BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care with Foundation Year

Health and social care is a vast service sector providing support to vulnerable people, such as children, older people and adults with disabilities or mental health issues. Our BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care with foundation year offers you the opportunity to develop the values, skills and knowledge essential to good health and social care practice, opening the door to a huge range of rewarding employment opportunities.

Balancing policy, practice and academic training, our course is strongly linked to the UK government's health and social care agendas. Our highly experienced and dedicated team will lead you in exploring the principles of care, person-centred health and social care, the ethical aspects of care, and areas such as health promotion, safeguarding, and more. We'll support you as you learn how to collaborate across professional boundaries, use evidence to inform your decisions, and understand critical health and social care issues and ways of dealing with them.

Practical experience, including a work experience placement in a health and social care setting, is key to your development. Our focus is on helping you become a knowledgeable, compassionate, and person-centred care professional.

• Our Health Studies courses are top in the UK for student satisfaction, according to The Complete University Guide 2022.
• This course includes a foundation year that supports you in developing essential academic and research skills by examining key social issues that impact the health and wellbeing of individuals.
• Guest lectures and talks by health and social care service providers and users give alternative perspectives to enhance your understanding.
• We offer access to purpose-built health and research facilities in the £31 million Bolton One centre on campus.
• Our Clinical Simulation Suites in Bolton One mimic the clinical environment, including simulated patients, allowing you to gain clinical experience in a realistic and dynamic way.
• Professional experience is an essential element of the course that gives valuable, hands-on, real-life experience in a health and social care setting. Our extensive network of health and social care contacts means we can offer a wide variety of placements.
• Alongside specialist health and social care knowledge, you'll have the chance to develop your skills in research, data evaluation, critical reasoning and analysis, as well as in areas such as communication, team working, problem-solving and self-reflection.

Key Features

• We'll work with you as an individual, giving you access to the help and support you need to succeed.
• Our highly qualified and research-active team offers a vast range of professional experience in health and social care and close links with the sector, the NHS, and voluntary and charitable organisations.
• The programme connects to local and national employers through an Industrial Advisory Board. This helps to ensure that you have excellent placement opportunities and that the course content is kept up to date.
• Getting out of the classroom and into the workplace is a key part of your learning, so you'll undertake a placement in a health and social care setting at level HE5 of the course.
• We'll encourage you to volunteer in health and social care environments throughout the course. These activities contribute to your portfolio of evidence, ready to impress employers when you enter the jobs market.
• By studying alongside students who are already health and social care professionals, you'll be able to share the knowledge and experience they have developed in their working environments, helping you to provide the highest standard of care for your patients in the future.
• By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.

Entry Requirements

• 48 UCAS points. We accept a full range of qualifications that carry UCAS points, including A-levels, BTECs and T-levels. Please see our guide to the UCAS Tariff for examples of how to achieve these points. For most courses, we are also able to consider non-tariffable qualifications.
• Any subjects are acceptable at Level 3.
• You should also have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent), including English and Mathematics.
• We'll be happy to consider your application if you don't meet the standard entry requirements but have non-traditional qualifications and/or relevant experience demonstrating appropriate knowledge and skills at Level 3.
• You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
• Every application will be considered on its individual merits.
• If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
• If English is your second language and you feel you need extra help with your language skills, you have the option of studying specialist language modules during the foundation year. Please contact the English for Academic Purposes team for further information and advice.
• This course involves working unsupervised with children and/or vulnerable young people and adults and you must gain an Enhanced Disclosure certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before starting your studies. Charges are payable to cover the cost of the DBS Enhanced Disclosure application and annual registration with the online Update Service.
• Please note that this course is subject to the University's Fitness to Practice declaration.

Career Opportunities

Our BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care with foundation year looks at health in its broad context and investigates contemporary health issues. There's a growing demand for health and social care workers who are not restricted by boundaries and can work flexibly to accommodate the increasingly complex health and social care needs of individuals, families and communities.

This degree will also enable you to develop a range of key transferable employability skills, including written and verbal communication skills, IT skills, the ability to work independently and in a team, research and data analysis skills, the ability to provide support and guidance, and work in complex and demanding situations.

What can I do with this qualification?

As a graduate of this degree, you'll be well-prepared for working in a wide range of statutory, voluntary and independent settings, including local authority or multi-agency teams, health promotion projects, refugee and asylum services, hospitals, sheltered accommodation, hospices and day centres, and residential care units.

In addition, as a graduate with a health and social care background, you'll be in a good position to be considered for careers in health education and promotion, welfare, health research, community mental health and commissioning and care management services. You'll be able to pursue roles in service management and coordination or advocacy, education and training. You might also seek work as a technician and support worker helping children and families, older and disabled people, drug and alcohol abusers, and people with mental health problems.

