Why study this course?
This is a top-up version of our Health and Social Care BSc (Hons) degree. A top-up degree is the final year (Level 6) of an undergraduate degree course and is for those who have a foundation degree, Higher National Diploma or equivalent qualification, or those wishing to study the final year of their degree in London.
This course is strongly focused on enhancing your job prospects and is aligned to the standards specified by Skills for Health (the Skills Council for the NHS). After completion of the course you’ll be able to demonstrate to prospective employers that your advanced skills conform to the National Occupational Standards (NOS).
More about this course
This top-up degree will allow you to progress in your studies and gain relevant knowledge to analyse social care issues. The course draws on the latest research and is informed by contemporary health and social care policies, as well as expected changes to the sector. As part of the degree you’ll explore modern challenges, including the ageing population, emerging healthcare technology and the rising cost of providing care.
You’ll be taught by health and social care sector experts, who will provide informed and practical insights into areas such as psychosocial perspectives of health, counselling, research, health improvement and behaviour change. The joint focus on knowledge and teaching practical skills will allow you to acquire abilities in analysis, enquiry and observation.
After completion of the course you’ll be able to deal with critical issues in health and social care, rendering you attractive to employers in the sector.
Assessment
You'll be assessed via seen examinations, short answer papers, practical reports and reviews, case studies, group assessment projects, presentations, essays and health profiles.
Fees and key information
Apply nowEntry requirements
In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have one of the following:
- 240 credits from a Higher National Diploma (HND), Foundation Degree (FdA/ FdSc) or equivalent international qualification in a relevant subject
- 240 credits from years 1 and 2 of an undergraduate degree (BA/BSc) in a relevant subject at a different institution
Accreditation of Prior Learning
Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course at London Met. Find out more about applying for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).
English language requirements
To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. This course requires you to meet our standard requirements.
If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.
Modular structure
The modules listed below are for the academic year 2023/24 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.
Year 3 modules include:
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Thursday afternoon
This module aims to enable students to:
- Further apply prior knowledge and relate specific knowledge and skills to continuing development of academic literacy and skills
This module builds on knowledge and skills acquired in the first and second years of the course and specifically on the academic skills acquired in SH4053 Academic skills/literacy: finding & presenting information and SH5054 Academic skills/literacy: Developing critical thinking. In this, the last of three academic skills and literacy modules in the course, students will extend their academic literacy and skills to enable them to produce work appropriate to this academic level with specific emphasis on the standard of work required by SH6P06 Project.
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Friday morning
This module builds on work done previously in the first year in Introduction to Health & Social Care; concepts of health & well-being and during the second year as part of Advancing the Health of the population: Understanding Public Health. This module aims to enable students to use and build on the knowledge and understanding gained in these modules to analyse and critically evaluate current and emerging responses to key challenges facing the health and social care sector. The modules therefore aims to ;
• provide a critical understanding of the emerging issues in contemporary health and social care at both policy and practice levels.
• consider the relationship between the social determinants of health and policy and practice responses to health and social care issues
• critically examine implicit theoretical perspectives underpinning key approaches to tackling health inequalities.
• develop understanding of a range of theoretical perspectives related to health creation and initiatives to tackle health inequalities; social prescribing, asset-based approaches, community development.
• consider the practical and ethical implications for the health and social workforce of current and emerging responses to a range issues
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Thursday afternoon
The module focuses on the student’s personal and professional development in preparation for graduation from the Course. There is particular emphasis on the development of graduate skills and competencies with a focus on the management and leadership of others. Emergent graduate skills are developed to prepare the student for professional practice and/or further studies.
Key skills and knowledge gained on the module include:
Team-work skills; communication skills; leadership and management skills ; values-based leadership in healthcare; NHS workforce Race Equality Standards; the Skills for Care Leadership Qualities Framework; collaborative leadership skills ; NHS Five Year forward View and Long Term Plan; leadership for inclusivity and diversity;
- This module currently runs:
- all year (September start) - Friday afternoon
This module draws together strands from a number of modules students have previously undertaken and are concurrently studying. Principally, this builds on students’ understanding of the nature of knowledge and evidence in health and social care contexts derived from Introduction to Knowledge and Inquiry in Health & Social Care in the first year and on the more specific focus on research in Ethical Research & Practice in the second year. The specific focus of the work carried out by individual students as part of this module will also be informed by their broader examination of health and social care issues in other modules across the course as a whole.
The module therefore aims to:
- enhance students’ understanding of approaches to research and evaluation
- enable students to engage actively with research methods and findings relating to their profession
- enable students to generate research questions and formulate a research proposal
- enable students to integrate and apply the skills and knowledge base underpinning their professional education in a sustained piece of independent investigation - This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Thursday morning
Global Health is a Level 6 module for the BSc Health and Social Care Course. The Module aims to give students an opportunity to critically study the interconnectedness of key challenges of human development and human health and healthcare across nations within global contexts. It will provide content that will help students understand the key global challenges that affect human health and healthcare and cause health inequalities and inequities across the nations. The Module will also provide an opportunity to study key global actors and global interventions to improve human health of all people across nations and promote health equities. This will require students to critique global co-operation and partnership in fighting key challenges of global human health and healthcare.
