The FdA in Health and Social Care is your opportunity to take big professional and academic leaps towards helping improve the day-to-day lives of vulnerable people. With access to excellent facilities, you can gain the skills, knowledge and understanding you’ll need to embark on a genuinely rewarding career in this sector.

Key information

Award:

FdA

Mode of Study:

Full-time

Duration:

2 years

Location:

The University of Bolton

UCAS points:

UCAS code:

L510

Start date:

25/01/2021, 20/09/2021

Course Details

The health and social care sector is vast, and this foundation degree provides an opportunity to begin developing the values, skills and knowledge so essential to good health and social care practices in the UK. These can support your initial development in providing support for people of all ages and walks of life who have disabilities or mental health issues, or are vulnerable in other ways.

The course is linked closely to the UK government’s agendas for health and social care, so you’ll get to experience a current and carefully considered balance of policy, practice and academic training. Join us as we explore the principles of care, care planning and delivery, the ethical aspects of care, and areas such as health promotion and safeguarding, among many more – with learning that focuses on the workplace environment.

We’ll support you every step of the way as you learn how to collaborate across professional boundaries, use evidence to support your professional decision-making, and enhance your understanding of critical issues in health and social care.

Our focus is on helping you become a knowledgeable, compassionate, and person-centred care professional.

Highlights

The course features guest lectures and talks by health and social care service providers and users – so you’ll get balanced real-world perspectives to put your learning in context.
You can benefit from the purpose-built health and research facilities at the £31 million Bolton One centre, here on campus – including our Clinical Simulation Suites.
In addition, you’ll have the chance to develop your skills in research, data evaluation, critical reasoning and analysis, and in professional communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-reflection.
We’ll support you as you develop your study and critical thinking skills, in preparation for potential further learning, including postgraduate study.

Key Features

Our approach to teaching and learning is ‘student-centred’, so we’ll work with you as an individual, and provide tailored help and support throughout your studies.
You’ll benefit from our teaching and research staff’s vast range of professional experience in health and social care – and our close links with the social care sector, the NHS, and several voluntary and charitable organisations.
We’ll encourage and support you in taking voluntary work placements in health and social care environments throughout your studies. These can contribute significantly towards your portfolio of evidence, and impress potential employers.
By studying alongside students who are already health and social care professionals, you can benefit from their knowledge and experience.

Professional recognition

40 UCAS points. Please see our guide to the UCAS Tariff for examples of how to achieve these points.
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) in any subjects.
Entry to this course is also available to applicants who have extensive appropriate work experience in the health and social care sector. If you don’t possess the academic qualifications listed above but have extensive appropriate work experience we’ll be delighted to consider your application.
You’ll be interviewed and complete a diagnostic exercise as part of the application process. You’ll also need to meet the other non-academic entry requirements listed below.
Admission to this programme is only available to candidates who meet the following criteria. 1) You must be employed for a minimum of 23 hours per week in a role relevant to the programme. 2) You must have the right to live and work in the UK. 3) Your employer will need to agree to you participating in the programme.
If you work for a large organisation in health and social care then you may want to enquire about the possibility of studying towards the FdA Health and Social Care (Assistant Practitioner: Higher Apprenticeship Route) instead.
If you don’t have an appropriate work placement within the health and social care sector, but otherwise meet the entry requirements for this course please consider our BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care or HND Health and Social Care courses.
Every application will be considered on its individual merits.
This course involves regulated activity so 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 (Normally your sponsoring organisation will organise this.) Please note that your DBS must have been completed within three years of the course start date.Update Service.
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.

Want some reassurance or advice? Speak to one of our advisors. Email us at enquiries@bolton.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)1204 903 903.

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

This foundation degree can be of benefit to those wishing to further their career within health and social care services. It provides an excellent platform into a variety of roles within care homes, residential homes, voluntary organisations, special schools and agencies providing domiciliary care.

Some of the key transferable skills to be gained from this course include communication skills, teamwork, negotiation, the ability to present ideas and arguments, work independently, and reflect on and review progress.

What can I do with this qualification?

As a graduate, you’ll be able to use your skills in health and social care to seek employment within the youth justice system, NHS trusts, private hospitals, children's services, social services, family centres, and children's homes. You might also find work in the voluntary sector or with medical charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Further academic studies and professional training in a variety of fields including social work, teaching and allied health professions is a future consideration.

Graduates can also progress to the final year of the BA (Hons) Health and Social Care offered by the University of Bolton.

