Health and Social Care | Oldham College

What will I learn on my apprenticeship?

We offer a range of Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care from Levels 2 to 5.

Level 2 Apprenticeships:

At Level 2 we offer the Apprenticeship Standards for Adult Care Workers and Healthcare Support Workers.

Adult Care Worker:

This Apprenticeship Standard ensures that Adult Care Workers make a positive difference to someone's life when they are faced with physical, practical, social, emotional or intellectual challenges.

You will develop the right knowledge, skills and behaviours to provide high quality, compassionate, person-centred care and support. This standard develops knowledge and skills such as physical and mental wellbeing, effective communication, safeguarding and the values and behaviours of caring, compassion and courage.

You will learn about the laws and regulation that apply to the Care sector and to treat people with dignity and respect at all times, and develop the skills to assist with activities of living such as nutrition, eating and drinking, personal care and mobility.

You will achieve this Standard in 12-18 months.

Healthcare Support Worker:

This standard is for staff who support healthcare professionals in a clinical environment to provide high quality and compassionate care to individuals.

You will develop the knowledge and skills to carry out a range of routine clinical and non-clinical healthcare tasks under the supervision of the registered practitioner. You will learn to help prepare individuals for healthcare activities carried out by other members of the healthcare team, and will develop the right skills and behaviours to safely assist in activities of daily living.

You will learn about infection control in maintaining a clean and safe environment, and how to minimise cross infection. You will also learn to address straightforward problems and raise concerns in a timely manner.

You will achieve this Standard in 12-18 months.

Level 3 Apprenticeships:

At Level 3 we offer Apprenticeship Standards for Lead Adult Care Worker, Senior Healthcare Support Worker and Dental Nursing.

Lead Adult Care Worker:

This Apprenticeship Standard ensures that Lead Adult Care Workers are equipped the knowledge and skills to make a positive difference to someone's life when they are faced with physical, practical, social, emotional or intellectual challenges.

You will develop exemplary values and core behaviours and competencies to enable you to provide high quality compassionate person-centred care. You will be able to exercise judgement and take action to support delivery and learn about accountability and autonomy.

Throughout this Apprenticeship you will learn how to guide and direct frontline delivery and be instrumental in improving the health and wellbeing of those receiving care and support. You will in some circumstances have delegated responsibility for the standard of care and may supervise the work of others.

You will learn about expected standards of practice and will be able to support others to comply and demonstrate core behaviours.

Lead Adult Care Workers may work in, residential, nursing, domiciliary care, day centres or some clinical health settings.

You will achieve this Standard in around 18 months.

Senior Healthcare Support Worker:

This standard is for experienced healthcare support workers who help registered practitioners deliver healthcare services to people.

You will carry out a range of clinical and non-clinical healthcare or therapeutic tasks under the supervision of the registered practitioner. Over the 18-24 months of your Apprenticeship you will further develop the knowledge and skills to provide high quality, compassionate healthcare, following codes of conduct, standards, polices and protocols and to understand the limits of your competence.

You may work in a range of services such as hospitals, day services, home care, assessment centres, hospices, schools or prisons. Throughout this Apprenticeship you will develop leadership skills and learn how to guide and direct frontline delivery, and be instrumental in improving the health and wellbeing of those receiving care and support.

You will in some circumstances have delegated responsibility for the standard of care and may supervise the work of others. You may support maternity, theatre, adult nursing, mental health, children and young people, or give therapy support for allied health professionals.

Dental Nursing:

The purpose of this Apprenticeship Standard is to enable dental nurses to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to work in line with professional and regulatory standards, and provide the required 'chair-side support' to complement the role of other dental professionals and the clinical team; including Dentists, Dental Therapists, Hygienists and Clinical Dental Technicians.

You will develop the technical knowledge and skills to be safe, skilled, flexible and effective in developing and delivering high quality care as required, and for you to be successfully registered with the General Dental Council on achievement.

You will learn about and health and safety, anatomy and physiology, cross-infection, and develop competencies such as charting teeth, implants and decontamination. This Standard also supports the knowledge and skills development to support extended duties such as impression taking, applying fluoride, taking radiographs and providing oral health education.

This Standard can be accessed by Dental Nurses who work in a variety of settings such as general practice, hospitals of the armed forces.

You will achieve this Standard in 18-24 months.

Level 4 Apprenticeships:

Lead Practitioner in Adult Care

The purpose of this standard is for experienced social care workers, who have responsibility to guide and inspire team members to make positive differences to someone’s life when they are faced with physical, practical, social, emotional, psychological or intellectual challenges. They will have achieved a level of self-development to be recognised as a lead practitioner within the care team, contributing to, promoting and sustaining a values-based culture at an operational level. A Lead Practitioner has a greater depth of knowledge and expertise of particular conditions being experienced by the user of services. The Lead Practitioner will be a coach and mentor to others and will have a role in assessing performance and quality of care delivery. Lead Practitioners in Adult Care may work in residential or nursing homes, domiciliary care, day centres, a person’s own home or some clinical healthcare settings.

