social care sector contributed approximately £41.2 billion a year to the UK economy. Social care employees, such as care assistants and social workers work with individuals to support them to be as independent as possible in their own homes, in care homes or nursing homes. Healthcare employees, such as doctors, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and physiotherapists, work with individuals to enhance their quality of life by improving their health. Approximately 3 million people are currently employed in the sector. In 2019, it was estimated that by 2035 approximately 2.17 million health and social care job vacancies will need to be filled.

Study of this sector at Key Stage 4 will complement GCSE study through providing an opportunity for practical application alongside conceptual study. There are also strong opportunities for post-16 progression in this important sector.                

The BTEC Level 1/2 Tech Award is equivalent to a GCSE over a three year programme.

• Students will have the opportunity to learn about both health care and social care services, jobs and the behaviours professionals should use, when dealing with people.
• Students will delve into the changes that happen during a life time, such as physical growth or puberty, learning about ‘people’ of all ages.
• Students will gain an understand about the impact of life events, such as starting school or divorce, too.

Curriculum Design

There are three units that students will be covering whilst studying for the L1/L2 award.

Component 1: Human Lifespan Development

Learners will explore different aspects of growth and development and the factors that can affect this across the life stages. They will explore the different events that can impact on individuals’ physical, intellectual, emotional and social (PIES) development and how individuals cope with and are supported through changes caused by life events.

How do people grow and develop through their lives? How can factors such as lifestyle choices and relationships affect this? Understanding these processes is essential knowledge and understanding for health and social care practitioners.

In this component, students will study how people grow and develop over the course of their life, from infancy to adulthood, this includes PIES development and the different factors that may affect this. An individual’s development can be affected by major life events, such as marriage, parenthood or moving to a new house and students will learn about how people adapt to these changes, as well as the types and sources of support that can help them.

Component 2: Health and Social Care Services and Values

At some point in life everyone will need health care. It is likely that students have already had an appointment with a doctor in your lifetime, in which case they would be described as a service user. This means that they have been given health care from a person who was trained to give them care – they are called ‘service providers’.

Students might know someone who needs social care. This is different from health care, although both types of care are closely linked. People who need social care are not always ill – they may be unable to carry out everyday activities like getting dressed or feeding themselves, or they may need help with their day-to-day lives.

Providing good health and social care services is important and service providers need to have the appropriate skills, attributes and values to meet the needs of service users. These skills, attributes and values are important because they enable people who use health and social care services to get the care they need and to be protected from different sorts of harm.

This component will give students an understanding of health and social care services and will help them to understand the skills, attributes and values that are common across the sector (some of which are transferable to other sectors that involve interactions with clients or customers).

Component 3: Health and Wellbeing

Learners will explore the factors that affect health and wellbeing, learning about physiological and lifestyle indicators, and person-centred approaches to make recommendations to improve an individual’s health and wellbeing.

Please click the link to view our Health and Social Care Curriculum Year Overview

Future Pathways and Next Steps

Study of the qualification as part of Key Stage 4 learning will help learners to make more informed choices for further learning, either generally or in this sector. The choices that learners can make post-16 will depend on their overall level of attainment and their performance in the qualification.

Learners who generally achieve at Level 2 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:

• A Levels as preparation for entry to higher education in a range of subjects
• study of a vocational qualification at Level 3, such as a BTEC National in Health and Social Care, which prepares learners to enter employment or apprenticeships, or to move on to higher education by studying a degree in the health or social care sector.

Learners who generally achieve at Level 1 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:

• study at Level 2 post-16 in a range of technical routes designed to lead to work, employment, apprenticeships or further study at Level 3. Learners who perform well in this qualification compared to their overall performance, should strongly consider this progression route as it can lead to employment in the health and social care sector
• study at Level 2 post-16 in a range of technical routes designed to lead to work, progression to employment via apprenticeships or further study at Level 3.

Latimer will be offering the opportunity to study Health and Social Care Level 3 in our Sixth Form from September 2025.