Approximately 3 million people in the UK work in the Health and Social Care sector. Demand for Health and Social Care qualifications and professions is likely to continue to rise due to the ageing population, so it will continue to play a key role for society in modern Britain. The demand for people to fill these vital positions will continue to increase, especially due to the current climate as a result of COVID-19. SMSC and British Values are evident throughout the subject and the rationale is to provide a dynamic, knowledge-rich, KS4 curriculum, which gives students access to and progression routes into KS5 or related vocations.

Students are regularly faced with scenarios throughout the course and have opportunities to engage in role play activities, for example, looking into how different cultural and religious beliefs can form barriers that prevent people from accessing a Health and Social Care service and how to overcome these barriers. Students also think through the sequence as if they are a Social Care professional and design a suitable plan to advise a patient how to overcome these barriers in order to access the service whist remaining sensitive to cultural or religious beliefs. As well as reflecting on and sharing their own values, this aspect of the qualification links into the spiritual context of SMSC whilst promoting the British Value of Tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs.

In addition to this, students learn the seven care values that affect all Health and Social Care professionals, as an example, the legal rights governing the health and safety and fair treatment of all service users regardless of age, disability, gender, race, sex, religion or belief. Furthermore, Health and Social care naturally develops students morally, for example by exploring the use of drugs and how it effects the human body. This gives them the opportunity to explore the British rule of law and what is deemed legal and illegal and the consequences of illegal choices.

Students often work together in Health and Social Care, exchanging ideas and respectfully challenging the opinions of others. This involves students developing a range of social skills and working with those from different backgrounds, equipping them for life and the world of work beyond school. The course also helps students to develop key transferable skills such as self-evaluation and research, whilst encountering knowledge that provides them with a sense of enjoyment in learning about the world and people around them.