Alternative career options

Graduates can also use the qualification to enter a range of other careers, and for some of these roles, both relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Some of these careers include:

Counselling
Dietetics
Writing and journalism
Occupational therapy
Mental health
Social work
Teaching and education
Health promotion
Mentoring
Armed forces
Community support
Youth work
Care home management
Health services
Child protection
Early years

Course fees

Home EU Fees	Year of study			Total
Entry year	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
2020	£9,250	£9,250	-	£18,500

The fees for a student’s course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

The university is currently awaiting government guidelines as to EU fee charges for students commencing study in 2021/2022.

For 2021/2022 entry, the maximum government approved undergraduate tuition fee for UK students is £9,250 per year. The University is able to charge this fee subject to an approved Access and Participation Plan for 2021/2022 and its current rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.

Bursaries

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

For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:

September start

Please apply through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) for September entry.

The online application form and guidance notes are available on the UCAS website.

You can apply for up to 5 courses through UCAS (at the same or different institutions) for a fee of £24. Alternatively, if you only wish to apply for a single course at a single institution then a reduced applicant's fee of £13 is applicable.

You will need the following information to complete your UCAS application form:

Institution Code Name: BOLTN
Institution Code Number: B44

UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

Tel: 0870 1122211
Web: www.ucas.com

January and other start dates

Applications for start dates other than September are made directly to the university via our online application process. Please click on your preferred start date below.

Apply online: University of Bolton FdA Health & Social Care - 25 January 2021

International applications are not possible for this course

As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.

We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.

University of Bolton Group Partners

Bolton College
University Technical College
University of Bolton

The University welcomes applications from our group partners and progressing students so we try to make our application process as simple and as fast as possible. By selecting the link for your chosen course from the list shown below you will be taken directly to our online application form. Please read the user guidance before completing this and ensure you upload all supporting documents such as certificates and your personal statement when you apply.

Please ensure when you are asked to add a contact email address you add your college/university email account address as well as your personal address. If you do not add your college address as your contact address we will be unable to identify you as a partner and you will be referred to apply via UCAS, which incurs a cost.

Apply online: University of Bolton FdA Health & Social Care - 25 January 2021
Apply online: University of Bolton FdA Health & Social Care - 20 September 2021

We look forward to receiving your application and you continuing your academic journey with us!

To make this course as engaging and beneficial as possible for you, we apply a range of learning, teaching and assessment methods designed to help you develop the skills, knowledge and competencies you’re aiming for. Just as importantly, we aim to help you develop the values and attitudes essential to good health and social care practice. Learning focuses on the workplace environment.

To complement lectures that introduce the course content, seminars and group-based activities allow you to explore subjects, policies and practices in greater detail. Tutorials give you the opportunity to clarify your understanding of the topics we cover in lectures and seminars, while we use case studies, practical scenarios and role-playing to help you apply your newly acquired knowledge and theory to real-life problems and gain valuable insights into health and social care practice. You’ll also have the chance to develop your practical skills in our clinical skills laboratory, and we’ll encourage you to use our extensive online learning resources to support your self-directed learning.

In addition, we offer masterclasses with practitioners from the health and social care sector, plus insightful sessions with guest speakers who either provide or use health and social care services.

Our assessment methods are designed to reflect what may one day be required of you in a health and social care setting. For example, the course requires you to submit written reports, give presentations, develop your practice portfolio, analyse care plans and review relevant literature, and analyse complex cases and discuss how to manage change. Meanwhile, we expect you to write essays and reflective accounts, take practical and written tests, and play an active part in group discussions. Some assessments contribute to your final module marks, while others are designed to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and where you can seek extra support from course tutors.

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.

Principles of Medicines Management
Communication and ICT
Legal and Ethical Issues
Introduction to Social Policy
Using Evidence
Principles of Care
Anatomy and Physiology for Health and Social Care
Group Dynamics and Working in Teams
Collaborative Health and Social Care
Planning Care Delivery
Health Promotion - Challenges and Opportunities
Mental Health Care, Perspectives and Practice
Working with Older People
Disability and Society
Working with Young People
Clinical Skills
Therapy Skills
Children and Families
Introduction to Psychology in Health and Social Care
Management of Long-Term Conditions
Acute Illness Management
End of Life and Palliative Care
Social Inclusion, Empowerment and Health

Assessment methods

Level	Assesment method
Level one	Coursework 95%, Practical exams 5%
Level two	Coursework 100%

Learning activities

Level	Learning activity
Level one	Guided independent study 29%, Placement/study abroad 50%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 21%
Level two	Guided independent study 29%, Placement/study abroad 50%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 21%

Disclaimer

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.