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Health and Social Care MSci

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

It’s not too late to apply for September.
It’s not too late to apply for September.

Start date

16 September 2024

Duration

4 years full-time

Entry requirements

A Level - BBC-BCC

BTEC - DMM-MMM

See full entry requirements

Places available (subject to change)

45

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. An integrated Master’s four-year Health and Social Care degree, our MSci course has been designed to combine both undergraduate and postgraduate study into a single degree.
  2. You’ll have the chance to gain real-world experience by undertaking a work placement in your third year, allowing you to put your theoretical skills into practice. On campus, your teaching team – who have worked in a range of health and social care roles – will bring your modules to life. 
  3. To enhance your learning, you’ll hear first-hand experiences and viewpoints from service users and carers, who are part of the Public Partnership Group.

Combining both undergraduate and postgraduate study into a single degree, this Health and Social Care MSci course helps to equip you with the skills, abilities and knowledge to meet the rapidly expanding and changing health and social care environment.

Designed to give you the edge when applying for post-university roles, the course focuses on different aspects of health and social care and may cover everything from social policy to residential health, wellbeing, community development, and community engagement. You’ll also explore your own values, and you’ll be given the chance to undertake a work placement to hone your skills and give you a taste of what it’s like to work in a relevant role within the industry.

Why study Health and Social Care MSci

Providing the building blocks for a career in health and social care, our MSci will set you up for a rewarding future career. You could progress straight to careers in diverse areas, such as youth work, housing, domestic violence, social prescribing, and drug and alcohol support. The Master’s level qualification will give you an edge in applying for more senior roles.

You’ll be taught the best on this course; our staff rank in the top three in England for the proportion who hold doctorates, who have higher degrees, and hold teaching qualifications (HESA 2022). Our team will bring your modules to life, too, having worked in a range of health and social care roles. To enhance your learning, you’ll also hear first-hand experiences and viewpoints from service users and carers, who are part of the Public Partnership Group.

Course detail

Core modules:

Introduction to Law and Social Policy

The module will introduce you to relevant English legislation and social policy underpinning health and social care practice. You'll cover topics including economic and political context of law and social policy, legislation and policy that applies to health and social care practice, the criminal justice system, work with children and families (including risk and safeguarding issues), work with adults (including risk and safeguarding issues), human rights and the political impact and influence upon law and social policy. The application of law and policy to the practice context will also be explored.

Social Science and Professional Practice

This module introduces you to sociological and psychological theories that can help us to understand people’s lives and circumstances. You'll have the opportunity to develop your understanding of these approaches and consider the ways in which they impact upon professional practice in a range of social care settings.

Understanding Health and Social Care

This module helps you to develop the key skills required for undergraduate study, professional development and life-long learning. You‘ll have the opportunity to develop autonomy in planning, managing and evaluating your own learning through discussions and debates in seminars. You’ll be introduced to theories methods and techniques to enable you to develop your reflective practice and enable you to begin to examine your progress as a professional.

Working Together with Service Users and Carers

You’ll have the opportunity to develop an understanding of what it is like to be a service user or a carer in today’s society. Your understanding of particular groups will be supported through a series of sessions delivered by service users, service providers and carers.

Entry requirements

BBC-BCCat A Level

112-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of level 3 qualifications

Merit at T Level

DMM-MMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma

  • Access to Higher Education Diploma 45 level 3 credits at Merit or above.
  • 112-104 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our Where are you from information pages.

We are keen to support a wide and diverse range of applicants on to our courses. Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

Placements


This course includes a compulsory 160-hour work placement in your third year in an appropriate environment, providing you the opportunity to relate theory to practice and develop skills in a real-world context. In order to undertake your placement, you'll need to have a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

You'll have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of existing and new placement providers for example, housing organisations, Women’s Aid, drug and alcohol services, community gardening projects and health promotion services. A successful placement experience may lead to further opportunities with the placement provider, such as volunteering or paid work.

You can find more information on placements here.

My placement enabled me to go into police custody suites and offer support to the detainees, I also shadowed several home visits and assessments of vulnerable adults and children. This was beneficial to my career, widening my experience and solidifying my wish of becoming a social worker. 

None

Jade Nothers, graduated from Health and Social Care BSc(Hons) in 2022, now a Custody Worker at West Yorkshire Liaison and Diversion

Your career


We know from previous experience that students will go onto a variety of careers, such as working in drug and alcohol services, housing agencies, domestic violence services, disability and wellbeing services, teaching, and relevant Master’s courses to pursue vocations such as Social Work and Nursing. 

 

*Percentage of graduates from this subject area who were in work and/or further study within fifteen months after graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2020/21, including both UK and non-UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

85% Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

A wide range of resources are also offered within the School of Human and Health Sciences, which provides you with support in a variety of areas. These include:

Student Hub: a one stop shop for students, studying within the School. Their services include offering advice on extenuating circumstances, extension requests, course progression, suspension and welfare support, organising appointments with academic staff and signposting to other support networks.

Academic Skills Development Team: support students to develop their academic skills and build their confidence in order to improve their grades. The team provide support with academic skills including essay writing, being critical, reflective writing, numeracy, research skills, presentations and group work skills; as well as personal development for example time management.

Learning Technology Support Unit: helps students with any problems they experience with the University’s Brightspace Learning System, including logging on or difficulties experienced when accessing and using modules, and with the PebblePad platform, which is used by students when they go out on placements.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

Changes to a course you have applied for

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

Cancellation of a course you have applied for

Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

Termination of course

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by a framework of regulations, policies and procedures, which form the basis of your agreement with us. These include regulations regarding the assessment of your course, academic integrity, your conduct (including attendance) and disciplinary procedure, fees and finance and compliance with visa requirements (where relevant). It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to abide by them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan, where you will also find links to the full text of each of the regulations, policies and procedures referred to. You should read these carefully before you enrol. Please note that this information is subject to change and you are advised to check our website regularly for any changes before you enrol at the University. A person who is not party to this agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it. Only you and the University shall have any right to enforce or rely on the agreement.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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