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Course starts: 14 September 2026Apply now
Understand the key issues that affect health, social care, and wellbeing. Make a difference to some of society's most vulnerable groups. Gain a well-respected qualification to open doors in the sector.
The BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care 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.
The course integrates different perspectives which all have a strong basis in social sciences and have been developed to address both student and employer needs. The course allows you to develop the attributes you need to succeed and graduate with a degree that balances broad topics and theories relating to health, wellbeing and social care. You'll apply these to contemporary issues such as mental health, substance use, and domestic abuse and also focus attention on public health-related issues such as health promotion, health inequalities, and health ethics.
The teaching staff are experts in their field, bringing with them practice-based experience. We also integrate important inputs from the Centre for Graduate Prospects to think about employability, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
The range of modules available during the Health and Social Care degree is 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.
Overall, this degree combines academic rigour with practical experience. You'll have the opportunity to test your new knowledge and skills in a community setting and identify strategies/interventions for people with a variety of organisations. The Year 2 placement may help you develop and understand the application of research methods and ways to improve practice in health and social care.
A typical week for you will include workshops, seminars, blended learning, group work, and meeting with supervisors at each level of your degree. You'll also take part in computer-based learning using specific social research software and statistical programmes for surveys and questionnaires such as SPSS, and software for interviewing such as NVivo.
Your progress will be assessed through traditional essays, but also through innovative assessments (module dependent) which aid your employability skills. These may include research and organisational reports, portfolios, source reports, e-resources such as blogs and podcasts, presentations, reports for global bodies and organisations, and community studies.
You'll be allocated a personal tutor who will offer one-to-one support.
The University supports students with opportunities for internships and volunteering. In Year 1, we integrate support to develop your academic skills in writing university-level assignments, and in Year 2, you develop your practice further across the modules. We also integrate input from the Centre for Graduate Prospects and Work Integrated Learning. In Year 3, we help to prepare you for graduate employment with opportunities to learn about graduate jobs and postgraduate study. Alongside this, we encourage you to gain the Sunderland Professional Award (SuPA), which is an extra qualification you can gain to boost your credentials and show employers your extracurricular experience.
Part-time students study the same Health and Social Care course as full-time students, but over a longer period of time. If you study this course on a part-time basis, you'll typically complete 60 credits in a year, rather than the 120 credits of full-time students. You'll be studying alongside full-time students.
Reasonable adjustments to teaching and assessments will be made for students who hold a current University of Sunderland Support Plan (in line with their stated entitlements and/or accommodations).
If you choose a degree in social science, you could be presented with a wide variety of job opportunities when you graduate. We’ve compiled a list of seven potential jobs you could go into with a social science degree to give you some inspiration.
Read about the jobs you could get with a social science degree
We caught up with Senior Lecturer, Drew Dalton, to find out why social sciences are a great area to study at degree level and how they can make you think differently.
Explore the impact studying social sciences can have on the way you think
Our typical offer is:
| Qualification | Minimum grade |
|---|---|
| High School Diploma along with one of the following at the required grade: SAT I and SAT II, ACT or Advanced Placement | GPA 3.0 or above and: Sat score of 1100/1600 from SATs AP (Grades 3+ in at least 2 subjects) ACT (score of 26+) |
If you don't meet our standard entry requirements, you can take one of the foundation pathways at our partners ONCAMPUS Sunderland. Find out more information and whether your course is eligible on our ONCAMPUS page.
If your qualification is not listed above, please contact the Student Administration team at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk for further advice.
Our admissions policy uses a range of flexible options to support you to study with us. This may include a reduced offer of up to 16 UCAS tariff points, (or equivalent). Find out if you are eligible.
If English isn't your first language, please see our English language requirements.
The annual, full-time fee for this course is:
*Undergraduate fees are set according to rules from Government in line with forecast inflation. The fee for your first year of study for 2026/27 will be £9,535. You will pay tuition fees for every year of study. Fees may increase every year based on the Retail Price Index.
Tuition fees for part-time students are £7,145 per 90 credits. Please note that part-time courses are not available to international students who require a Student visa to study in the UK.
Read more about EU fees and funding in our Help and Advice article.
Take a look at the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.
This information was correct at the time of publication.
Our BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care 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.
Further study is also a route chosen by many of our graduates. Some choose professional routes such as nursing, social work, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, counselling, or teaching. Others choose business and management routes such as human resources, or research degrees such as a PhD.
Read more about what you can do with a Social Science degree.
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.
As part of your Health and Social Care degree, you’ll have the opportunity to complete a placement that's 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.
We encourage our students to actively seek out CV-enhancing employment and volunteering opportunities with local organisations throughout their Health and Social Care degree. Many of these build relationships that are formed through students completing placements and continuing to work with organisations after graduation.
Many of our Health and Social Care students have published their first class degree work on our Social Sciences blog.
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.
The mission of CASS reflects that of the University's aim as a civic university: to take an active interest in the social issues that affect the region and beyond by engaging in research and practice-based collaborations that aim to improve living conditions, address inequalities and social exclusion, and promote social justice. Currently, our research focuses around three strands: children, young people and families; communities, health and social exclusion; and crime, victims and social justice.
CASS regularly hosts visiting speakers and holds events that you will be invited to. This can be an excellent way to learn from the real-life experience of experts in the field who already have a strong track record in sociological and social policy related social research.
We have a broad range of students who come to study for our Health and Social Care 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.
We acknowledge that many of our students will continue to work throughout their studies and we anticipate our degree structure enables a certain amount of flexibility to help students to maintain both.
Develop your skills and gain a thorough understanding of health and social care with our two-year foundation degree route. The course allows you to study at our partner college, East Durham College, and combines academic study with work-based learning.
Upon completion of the Health and Social Care foundation degree, you'll have the opportunity to 'top-up' to a full undergraduate honours degree.
My time at Sunderland has been inspiring – if I could do it all again, I wouldn’t hesitate.
The University's We Care Team were a massive help for me during my studies.
I walked straight into a job in the health and social care sector after graduating and I love it.
Studying this course has given me the chance to view the world differently.
I was so inspired by the lecturers that they made me want to teach Health and Social Care myself.
Studying at the University of Sunderland was the best time of my life.
I have been given a lot of opportunities to develop my knowledge and evolve my personality.