Throughout this 18-21 month Apprenticeship you will develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours to manage frontline carers to look after vulnerable adults with care needs.

Level 5 Apprenticeships:

At Level 5 we offer Apprenticeship Standards for Assistant Practitioners in Healthcare and the Apprenticeship Framework for Leader in Adult Care.

Assistant Practitioners in Healthcare:

Assistant Practitioners in Healthcare work as part of the wider health and social care team and work under the supervision of the Registered Practitioners. This may include nurses, allied health professionals, medical, health science and dental practitioners as well as registered social workers.

Assistant Practitioners may work in a variety of services such as cancer services, physiotherapy, mental health, hospice care and learning disability support. Work activities include higher clinical skills such as wound care, catheterisation, discharge planning and assisting in total patient assessment.

Over the course of this 18-24 month Apprenticeship, you will develop the knowledge and skills to deliver effective service and high quality care outcomes. You will learn about policy and regulation and the develop a greater understanding of the factors that inform health to inform your practice and the practice of others.

You will have direct contact with patients and service users, but will work at a higher level than the Senior Health Care Support Worker. You will develop the competencies to work safely, and risk manage and safeguard the interests and rights of patients and clients.

You will develop higher level and technical knowledge and skills, and exemplify the core behaviours in line with your individual job role - such as inclusion, anatomy and physiology, physiological measurements, leadership, models of health and care, wellbeing and illness, policy and procedures development, research and evidence-based practice and professional and reflective development.

Leader in Adult Care:

This Apprenticeship supports leaders of the care service and who manage teams of carers who look after adults with care needs.

A Leader in Adult Care has responsibility for managing community or residential based services. This role has a large element of leadership, whether with other care workers and networks or in leading the service itself. A successful apprentice will have met all the requirements. They have a responsibility to ensure the service is safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led. They may be a registered manager of a service, unit, deputy or assistant manager. They will be responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance of the care given and the values and training of staff with established standards and regulations.

This Apprenticeship will support your technical knowledge and skills development to effectively lead and manage high quality and responsive service provision that meets individual needs and choices and regulatory and quality standards.

You will develop your knowledge about leadership theory, policy and regulation and then develop a greater understanding of the factors that inform social care and your practice and the practice of others. You will further develop your knowledge to improve your practice around the key topics such as managing risk, health and safety, professional supervision and development, change, developing operational plans and reflecting on your service.

You will also develop your knowledge and skills in research and understanding evidence based practice in informing planning for inclusive, cost effective care and positive outcomes for individuals.

Typically, this Apprenticeship is achieved within 21-24 months.

Apprenticeship Entry Requirements

All healthcare recruitment and selection processes will assess the values and behaviours of the applicants. Employers will consider value-based recruitment and consider how caring, compassionate, conscientious and committed you are.

When recruiting to Levels 3, 4 and 5 Apprenticeship vacancies, employers usually look for experience in the industry and a commitment to ongoing learning and development.

All health and care vacancies will require you to undertake a DBS check.

There are no specific maths and English entry requirements for these Apprenticeships.

Prior to entry to the programme, you will undertake a maths and English initial assessment. You will need to assess at the level below the Standard's Functional Skills requirements in your English and maths before commencing on the Apprenticeship.

If you do not have GCSE grade C/4 or above in English and/or maths, you will be required to complete your Functional Skills.

For Level 2: you will be required to achieve Level 1 English and maths, and progress to take your tests for Level 2.

For Levels 3-5: you will be required to achieve Level 2 English and maths.

How will I be assessed?

All Health and Social Care Apprenticeships require you to complete off-the-job learning for 20% of your working week. This can be made up of classroom and online learning activities, learning in the workplace and through shadowing, mentoring and supervision activities. You will also complete distance learning and assignment completion, online learning activities and achieve your Care Certificate. Dental Nurses will complete online exams. Assistant Practitioners will have a number of externally set assignments and controlled assessments.

You will attend College to complete your Functional Skills qualification. You will also complete learning using HegartyMaths and Century online. Functional Skills will be assessed through online tests.

Your Assessor/Coach will visit you in the workplace to undertake a variety of assessment activities such as observations, professional discussions, and review of your work products as you progress through your diploma and your Standard. This is to ensure that your knowledge and skills development is evidenced consistently in your everyday practice, i.e. ‘your know how and know why.’ You will also be assessed through assignment work, written and oral questions.

You will produce a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate the development of your knowledge and competence. This will be quality assured to ensure it is authentic, sufficient and valid, before quality assurance from the external awarding organisation.

Your Assessor/Coach will review your learning and progress in relation to your knowledge, skills and behaviours through a series of defined milestones and mock EPAs to keep you on track to progress and achieve as planned.

