Diploma of Higher Education in Health and Social Care

If you are employed or volunteering in the health and social care sector but would like academic qualifications to back up your experience, this Diploma could be for you. It’s a level 5 qualification which you can top up to a full degree later.

This course has 3 intakes per year: September, January and May.

The Diploma of Higher Education in Health and Social Care provides you with the knowledge, values and skills required to become a competent health and social care practitioner who can work in an integrative environment.

This 240 credit, Level 5 course in Health and Social Care will enable you to progress your qualifications to degree level with automatic entitlement to study our online Level 6 BSc (Hons) Integrative Health and Social Care Top-up degree as long as you are working (paid or voluntary) in the health and social care sector.

You also have the option to exit with a Certificate of Higher Education and Health and Social Care by achieving 120 credits at Level 4.

You may be fairly new in your career or potentially very well experienced and are now seeking the academic qualifications to validate your experience for career progression or for Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

What will I learn?

Through studying this course you will gain knowledge about the rapidly changing context of health and social care both nationally and internationally. You will also be able to enter the workplace and deliver effective health and social care services by working in an integrative manner in order to provide patients, clients and service users with caring, compassionate and effective support services.

What modules will I study?

You will study modules such as Health Policy and Social Trends, Understanding Physical Health Conditions, Psychological Approaches to Care, Professional Development in Health and Social Care, Leadership Skills in Health and Social Care, Critical Issues in Adult Care, Safeguarding Children and more.

Interactive and practical learning

This online learning degree is specifically designed by our expert online tutors and contains plenty of opportunities to interact with tutors and other students through online discussion forums, virtual class room sessions and more traditional forms of communication such as email and Skype.

Supported learning

In addition to our academic teams, you’ll be appointed a dedicated online learner advisor who will support you on any non-academic issues throughout your course.

You’ll also benefit from many other university support services such as student wellbeing, eLibrary and resource centre, IT support and careers and employment service.

It’s ideally suited to school leavers who are working (paid or volunteering) in the health and social care sector or very well experienced workers who are now seeking the academic qualifications to validate their work experience and further develop their skills.

It provides the underpinning knowledge, theory and research so that you can progress with further study and qualify in specialist areas such as social work, nursing, teaching, occupational and other therapies.

This course suits a wide range of health and social care practitioners in the statutory, private, voluntary and charitable organisations within the health and social care sector, including:

• Residential Child Care and Adult Workers
• Care Assistants
• Family Support Workers
• Youth and Community Workers
• Nursery Assistants
• Play Workers
• Childminders
• Foster Carers
• Teaching Assistants
• Students studying subjects relating to Health and
• Social Care and Child Development in schools and colleges

This course has a range of entry requirements that vary depending on whether you are a school leaver, or whether you are aged over 21 with relevant work experience. Please visit our website for full details on entry requirements for this course.

Upon completion of this course, you can automatically continue to our BSc (Hons) Integrative Health and Social Care (Top-up) degree as long as you are working (paid or voluntary) in a health or social care setting. Other courses you may be interested include Counselling Studies and Skills, Cognitive Behavioural Studies and Skills, and Dementia Care.