Further study is a popular option for health and social care graduates. For some career areas, such as social work, nursing, research and teaching, additional study is required to achieve professional recognition.

Alternative career options

Graduates can use this qualification as a stepping stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. They include:

• Probation work
• Substance misuse
• Victim Support
• Youth work
• Social housing
• Learning support
• Counselling
• Mental health
• Occupational therapy
• Community education
• Teaching and training
• Journalism
• Dietitian

Fees & Funding

Bursaries

Click here for more information about the scholarships and bursaries available to University of Bolton students.

Important note regarding tuition fees: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

Home Undergraduate Tuition Fee Adjustment

The tuition fee applicable to the first year of your programme of study is confirmed in your offer letter. The tuition fee set is based on the regulations and guidance in force at the time of offer but remains subject to adjustment in accordance with any government-approved inflationary increase. The University reserves the right to amend tuition fees for all years of study, including the first year, by no more than the maximum increase permitted under legislation and regulatory guidance issued by the UK Government and the Office for Students.

Where such increases are approved, they will not exceed the rate of inflation, as measured by an appropriate index such as the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), or any successor measure specified by government. The University will apply any adjustment consistently across affected student cohorts and will give reasonable notice to students of any confirmed change to the published fee before the start of the relevant academic year.

This approach ensures that tuition fees remain compliant with applicable legislation, proportionate to inflationary changes, and consistent with government policy linking permitted fee uplifts to the maintenance of high-quality education and outcomes. For more information, please refer to the government guidance at: gov.uk – Universities to deliver better outcomes in return for full fees.

Postgraduate and International Tuition Fee Adjustment

The tuition fee applicable to the first year of your programme of study is confirmed in your offer letter. The University reserves the right to amend tuition fees for subsequent years of study in accordance with its Course Fees Policy. Where such increases are approved, they will not exceed the rate of inflation, as measured by an appropriate index such as the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), or any successor measure specified by government. The University will apply any adjustment consistently across affected student cohorts and will give reasonable notice to students of any confirmed change to the published fee before the start of the relevant academic year.

Teaching & Assessment

teaching and assessment methods. These aim to help you develop the skills, knowledge and competencies you need to achieve the learning outcomes of this course and, more importantly, the values and attitudes essential to good health and social care practice that will support you to succeed in your future career.

Lectures introduce the core course content, while seminars and group-based activities allow you to explore subjects in greater detail and consider the policies and practices involved. In tutorials, you can ask questions to ensure you understand the topics covered in lectures and seminars. We use case studies, practical scenarios, and role-play to help you learn to apply academic theory to real-life problems, allowing you to gain insights into health and social care practice in the working environment. You'll also have the chance to gain practical skills in our clinical skills laboratory with simulated patients. We'll encourage you to use online learning resources to enhance your studies.

In addition, we offer masterclasses with practitioners from the health and social care sector, sessions with guest speakers who use health and social care services and applied work experience. These seek to enhance employability and bridge the gap between theory and professional practice.

Our assessment methods aim to replicate activities that are required in the workplace. For example, we'll expect you to write reports, give presentations, create leaflets, develop your portfolio of practice, analyse care plans, review relevant literature, analyse complex cases and discuss how to manage change. You'll also be required to write essays and reflective accounts, take practical and written tests and get involved in group discussions. Some assessments will contribute to your final module mark and allow you to demonstrate that you have met the learning outcomes. In contrast, others are designed to help you identify areas that need extra attention on your part or where you need additional support from your tutors.

This programme adopts a blended learning and teaching style, including online delivery and engagement where appropriate.Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.Academic Language and Skills 1
Academic Language and Skills 2
Self-reflection and Academic Skill Development
Reading Modern Society
The Individual and Society
Research Methods in Social Science
The World of Work
Reading Contemporary Society
Enhancing Communication and Academic Skills
Principles of Care
Anatomy & Physiology for Health and Social Care
Introduction to Social Policy
Introduction to Research and Evidence-Based Practice
Legal and Ethical Issues
Group Dynamics and Working in Teams
Work-based Experience
Person Centred Health and Social Care
Health Promotion - Challenges and Opportunities
Employability Skills
Social Inclusion, Empowerment and Health
Research Proposal/Methods
Compassionate Health and Social Care
Dissertation/Research Project
Safeguarding Children
Working With Children and Families
Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults
Care of the Older Person
Contemporary Mental Health
Assessment methods
LevelAssessment methodLevel 0Coursework 100%Level 1Coursework 95%
Practical exams 5%Level 2Coursework 100%Level 3Coursework 100%Learning Activities