In order to achieve your Apprenticeship, you will complete the End Point Assessment (EPA). This is assessed by an Independent Awarding Organisation, such as City and Guilds or CACHE. Following your EPA you will be awarded a grade by your independent assessor.

The preparation for your EPA is ongoing throughout your Apprenticeship but towards the end of your programme you will begin detailed preparations. This may be the development of a portfolio showcasing your development, or a workplace project. There may be a multiple choice test. There is a professional discussion about your development towards and achievement of your Standard.

End Point Assessments are as follows:

Adult Care Worker: Multiple choice situational test and professional discussion

Lead Adult Care Worker: Multiple choice situational test and professional discussion

Health Care Support Worker: Multiple choice test, observation of practice and evidence portfolio

Senior Health Care Support Worker: Multiple choice/short answer test, observation of practice, learning journal and interview

Dental Nurse: Knowledge test, observation of practice and an interview; underpinned by a showcase portfolio.

Lead Practitioner in Adult Care: Observation of practice and professional discussion.

Assistant Practitioner: Multiple choice/short answer test, observation of practice, learning journal and interview.

Leader in Adult Care: Observation of leadership and a professional discussion.

What will my apprenticeship lead to?

We aim for all learners to progress within their job, through additional duties or promotion, or to undertake further study at the end of their Apprenticeship. Some examples of progression are as follows:

Adult Care Worker: On completion of your Level 2 Apprenticeship it is important to consolidate your learning and develop your competencies. Progression to further learning specific to your job role provides excellent opportunities. Dependent on your job role you may be able to progress to Lead Adult Care Worker Apprenticeship.

Lead Adult Care Worker: Provides a springboard for excellent career opportunities and taking greater responsibilities within your role or specialising in a particular field, such as mental health or dementia. Further learning specific to your job role provides excellent opportunities. Dependent on your job role you may be able to undertake management training. There is also the possibility to apply for registered practitioner training or a foundation degree.

Health Care Support Worker: on completion of your Level 2 Apprenticeship it is important to consolidate your learning and develop your competencies. Progression to further learning specific to your job role provides excellent opportunities. Dependent on your job role, you may be able to progress onto a Senior Health Care Support Worker Apprenticeship.

Senior Health Care Support Worker: After a period of working and gaining experience, if your job role is suitable, you may be able to work towards the Level 5 Assistant Practitioner or a Nursing Associate post. You may also be able to apply for registered practitioner training.

Dental Nurse: Some Dental Nurses undertake additional and extended duties within their scope of practice and clinical competence, e.g. taking impressions. Dental Nurses can also now see patients as part of a preventative programme without the prescription of a Dentist.

Lead Practitioner in Adult Care: On completion of this apprenticeship you may be supported by your employer to progress to a level 5 leadership and management apprenticeship or diploma.

Assistant Practitioner: You can progress onto further learning specific to your job role, or to higher education - such as foundation degree or registered practitioner.

Leader in Adult Care: You can progress onto further learning specific to your work role or move onto other parts of the sector e.g. become an advanced practitioner. Foundation / degree is also a natural progression route.

Cost of my apprenticeship

Contribution Rules

16-18 Where the employer has under 50 employees and they are not a levy paying employer the learner is fully funded by the government, this rule also applies to 19-24 year old who are Care Leavers or in possession of an Educational Healthcare Plan
16-18 Where the employer has 50 or more employees and they are not a levy payer there will be a 5% charge with the government paying the remaining 95%. The 5% contribution will be invoiced as per the table above.
16-18 Where the employer is a levy payer, 100% of the funding will be claimed from their digital account on a monthly basis where the payments are scheduled according to the length of the learner's programme
19+ All employers that are not a levy payers there will be a 5% charge with the government paying the remaining 95%. The 5% contribution will be invoiced as per the table above.
19+ Where the employer is a levy payer, 100% of the funding will be claimed from their digital account on a monthly basis where the payments are scheduled according to the length of the learner's programme

Incentives

16-18 The employer will receive £1,000 incentive, 50% at 90 days following enrolment and 50% at 365 days following enrolment assuming the student is still employed and active on the Apprenticeship. The employer will need to invoice the college for this at that time and confirm their eligibility to make the claims at that point. This applies to Apprenticeship Frameworks only and not new Standards.
19-24 Where an employer has an Apprentice under the age of 25 where their earnings are below £43,000 per year the employer does not have to pay National Insurance Contributions (NIC's). Correct at the time of publication, check the HMRC section on gov.uk website

How to apply

You can apply for this programme via the Apply Now button, at the top.

If this course area is available as an apprenticeship, this will show under 'Study Option' on the right-hand side, just below the Apply Now button. You can view all of our apprenticeship vacanices and subjects by clicking the 'Apprenticeships' in the top menu.