Apprenticeship in Health and Social Care (Intermediate)

Summary: This work based course develops the skills and knowledge needed for a wide range of careers working in health and social care.








Course description: All training on this course is delivered either in the workplace or at College, on a day release basis. This Apprenticeship framework has been especially designed for care workers in a full range of roles within health services.
There were 1.75 million paid jobs in adult social care in England in 2009, of these 1.61 million are directly employed at a place of work and 140,000 are employed by agency, bank and pool workers, volunteers, students and others including self employed. The majority of these roles are at operational level, for which this Intermediate and Advanced level apprenticeship framework is suitable, working with adult service groups: older people, people with learning disabilities, sensory and physical impairment service users and those that require extra care support. People who use services are supported in a variety of settings including their own homes, supported accommodation, day care provision and residential accommodation.
This qualification  develops the skills needed to be an effective employee within a health and social care environment. It is recommended for employees working within health and social care who want to gain a qualification through a flexible combination of workshops and assessments in the workplace.
To achieve the full apprenticeship learners must achieve 58 credits. To do this they must complete a series of units some of which are mandatory and some optional. Mandatory units include:

Understanding the process and experience of dementia.

Understanding the context of supporting and individuals with learning disabilities

Introduction to communication in health and social care or children and young people's settings

Introduction to personal development in  health and social care or children and young people's settings

Introduction to equality and inclusion  health and social care or children and young people's settings

Introduction to duty of care in  health and social care or children and young people's settings

Principles of safeguarding and protection in health and social care

The role of the health and social care worker

Implement person centred approaches in health and social care

Contribute to health and safety in health and social care settings

Handle information in health and social care

City & Guilds Level 1 Award in Functional Skills English (QCF)

City & Guilds Level 1 Award in Functional Skills Mathematics (QCF) (unless exempt)

Employment Rights and Responsibilities (ERR)
Additional measurable benefits include better team performance, productivity targets met or exceeded, quicker response time and reduced error rates.









Entry requirements: There are no formal entry requirements for this course. Apprentices who took their GCSEs more than five years ago and did not gain a C grade or above may need to take a literacy and numeracy test. Applicants will also be asked to attend a pre-enrolment interview.
Apprenticeships are open to anyone over the age of 16, whether they have just left school or have been working for years. As an apprenticeship is a work based qualification, applicants should either have an employer who has agreed to support them, or be seeking an apprenticeship position through our vacancies list. Once you have secured a position with an employer your training can begin.









Objective: Apprenticeships are work-based training programmes designed around the needs of employers, which lead to nationally recognised qualifications.









Assessment: Assessment will be carried out in the workplace by an occupationally competent assessor. You will present your assessor with evidence to demonstrate competency using a variety of evidence gathering methods.









Academic progression: Career or academic progression may include continuation to the Advanced Apprenticeship, development or promotion at work or within the health sector, progression onto a Foundation Degree or higher education.









Career progression: Successful students may progress on to achieve a professional qualification in social care or into roles such as social worker, personal care assistant, care worker or assistant practitioner.









Costs: Training on the Apprenticeships programme is currently funded for apprentices aged 16 - 18 years at the time of enrolment. An employer contribution is required for those aged either 19+ or who have a level 4 or higher qualification.