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BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care with Integrated Foundation Year

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.

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A student sitting listening in a classroom
UCAS codeL512
Duration4 years
Fee (UK)£9,790
LocationOn campus

Course summary

The BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care degree provides you with critical understanding of integrated welfare structures and processes, while equipping you with advanced theoretical knowledge and skills in practice and management in the sector.

The course offers a multidisciplinary approach, grounded in social sciences, and is designed to ensure you graduate with a well-rounded qualification that covers key theories and topics relevant to health and social care.

Through hands-on work placements, you’ll gain valuable real-world experience. Previous placements have included hospices, schools, care homes, mental health services, and more. With strong connections to local and national organisations in the sector, this professions-facing course encourages you to engage in extracurricular activities, volunteering opportunities, and attend lectures delivered by guest speakers. These experiences will all contribute to enhancing your CV, expanding your professional network, and preparing you for future employment.

Our graduates work across a range of service user groups, including mental health, domestic abuse, substance abuse, and older people. They’ve gone on to work with organisations such as:

  • The NHS
  • Local authorities
  • Charities, including MIND and Age UK
  • Schools, colleges, and universities
  • Private companies.

This degree also offers a strong foundation for further study in fields like nursing, social work, physiotherapy, counselling, and teaching.

Why Sunderland for Social Sciences

Integrated Foundation Year

This course is available with an Integrated Foundation Year, an extra year of your degree. This route offers a supportive way of transitioning into university study. It may be suitable for you if you:

  • Have valuable work or life experience but no formal qualifications
  • Are returning to education after a break
  • Want to change direction or explore a new career path
  • Have just missed the entry requirements for the three-year course.

We’re enhancing our Integrated Foundation Year to give you an even stronger start to your degree. The updated modules will align more with your chosen subject area. This will help you build the knowledge, confidence, and skills you need for your studies. We'll share full details soon and can't wait to tell you more.

Please note, this route isn’t available to international students.

What you'll study

Many of our courses include a range of modules you can choose from. Some options may only be available if you’ve already studied specific modules. If you’re not sure what you need before picking a module, your course leader can help.

Undergraduate module credits should total 120 credits per academic year. If optional modules are available, choose an amount that totals 120 credits.

How you'll learn

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.

Entry requirements

Fees and finance support

UK£9,790

Undergraduate fees are set according to rules from Government in line with forecast inflation. If you're a Home fee-paying student, the fee for your first year of study for 2026/27 will be £9,790. You'll pay tuition fees for every year of study. Fees may increase every year based on the Retail Price Index.

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Study Centre fees

If you're studying at a study centre, please contact the centre directly for information on fees.

See all course tuition fees.

Full-time UK/Irish/EU settled/EU pre-settled students may be eligible for financial support. This would cover your fees for the full four years. UK and EU settled students may also be eligible to receive a maintenance loan.

Apply now

UK students

Disclaimer

We want to make sure you have clear and accurate information about our courses. Our website always shows the latest updates. If you’ve applied and you're offered a place, we’ll contact you in writing if anything important changes.

For more information, view our programme specifications. These include course content, learning outcomes, and the skills you'll gain.