Case Study

Since finishing college, I knew I wanted to go to university, but at the time I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so I chose to work full-time in the social care sector as a domiciliary care worker. I loved my job as it gave me the opportunity to look after vulnerable people and make a real difference to their lives. However, four years went by, and I knew I wanted to better myself in my career and that university would open more pathways for me, allowing me to extend my role within social care.

As well as being close to my hometown, I was aware of the University of Sunderland’s excellent reputation as some of my friends had studied here. I started browsing for courses online and spoke to the Programme Leader for the BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care. The global pandemic had just hit, meaning all teaching had moved online, so I applied for the course as I was still able to work full-time during my studying. The University was very flexible and supportive throughout my degree – it was the perfect opportunity for me to progress in my career.

Studying on the Health and Social Care course has given me the chance to view the world differently. I chose to take the Management and Leadership pathway, and my favourite parts of the degree would have to be learning about how the NHS came about, and the biopsychosocial model of health. This model examines the connections between biology, psychology, and socio-environmental factors, and the effects they have on human development, health, and disease. As well as the course itself, the lecturers were also incredibly supportive to our cohort and always made the classes as interesting as possible.

After three years of hard work, I graduated with First Class Honours in July 2023. I then took on a new role as Quality Assurance Manager within the same company, allowing me to put everything I learnt during the course into practice, but I didn’t want to stop there. I knew how much I loved learning and wanted to carry on achieving, as some day I’d like to start my own business, so I enrolled onto the MSc Management with Human Resources, which is a part-time, online course delivered by the University.

If I could give any advice to prospective students, it would be to always remember you aren’t alone and to reach out if you ever need any help – there’s always someone willing to listen, especially your course lecturers. Your degree will challenge you and push you out of your comfort zone, but you just need to believe you can do it and everything will fall into place. The whole university experience is a fantastic lifetime opportunity and it’s changed my life for the better.”

Published 10 January 2024