Honours in Health and Social Care

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

I am extremely keen to study Social Work at university. As a determined and driven individual, I feel as though I will be in my element, ready to learn and keen to make a difference. I found interest in pursuing a career in Social Work as you are able to look at children as individuals closely and understand what needs they had in order to help them learn effectively. Some students at the school also had family issues at home, which caused them to misbehave in school and needed individuals from the Special Educational Needs Department (SEN). This is when I really started to find an interest in Social Work as it enabled me to understand what someone in this area had to do on a daily basis.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

I am currently studying Psychology, Sociology and Level 3 Health and Social Care at A-Level. Personally, I feel as though these options are very well suited to me and will help me get a career in the future. As well as achieving my A-Levels, I have also been given the role of being a Student Ambassador at sixth form. This has given me different responsibilities such as showing the younger year groups round on open evenings and open days and helping out at different events where I can represent my subject; the subject I have been chosen to represent is Health and Social Care. Personally, I feel as though I have been chosen for this role not just because of my hardworking ethic but also because I am a caring, approachable individual.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

Whilst being at sixth form and secondary school, I have undertaken work experience. In year 10 at Hungerhill School, I was given the opportunity to work as a teacher’s assistant at Kirkby Avenue in Bentley. I had to work in a different range of year groups meaning that I worked within and out of my comfort zone. Even though I did not think I would particularly enjoy working with the younger years, I did and found them very interesting to observe as individuals. I then chose to work at the same primary school again in Year 12 as I would gain more experience working closely with children. This time around, I was assigned to a certain class each week; personally, I found this better as I was able to get to know each child as an individual and know their likes and dislikes. With the nurturing, I was then given the opportunity to shadow a member of this department and have a full insight on what she does as a job and how she helps not just the child but also their family. Whilst in Year 12, I was also a keen member of the debate club. I thoroughly enjoyed expressing my opinion about how I felt about certain topics as I believe every individual has a right to have their own viewpoint. This club also gave me the chance to hear other people’s ideas and how they felt about the certain topic given to us. The debate club also made it possible for me to rationalise my ideas as I wanted to make sure that they were fully appropriate for the topic given and would not offend any of my peers as we were all different individuals with different ethnic backgrounds and beliefs. I am easily able to help anyone who needs any advice in order to help them achieve.