Therefore, the Module aims are to:
• develop and produce graduates with global citizenship attributes by embedding the notion of ‘think globally and act locally’ (‘think globally for local actions’) in its curriculum
• develop a critical knowledge base of concepts, principles, measurements and theories of global health and healthcare based on the notion of ‘global health crisis’
• build a critical understanding of the key challenges of the growing global interconnectedness on global human health and healthcare
• identify and critique the determinants and evidence of global health inequalities and inequities
• examine the influence and contribution of health systems in improving human health around the world
• consider complexities in solving global health and healthcare problems found in past and contemporary case-studies and draw implications from them for future research, policy and practice in global health - This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Thursday morning
- summer studies - Monday morning
In this module, you will look at one of the most pressing social issues in the UK today – that of the cost and shortage of housing and of the shortage of affordable housing in particular. Living in a safe, comfortable and secure home is a human right, essential to our wellbeing. However, it is widely agreed that we have a housing crisis in the UK. This crisis is perhaps especially acute in London but it is a crisis which affects much of the country. Over the past ten years, the cost of housing, including rents in the private rented sector have spiralled while the number of social rented homes has continued to fall and the numbers of people who are homeless or living in temporary accommodation has risen. In this module, you will look at the scale and at the underlying causes of the housing crisis in the UK. You will look at the shortage of affordable housing, the growth of the private rented sector and at the collapse of social rented housing. You will also look at how access to housing and the housing market reflects wider social divisions in terms of class, ethnicity and gender. The module places housing and housing policy at the core of our understanding of society, social divisions and social policy.
The module focuses on housing policy and on social housing, looking at the history of social housing in the UK and at changes in housing policy since the 1980s. The module also looks at the growth of homelessness and at the underlying causes of the growing level of homelessness. You will look at homelessness policy, at good practice models of how to tackle homelessness and at the link between housing and poverty and the importance of both housing and welfare policy as instruments of poverty reduction.
The aims of the module are to:
- understand what the housing market is and how it works
- develop an understanding of the problems in accessing decent housing in the UK, how widespread the problems are, which groups suffer most and why these problems appear to have worsened over recent years
- develop data handling and data analysis skills to collect and analyse relevant data on housing and the housing crisis in the UK
- develop and demonstrate an understanding of housing policy and housing policy changes in the UK
- develop policy analysis and policy evaluation skills
- understand how the housing market reflects the different economic and political ideologies which shape housing policy
- This module currently runs:
- spring semester - Thursday morning
Housing Issues and Housing Solutions outlines the key issues that face people working in housing, residents and community workers. It will focus on a practical approach to dealing with community-related & housing issues, their causes and solutions. It will examine the rights and obligations of residents and identify good practice in key management areas such as resident involvement, dealing with anti-social behaviour and disrepair. Combined with other modules in the faculty, such as ‘Housing and Homelessness’, this module provides a housing pathway for students wishing to develop or further their careers in this area.
The module aims to:
- Place changes in housing management in the context of wider social, economic and organisational changes; (A01)
- Introduce the key practical issues facing housing professionals, and good practice in addressing these issues; (A02)
- Identify ways in which housing service users and community workers can challenge poor performance and get involved in service improvement; (A03)
- Examine the benefits and challenges of partnership working in dealing with housing issues; (A04)
- Explain current discussions on the balance of rights and responsibilities for social housing tenants and other local residents. (A05)
- This module currently runs:
- autumn semester - Thursday morning
This module provides opportunities for students to develop their understanding of key issues in mental health practice and policy, as well as critically discuss relevant theoretical and conceptual issues relating to mental health.
The module aims to:
- Develop understanding of key concepts in mental health and well-being
- Develop awareness of mental health diagnoses and implications of these to the individual, health services, and wider society
- Develop knowledge of key policy and practice issues in mental health through
- Provide opportunities to critically evaluate and reflect upon models and theories of mental health and well-being
Where this course can take you
This programme is aligned to Skills for Health competencies, the Sector Skills Council for Health for the UK health sector.
Successful completion of this course offers improved career opportunities in the fields of health and social care. This may be within the NHS, voluntary or independent sectors. Our graduates have found careers in mental health and medical rehabilitation, and as support workers in the NHS, housing associations and charity organisations.
This degree programme is also excellent preparation for research or postgraduate study.
Additional costs
Please note, in addition to the tuition fee there may be additional costs for things like equipment, materials, printing, textbooks, trips or professional body fees.
Additionally, there may be other activities that are not formally part of your course and not required to complete your course, but which you may find helpful (for example, optional field trips). The costs of these are additional to your tuition fee and the fees set out above and will be notified when the activity is being arranged.
How to apply
If you're a UK applicant wanting to study full-time starting in September, you must apply via UCAS unless otherwise specified. If you're an international applicant wanting to study full-time, you can choose to apply via UCAS or directly to the University.
If you're applying for part-time study, you should apply directly to the University. If you require a Student visa, please be aware that you will not be able to study as a part-time student at undergraduate level.
When to apply
The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) accepts applications for full-time courses starting in September from one year before the start of the course. Our UCAS institution code is L68.
If you will be applying direct to the University you are advised to apply as early as possible as we will only be able to consider your application if there are places available on the course.
To find out when teaching for this degree will begin, as well as welcome week and any induction activities, view our academic term dates..jpg)
