Assistant Practitioner (Health and Social Care) (HTQ)

This Foundation Degree is balanced between theory and practice and is taught by an experienced team with backgrounds in nursing and social care.
This course has been designed with employers in the sector to help their staff respond to challenges in the years ahead.

The course is mapped to a Higher Apprenticeship standard and aims to bring those already employed in a suitable setting up to the standard required to work as band 4 Assistant Practitioners, who play a vital role in delivering support and clinical practice in both nursing and allied health areas.

In addition to your weekly classroom-based study of your foundation degree modules, you will develop your practice through work-based learning, with a particular focus on the values and behaviours expected of Assistant Practitioners, which include compassion and commitment.

Course Content
You will develop your professional practice through work-based learning, with a particular focus on the values and behaviours expected of Assistant Practitioners, which include compassion and commitment.
You will study one day a week in the classroom, as well as developing your skills and behaviours within the workplace. The subjects that you will cover include anatomy and physiology, psychology and sociology, leadership and management, risk management as well as undertaking professional practice modules based over a two-year period. You will be assessed via a variety of techniques including presentations, essays and professional discussions.

The course is taught in the University Centre in our Winter Gardens Campus and sessions will occasionally also take place in our new Health and Active Living Skills Centre at Loxton Campus.
Course Structure

All of the modules on this course are compulsory. Successful completion of all of the modules in the first year is worth 120 credits at Level 4 and equivalent to a Certificate of Higher Education. Successful completion of the second year is also worth 120 credits and will lead to the award of the Level 5 Foundation Degree

Year 1

Module Title

Anatomy and Physiology
Clinical Practice 1
Communication for Practice
Psychology and Sociology of Health
Risk Management

Year 2

Module Title

Clinical Practice 2
Methods of Enquiry
Occupational Case Study

Principles of Leadership and Management
Professional Assessment
Professional Development

Teaching and Learning
This course is taught via a combination of lectures, seminars, skills practice, presentations, case studies, group workshops and work-based practice. UCW’s Higher Education academic development team also deliver a series of sessions on degree-level research and academic writing to all first-year students. When not in scheduled lecturers and seminars, students are expected to continue learning through independent self-study. This involves reading relevant literature, working on individual and group projects, and undertaking research in preparation for coursework and exams.