Higher National Diploma Health and Social Care

Higher National Diploma Health and Social Care

Award

Higher National Diploma

Start Date

To be confirmed

Duration

3 years

Mode

Part-time

Location

University of Bolton

UCAS Points

64

Studying our HND Health and Social Care is your opportunity to take big professional and academic leaps towards helping improve the day-to-day lives of vulnerable people. With access to excellent facilities and an extensive range of work placements, you can gain the skills, knowledge and understanding you’ll need to embark on a genuinely rewarding career in this sector.

Apply Now Download Prospectus Programme Specification

Course Overview

The health and social care sector is vast, and this HND course gives you an excellent opportunity to begin developing the values, skills, and knowledge essential to good health and social care practice in the UK. These can support your initial development in providing valuable support for people of all ages and walks of life who have disabilities or mental health issues, or are vulnerable in other ways.

The course is linked closely to the UK government’s health and social care agendas, so we offer you the chance to experience a current and carefully considered balance of policy, practice, and academic training. Join us as we explore the principles of care, person-centred health and social care, the ethical aspects of care, and areas such as health promotion and safeguarding, among many more – with learning that focuses on the workplace environment.

We’ll support you every step of the way as you learn how to collaborate across professional boundaries, use evidence to support your professional decision-making, and enhance your understanding of critical issues in health and social care.

Our focus is on helping you become a knowledgeable, compassionate, and person-centred care professional.

Highlights

Key Features

Entry Requirements

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

Career Opportunities

Our HND in Health and Social Care offers a sound understanding of policy, theory and practice in health and social care. You can gain the experience and learning needed to follow a career in health and social care. It's also ideal if you're not yet committed to one particular career and want a generic course. It offers an excellent basis for more specific vocational training, such as social work or occupational therapy.

Some of the key skills you can gain include communication, teamwork, time management, people management, organisation and problem-solving.

What can I do with this qualification?

After successfully completing this programme, you’ll be well placed to seek a career in health and social care. You could choose a front line role, helping vulnerable people directly. Alternatively, you could pursue roles in human resources, healthcare analysis and planning, or more managerial jobs in health and social care settings in the private, public and voluntary sectors. Some health and social care employers include the NHS, drug and alcohol agencies, mental health organisations, hospices, social care agencies, and charities.

Many students choose to pursue honours level study after completing this HND. You'll be able to apply for the University of Bolton's BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care (top-up) degree, which can be completed in one year by full-time study or in 18 months part-time.

Successful completion of this course may also allow you to gain entry into nursing and social work degrees and be relevant to charitable organisations with a focus on health or social care.

Alternative career options

Diploma holders can also use the qualification as a stepping stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Career areas include:

  • Counselling
  • Writing and journalism
  • Mental health
  • Social work
  • Teaching and education
  • Health promotion
  • Mentoring
  • Armed forces
  • Community support
  • Youth work
  • Care home management
  • Health services management
  • Child protection
  • Health administration
  • Early years
  • Occupational therapy
  • Residential care
Fees & Funding

Home/EU Fees

No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.

International Fees

No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.

Bursaries

Click here for more information about the scholarships and bursaries available to University of Bolton students.

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2025-26 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

How to apply

Home Applicants

Please contact Admissions by telephone on 01204 903903 or email enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Admissions
University of Bolton
Deane Road
Bolton, BL3 5AB
United Kingdom

Tel: 01204 903903
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

International Applicants

International applications are not possible for this course

As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.

We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.

Partner Organisation Applicants

Please contact Admissions by telephone on 01204 903903 or email enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Admissions
University of Bolton
Deane Road
Bolton, BL3 5AB
United Kingdom

Tel: 01204 903903
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk

Teaching & Assessment

To make this course as engaging and beneficial as possible for you, we offer a range of learning, teaching and assessment methods designed to help you develop the skills, knowledge and competencies you’re aiming for. Just as importantly, we aim to help you develop the values and attitudes essential to good health and social care practice. Learning focuses on the workplace environment.

To complement lectures that introduce the course content, seminars and group-based activities allow you to explore subjects, policies and practices in greater detail. Tutorials help clarify your understanding of the topics we cover in lectures and seminars. At the same time, we use case studies, practical scenarios and role-playing to help you apply your newly acquired knowledge and theory to real-life problems and gain valuable insights into health and social care practice. You’ll also have the chance to develop your practical skills in our clinical skills laboratory. We encourage you to use our extensive online learning resources to support your self-directed learning.

In addition, we offer masterclasses with practitioners from the health and social care sector, plus insightful sessions with guest speakers who either provide or use health and social care services.

Our assessment methods are designed to reflect what may one day be required of you in a health and social care setting. For example, the course requires you to submit written reports, give presentations, develop your practice portfolio, analyse care plans and review relevant literature, analyse complex cases and discuss how to manage change. Meanwhile, we expect you to write essays and reflective accounts, take practical and written tests, and participate in group discussions. Some assessments contribute to your final module marks. In contrast, others are designed to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and help you identify where you need extra support from course tutors.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

  • Enhancing Communication and Academic Skills
  • Legal and Ethical Issues
  • Introduction to Social Policy
  • Introduction to Research and Evidence-Based Practice
  • Principles of Care
  • Anatomy & Physiology for Health and Social Care
  • Group Dynamics and Working in Teams
  • Work-based Experience
  • Person Centred Health and Social Care
  • Health Promotion - Challenges and Opportunities
  • Employability Skills
  • Social Inclusion, Empowerment and Health

Assessment methods

Level Assessment method
Level 1 Coursework 95%
Practical exams 5%
Level 2 Coursework 100%

Learning Activities

Level Activity
Level 1 Guided independent study 70%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 30%
Level 2 Guided independent study 70%
Scheduled learning and teaching activities 30%

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.

Postgraduate Options

Programme Contacts

Help Centre

We have the answers to your questions, find all the advice and support in one place.

Part of the University of Bolton Group

Bolton college
Alliance learning
Anderton centre2
QQA Scheme Participant

Help Centre

We have the answers to your questions, find all the advice and support in one place.

Part of the University of Bolton Group

Bolton college
Alliance learning
Anderton centre2
QQA Scheme Participant