Diploma in Health and Social Care

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE QUALIFICATIONS  –  closed for new registrations

(Wales & Northern Ireland)

Qualification Options

  • Level 2 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Adults)
  • Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Adults)
  • Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Children and Young People)

The level 2 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Adults) is a competence based qualification for learners who work in Health & Social Care and designed to be assessed in your place of work, as part of your normal work role. The qualification ensures the knowledge and skills for workers who have roles with responsibilities for delivery of care and support, such as; Adult Care Workers, Support Worker & Personal Assistants. This qualification enables learners to demonstrate and develop the skills and knowledge required in Healthcare and Adult Care Settings.

The Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Adults) or (Children and Young People) is a competence based qualification for learners who work in Health & Social Care and designed to be assessed in your place of work, as part of your normal work role. The qualification is applicable to a variety of roles, where workers have key responsibilities for delivery of care and support and/or a level of supervisory responsibility for others, such as; Lead Adult Care Worker, Lead Personal Assistant, Key Worker, Domiciliary Care Worker, Senior Care Assistant and Support Worker. This qualification enables learners to demonstrate and develop the skills and knowledge required within a role which has some autonomy, delegated responsibility or where there may be a need for supervision of others.

These qualifications consist of mandatory units, covering core knowledge and skills competencies, plus a number of optional specialism units, which can be combined in flexible ways to reflect the real working context of each learner and their work setting.

Level 2 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Adults) – 46 credits / 460 TQT

You will need to complete nine mandatory units, these are:

  • 24 credits from the mandatory units in Group A
    • Introduction to communication in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
    • Introduction to personal development in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
    • Introduction to equality and inclusion in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
    • Introduction to duty of care in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
    • Principles of safeguarding and protection in health and social care
    • The role of the health and social care worker
    • Implement person centred approaches in health and social care
    • Contribute to health and safety in health and social care
    • Handle information in health and social care settings
  • a minimum of 2 credits and a maximum of 7 credits from the optional units in Group B
  • at least 15 credits from the optional units in Group C

Full qualification guidance – Level 2 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Adults) Wales & Northern Ireland v 3.1 (Aug 17) – 4222-22

Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Adults) – 58 credits – 580 TQT

You will need to complete nine mandatory units, these are:

  • 28 credits from the mandatory units in Group A
    • Promote communication in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
    • Engage in personal development in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
    • Promote equality and inclusion in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
    • Principles for implementing duty of care in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
    • Principles of safeguarding and protection in health and social care
    • The role of the health and social care worker
    • Promote person centred approaches in health and social care
    • Promote and implement health and safety in health and social care
    • Promote good practice in handling information in health and social care settings
  • a minimum of 2 credits and a maximum of 7 credits from the optional units in Group B
  • a minimum of 23 credits from the optional units in Group C

Full qualification guidance – Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Adults) Wales & Northern Ireland v 4.2 (Aug 17) – 4222-32

Also available – Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Children and Young People) for Wales and Northern Ireland

Full qualification guidance – Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Children and Young People) Wales & Northern Ireland v4.1 (Aug 17) – 4222-33

How long will it take

All learners vary on the timescale to complete their qualification.
When you register, you will be given a specified target date in which to achieve your qualification, you can complete your qualification sooner than the target date if you are able to submit work regularly and at a good pace. Specific target dates can be discussed and agreed with your Assessor.

Total Qualification Time (TQT) is set at 460 hrs (L2) & 580 hrs (L3), this is based on the average amount of time taken to achieve this qualification, over an average completion period of 18 months.

Qualification costs

Complete qualification (including Registration, Learner Pack, Assessment and Certification) prices start from:

  • Level 2 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Adults) – £1,658.
  • Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care (Adults) – £1,798.

These prices are reduced significantly for learners and organisations with their own in-house assessor support.

ARC members benefit from reduced costs

Registration

To register for any of these qualifications, you need to complete the necessary registration forms. This will prompt support for you to consider all the aspects involved in undertaking the qualification and ensure the right one is selected for you. You will also need to seek permission from your organisation to collect evidence in the workplace. To find out more about registering please click here ‘How to Register’.

Materials, ARC documentation and Guidance

All ARC learner documentation is included in our learner portfolios, these can also be accessed via our ‘’Documentation, Guidance & Policies’ section in word and .pdf format.

Awarding Organisation guidance is available on our ‘Qualification Resources – Guidance’ page.