CCEA GCE Health and Social Care (Single Award)

CCEA A level Health and Social Care is offered to students as a direct entry subject in Year 13 and does not require the student to have completed a GCSE in the subject. This subject is valuable preparation for those interested in careers in the health sector, health education and promotion, counselling, social and community work, early years, child development and nursing among others. Students will undertake a three-unit course leading to the AS Single Award in Year 13 and can continue on to complete a further three units in Year 14 leading to the full Advanced GCE Award.

AS Health and Social Care

• Unit AS 1: Promoting Quality Care

This unit gives students the opportunity to examine how legislation impacts on the rights and responsibilities of clients and carers. It focuses on how practices within one health, social care or early years setting promotes the positive care of clients and how staff in the chosen setting apply care values.  Students will learn about: values of care, legislation that promotes quality care, health and safety applied to their chosen setting, policies and their effectiveness in promoting quality care as well as researching the impact of poor practice in a setting.

• Assessment involves written coursework on chosen setting. (25% of AS award) (10% of A Level)

Unit AS 2: Communication in Health Social Care and Early Years Settings

• This unit gives students the opportunity to learn and practise communication skills. They observe communication skills in a care setting and carry out one interaction.

Students will learn about: communication in health, social care and early years settings, types of communication, factors supporting effective communication, barriers to communication and communication difficulties and strategies for overcoming these and the importance of communication when working in teams. Students will also carry out a practical in their chosen setting in which they will practise and evaluate their own communication skills.

• Assessment involves a written coursework based on observations in a care setting. (25% of AS award) (10% of A Level)

Unit AS 3: Health and Well-being

• This unit gives the students the opportunity to learn about health and well-being and the factors which affect it. Students will learn about: concepts related to health and well-being, factors affecting health and well-being, health promotion and the approaches used, organisations which contribute to the promotion of health and well-being, and discrimination and anti-discriminatory practice in a variety of care settings.

• Unit Three will be assessed by a two-hour external examination set and marked by CCEA. (50% of AS award) (20% of A Level)

Unit 1 and 2 are assessed internally and moderated by CCEAand are each worth 25% of the final AS award (10% of A level).  Unit 3, the exam unit is worth 50% of the final AS award (20% of A level)

A2 Level

Students will study Unit A2 3 Providing Services which is a compulsory unit and two others selected by the School. Assessment of Unit A2 3 is based on a 2-hour examination based on pre-release material which is made available 8 weeks prior to the exam. The two other units are:-

Unit A2 4 Public Health and Health Promotion and Unit A2 5 Supporting the Family.

Unit A2 3: Providing Services

• This unit provides an overview of service provision in health, social care and early years. 
Students will learn about: 
 the effects of legislation and policy on service provision; 
• meeting individual needs and identifying barriers to accessing services; 
• the differing roles and responsibilities of practitioners; 
• working effectively within teams; 
• individual and organisational responsibilities for assuring quality in service provision.

• The examination will be based on pre-release material which will be provided 8 weeks prior to the examination date and will focus on one client group. Legislation for this client group will be specified in the pre-release material. 
This Unit is a synoptic unit and will be informed by elements from all the other units studied by the students.

• It will be assessed externally by a 2 hour written examination. (30% of A level)

Unit A2 4: Public Health and Health Promotion

• In this unit, students develop an understanding of public health issues in the UK and how they are being addressed in Northern Ireland. They select and carry out their own investigation of three public health issues and how they are being addressed. They also investigate one current health promotion campaign run by the Public Health Agency (PHA) in Northern Ireland. They plan, implement, and evaluate a small-scale health promotion activity either individually or in a group of no more than five. The activity should use at least one health promotion approach and may make use of existing health promotion materials. Appropriate settings for the activity may include schools, residential homes, and day centres.

• This unit is assessed internallyand moderated by CCEA. (15% of A level)

Unit A2 5 - Supporting the Family

• This unit gives students the opportunity to investigate the functions of the family and to explore how family structures have changed. They will research the wide range of services available to families and the support that they offer. They will produce a case study which describes their findings. They will also investigate and produce a report on how statutory services and voluntary organisations support families with significant issues. To complete this unit successfully they will need to carry out extensive research using a wide range of sources and their findings should be supported by statistics.

• This unit is assessed internallyand moderated by CCEA. (15% of A level)

https://ccea.org.uk/post-16/gce/subjects/gce-health-and-social-care-2016