Is Health and Social Care a good route into a career in healthcare?

[taylor300]

I’ve recently been looking into studying Health and Social Care and I’m trying to understand how useful it actually is for progressing into a career in healthcare or social care.
I’ve come across quite a few different course options, including Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications, and I’m finding it difficult to work out which route would give the best opportunities afterwards.
For anyone who has studied Health and Social Care, or whose DC has done it, how did you find the course and what did you go on to do afterwards?
Did it give you a useful foundation for things like nursing, social work, healthcare support or other roles, or did you find that you needed to take another qualification afterwards?
I’d particularly appreciate hearing from people who chose the course as a route into further education rather than simply studying it as a subject. Was it worth doing?

years ago I studied health and social care - at the time it was called an AVCE and we had work placements alongside the course. I can’t remember all that much about the course content but I enjoyed it and it gave me the equivalent of 2x A levels and I also studied human biology at A level alongside it.

I qualified as a nurse a few years later, and some of my course mates went in to childcare and youth support services.

The person I know who studied it went on to University to become a radiographer.

Yes I went from hca to staff nurse in 3 years long time ago - happy days!

Presuming you're a mature student an Access course would probably be your best option to then go on to nursing or social work

Might be worth looking into an Access to HE course to give you the foundations to progress into a degree in nursing/social work etc.

If you want to move into social work you would need to do a degree course in social work. I did a diploma in health and social care initially and it gave me a good knowledge base for my social work qualification, it also affirmed that I wanted to go in that direction so was worthwhile, it was also a gentle introduction back into education.

Level 3 courses in Health and SC will give you a good foundation for a degree in nursing, social work, occupational therapy etc. You need to make sure that it would give you enough credits to get into university.
An Access to Higher Education course may also be an option. Some Access courses are quite generic but some are specifically designed for health care and have more science. They are specifically designed to help mature students get to university and they will also put you through your level 2 Maths and English (if you don't already have them) which you will need for university applications.

That’s really helpful, thank you. It’s interesting to hear that the course gave you a route into nursing and that your classmates went into areas like childcare and youth support as well.
The work placements sound particularly useful too, as getting some practical experience alongside the qualification must have helped you understand which area suited you.
I’m mainly looking at Health and Social Care as a possible route into further study, so it’s reassuring to hear that it can lead to quite a few different career paths. I’ll definitely look more closely at the placement and progression opportunities when comparing courses. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Thanks, that’s really useful. I hadn’t considered an Access to HE course as an option, so I’ll definitely look into that as well.
I’ve been researching different Health and Social Care study options and came across Inspire London College while looking at courses. Do you know whether an Access to HE route would generally be a better foundation for someone hoping to progress into nursing or social work, compared with doing a Level 3 Health and Social Care qualification first?
I’m trying to understand which route would give me the strongest progression options before deciding.

That’s really helpful to hear, especially the point about it being a gentle introduction back into education. I can see how doing Health and Social Care first could help someone make sure social work is actually the direction they want to take before committing to a degree.
I’m currently comparing a few Health and Social Care options and came across Inspire London College while researching courses. Do you think a diploma/Level 3 Health and Social Care course is a worthwhile starting point for someone considering social work, or would you recommend looking specifically at an Access to HE route instead?
It would be useful to know which route you think gives the best preparation for the social work degree itself.

My dd has just finished her level 3 in health and social care. She’s secured a place at uni for nursing starting next month.

she had no issues getting 3 offers to different unis for nursing, but didn’t manage to get in to uni for paramedic science (seems to be more competitive?)

so it depends what you want to do. I suppose after the level three you are qualified for lots of jobs as well

That’s really encouraging to hear. It sounds like the Level 3 gave her a good enough foundation to apply successfully for nursing, which is exactly the sort of progression I’m trying to understand.
I hadn’t realised there could also be quite a few employment options after completing Level 3, rather than it necessarily having to lead straight into university. The fact that she received three nursing offers is particularly reassuring.
I think it really does come down to the end goal and making sure the qualification has the right progression options for whatever you want to do afterwards. Thanks for sharing her experience — that’s really useful.

DC did H&SC BTec equivalent to 2 A Levels plus an A level. Studied Adult Nursing at university. The A level grade was fairly low but luckily the university lowered the tariff and DC got in . They did struggle at uni- the BTec, with its assessments divided into small chunks, was not adequate preparation for the academic rigour of university with its 3000 word, evidence-based researched, Harvard referenced essays....

What would be your end goal? Do you know already? If you dream big, what role would you be interested in?

i did health and social care btec about 30 years ago… As a stroopy teenager i hated it (though i had amazing teachers). I went onto doing something entirely unrelated for 15 years. Then i had kids and decided that what i wanted to do was a career in health and social care!!! Oh the irony! I am now finishing my doctorate in psychotherapy (im 50yo). I would say my btec gave me a good understanding of social work, the placements gave me a tatse of working in a clinical setting and i found all the health stuff really interesting.
if i had the choice between a level and btec (and the grades - which i didnt have 25 years ago) and the aim of being where i am now, i think i might have chosen the same again. Not being very academic (despite being a doctoral student now!), the fact the byec was applied and more practical, suited me. Also it would have allowed me to get really good clinical experience and exposure and now i wish i had gone into nursing.
my teachers all had real life experience and that made them very engaging (and probably empathic to a rebellious teenager!). As a teenager i had not understood where nursing could have taken me, if someone had taken my hand and showed me the career progression, the story would have been very different! But i was stubborn! Good luck to you!

A friends DC did level 3 H&S and is now at uni doing paramedic science but this is at 18 so not sure on adult learning.