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For UK adults without A-Levels
Yes, and this is one of the most accessible degree subjects for adults returning to education. But there is one thing to settle before you commit: a Health and Social Care degree is not the same as a nursing or social work qualification, and a lot of pages selling these courses never say so.
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Search this and you will mostly find colleges selling Access to HE courses. Those are a genuine route, and we explain them below. What almost nobody publishes is the part that matters more: what this degree does and does not qualify you to do.
Usually in Health and Social Care, Health Professions or Nursing. A standalone college qualification built for adults returning to education. This is the most common route into this subject by some distance.
Suits you if you want a recognised qualification in hand, or want to keep several universities open.
An extra year at the front of the degree, taught at the university, covering academic writing, research and the fundamentals of health and care.
Suits you if you want one continuous course at one institution and would rather not apply twice.
This is the subject where care experience counts for most. Care work, support work, healthcare assistant roles, and unpaid caring responsibilities are all directly relevant, and admissions teams recognise them.
Worth knowing: assessed case by case, and usually strongest alongside a Level 2 or 3 qualification rather than entirely on its own.
A Level 3 BTEC in Health and Social Care, or an NVQ or Diploma in Care, is already a recognised entry qualification in its own right.
Suits you if you already hold one — you may not need a foundation year or an Access course at all.
The general picture is on Study at University Without A-Levels, and the choice between the first two on Access to HE vs Foundation Year. If you are already working, the study format matters as much as the route — see doing a degree while working full time.
A Health and Social Care degree is an academic degree about health and care systems, policy, safeguarding, ethics and how services work. It is not a professional registration.
A Health and Social Care degree does not make you a registered nurse or a registered social worker. Those are separate, regulated qualifications.
Specifically:
Check the current position at GOV.UK: ways to qualify as a social worker and with the Nursing and Midwifery Council directly, not from a course provider’s description.
If registration is your actual goal, say so early. It changes which course is worth doing, and doing the wrong one first is expensive in both money and years.
A great deal, if that is what you want:
Many people take it precisely because they already work in care and want to move from delivering the service to running it. That is a real career and this degree is built for it.
Health and care courses usually involve placements, and placements usually require a DBS check. Some also require occupational health clearance and specific vaccinations.
None of this should put you off, but you should know before you apply rather than after:
Student Finance England decides whether you can be funded. We cannot, and neither can any admissions service or college.
It depends on your residency and immigration status, whether you have studied at university before, and whether the course and provider are designated for funding. Previous higher education study — including a course you started and did not finish — is the factor that most often reduces entitlement unexpectedly.
Check your own position at GOV.UK: student finance and who qualifies. Amounts and terms are published there and change annually, which is why we do not reproduce figures.
There are separate funding arrangements for some healthcare programmes, but they attach to specific NMC- or HCPC-approved courses, not to Health and Social Care degrees generally. Do not assume one applies to the other.
StudyUKToday is a free admissions support service. We do not charge students.
For UK-based adults we work with a UK admissions partner whose team places students on in-person Health and Social Care degree courses at partner institutions in London, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, with classes two days a week.
We would rather tell you plainly that a course does not lead where you want to go than place you on it. If your goal is nursing or social work registration, that is exactly the conversation to have before you apply, not after.
They are a separate organisation from StudyUKToday. If your enquiry is suitable and you tell us we may, we share your name and mobile number only, with your explicit consent, and we will tell you who they are first. Their admissions team and the university make the decisions about eligibility and a place.
Not sure which of these applies to you? Answer a few questions and we will tell you which routes are realistically open — including if the answer is none of them.
Check your optionsYes. An Access to HE Diploma is the most common route, and foundation years, BTECs, NVQs and relevant care experience are all recognised. Requirements are set per course, so always check the specific university.
No. Practising as a social worker in England requires a qualification approved by Social Work England and registration with them. A general Health and Social Care degree is not that qualification.
Not directly. Nursing requires a programme approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council leading to NMC registration. Some people use a Health and Social Care degree as a stepping stone to postgraduate routes, but it is not itself a nursing qualification.
Management and coordination roles in care and support services, commissioning, safeguarding, policy and quality roles, and work in charities, housing and local authorities. Many students already work in care and want to move into running services.
Usually yes, because these courses involve placements. Having a record does not automatically exclude you — decisions are made case by case on relevance and how long ago. Some courses also require occupational health clearance.
Often, yes. This is the subject where care and support experience carries most weight, including unpaid caring responsibilities. It is assessed case by case and is usually strongest alongside a Level 2 or 3 qualification.
Answer a few short questions and we will tell you which routes are realistically open to you. It takes about a minute, there is no application, and it costs nothing.
StudyUKToday is not Student Finance England and cannot confirm your funding. We are not a university and do not make admissions decisions.