Program Overview

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BSc (Hons) Health, Wellbeing and Care in Society with Integrated Foundation Year

Overview

The BSc (Hons) Health, Wellbeing and Care in Society degree gives you the opportunity to gain critical understanding of integrated health and social care welfare structures and processes, as well as advanced theoretical knowledge and skills in practice and management in the sector. The completion of a work placement enables you to gain practical, real-world experience of a health and social care working environment.

Why us?

• Our BSc (Hons) Health, Wellbeing and Care in Society course has a 100% positivity score for how teaching staff make the subject engaging (National Student Survey, 2023)
• Students have participated in extracurricular activities such as volunteering for local support organisations and attending lectures from guest speakers
• Be taught by practitioners with first-hand experience of working in the health and social care sector

Course structure

The range of modules available during the Health, Wellbeing and Care in Society degree are both academically and vocationally focused. You'll be provided with a detailed understanding of health and social care theory, policy, and practice, and will also be supported to understand key contemporary issues that influence health, social care, and the wellbeing of individuals and communities – a topic of global significance. Across all modules, the inclusion of formative work will support you with your learning.

Foundation Year:

The Society and Education Integrated Foundation Year includes five modules:

• Foundations of Education, Development and Wellbeing (40 credits)
• Professional Challenges in Education, Development and Wellbeing (20 credits)
• Essential Study Skills (20 credits)
• Foundation Project (20 credits)
• Practical Numeracy Skills (20 credits)

Year 1 (national level 4):

• Supporting Academic Transitions in Higher Education (30 credits)
• Foundations of Policy, Practice and Health Inequalities (30 credits)
• The Whole Person: Biopsychosocial Perspectives in Health and Social Care (30 credits)
• Safeguarding Vulnerability: Protecting Ourselves and Others (30 credits)

Year 2 (national level 5):

• Core modules:
  • Community Engagement: Students and communities – partners for progress (30 credits)
  • Becoming a Social Researcher in Health and Social Care (30 credits)
  • Challenging Lifestyle Killers and Inequalities in Health (30 credits)
• Optional modules (choose one):
  • Health and Wellbeing Across the Life-course (30 credits)
  • Communication and Counselling Skills (30 credits)

Year 3 (national level 6):

• Being a Social Researcher in Health and Social Care (30 credits)
• The Unheard Voice: Challenging Biomedicine (30 credits)
• Social Justice in Action: Community Interventions (30 credits)
• Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Care: Challenges and Responses (30 credits)

Facilities

You'll be based at the recently refurbished Wearside View, situated on the award-winning Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's. This stunning riverside location benefits from dedicated library services and has superb transport links with the city centre and City Campus.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for Ireland. Please contact the Student Admin team on or .

Fees and finance

The annual fee for this course is £9,535.

Career ready

Our BSc (Hons) Health, Wellbeing and Care in Society graduates work with a variety of service user groups in areas such as mental health, domestic abuse, substance abuse, and older people. They work for organisations such as the NHS, Local Authorities, schools, colleges, and universities, as well as charities or private organisations such as Age UK, MIND, and Turning Point to name a few.

Guest speakers

As a professions-facing course, we have active relationships with a number of local and national organisations in the health and social care sector. Past speakers have included workers from Children North East, Lifeline, Healthworks, Headlight, and Local Authority Social Workers. This enables our students to hear from frontline workers, as well as begin to develop professional networks.

Placements

As part of your Health, Wellbeing and Care in Society degree, you’ll have the opportunity to complete a placement that is chosen by you and supported by our placement team and academic staff. Previous placements have been with organisations such as local hospices, residential care homes, disability support, schools, mental health services, drug and alcohol services, the North of England Refugee Service, and Age UK.

Extra-curricular opportunities

We encourage our students to actively seek out CV-enhancing employment and volunteering opportunities with local organisations throughout their Health, Wellbeing and Care in Society degree. Many of these build relationships that are formed through students completing placements and continuing to work with organisations after graduation.

Centre for Applied Social Sciences

The University of Sunderland’s Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) combines original academic research with practice-based collaborations and outreach activities, often working directly with practitioners, policymakers, and front-line delivery staff regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Our students

We have a broad range of students who come to study for our Health, Wellbeing and Care in Society degree at Sunderland. These include young people straight out of school or college, mature students with work experience in health and social care sectors, young people who have experience of the care system, parents and carers, as well as international students with a range of experience. Overall, this leads to diverse and dynamic cohorts who can share different experiences and knowledge with each other.