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Health and Social Care at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Birkbeck, University of London has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

Course summary

Health and social care are fast-growing areas of employment and academic investigation. Our new BA Health and Social Care has been designed to bring together the very best of this interdisciplinary area to provide you with a strong grounding in:

  • the national and international context of health and social care
  • the inequalities that shape changing needs
  • the policies that respond to them.
Taught by academic experts from across the social sciences and humanities, this course will enable you to gain work-relevant skills and to develop academic expertise through our wide choice of option modules and opportunities for individual study. The BA Health and Social Care is particularly suitable if you are interested in understanding how arts and humanities approaches can help us understand and respond to changing needs within health and social care, across time and space. You will use a wide range of sources, such as policy documents, literary texts, film and archives to develop a deep understanding of people’s relationships to their own and others’ health. If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree. This course has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening. Highlights
  • This interdisciplinary degree is taught by academic experts actively involved in health and social care research in the UK and around the globe from across our schools of Social Sciences; Historical Studies; and Creative Arts, Culture and Communication; and the Birkbeck Centre for Counselling.
  • Teaching integrates key skills for employability in caring environments, for instance in the NHS, social care
Careers and employability A degree in health and social care prepares you for a wide variety of careers in areas such as:
  • public health
  • mental health
  • criminal justice
  • management and administration
  • child protection
  • health promotion
  • housing.
You will find health and social care graduates in the following kinds of role:
  • family practitioner
  • healthcare support worker
  • public health practitioner
  • children and young people’s development officer
  • information, advice and guidance officer for vulnerable service users
  • learning and education facilitator
  • manager in social care or NHS.
We offer a comprehensive careers service - Careers and Enterprise - your career partner during your time at Birkbeck and beyond. At every stage of your career journey, we empower you to take ownership of your future, helping you to make the connection between your experience, education and future ambitions.

Modules

For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.

Assessment method

You will be assessed on group work, writing for policy makers and oral presentations as well as more traditional academic essays or reports. You will also have the opportunity to carry out a substantial piece of independent work on a health and social care topic of your choice.

How to apply

29Jan

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

International applicants

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests. We also accept other English language tests.

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

We welcome applicants without traditional entry qualifications as we base decisions on our own assessment of qualifications, knowledge and previous work experience. We may waive formal entry requirements based on judgement of academic potential. FOUNDATION YEAR DEGREES Our 'with Foundation Year' route is designed to give you extra support as it provides you with an additional year (full-time) or two years (part-time) of supported study. This is an ideal route if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied this subject, or if you did not achieve the grades you need for a place on this degree. Once you successfully complete your Foundation Year studies, you will automatically advance onto the main degree.

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students

There is no data available for this course. For further information visit the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £7145 Year 1
Northern Ireland £7145 Year 1
Scotland £7145 Year 1
Wales £7145 Year 1
International £13545 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases.
Health and Social Care at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS