Health and Social Care with Foundation Year

Foundation Year
Our Foundation Year provides an excellent alternative route to Keele, providing a unique opportunity to better prepare for your chosen degree, and with guaranteed entry onto your undergraduate course once you successfully complete your Foundation Year. This extra year of study can improve your academic skills, expand your subject knowledge, give you a better understanding of higher education and, perhaps most importantly of all, build your confidence. On the Keele Foundation Year, you'll study on campus, joining our undergraduate community from the outset, with access to all the facilities and support that you'd get as an undergraduate student at Keele.

International Students
For International Students, Foundation Years are delivered through our dedicated on-campus provider, Keele University International College. Applications for International Foundation Years are also handled by KUIC; please do not apply via UCAS as the University will not be able to process your application and you may still be charged the UCAS application fee. To find out more and to apply for an International Foundation Year, visit https://kuic.keele.ac.uk/

Health and Social Care
Are you passionate about driving meaningful change in society and supporting its most vulnerable members? Do you aspire to develop the skills to lead and work effectively across diverse health and social care settings? Our Health and Social Care BSc equips you with the knowledge, professionalism and expertise, and practical experience to make a real difference. You'll be prepared to support service users, collaborate with families, and create positive societal impact, while building a rewarding career that transforms lives.

Why choose this course?
• Gain in-demand skills and knowledge in health and social care, making you a highly employable professional



• Enhance your practical and professional skills to lead health and social care teams through an integrated, work-based module focused on simulation and skill development



• Study modules from nursing and related subjects like sociology, rehabilitation exercise therapy, psychology, and geography, gaining a comprehensive understanding of health and social care from UK and global perspectives



• Part of Keele's exceptional School of Nursing and Midwifery which has an excellent reputation in both education and research



• Option to undertake a placement year between years two and three



Discover the core elements of UK and global health and social care, examining the contemporary issues shaping wellbeing and delivery of care. You’ll develop valuable sector specific skills, preparing you to become a highly employable health and social care professional. Potential career pathways include non-clinical roles in the NHS, positions in local authorities and youth work, roles in criminal justice advocacy, children’s residential care, and in the private, voluntary, and independent social care sectors.

You will analyse essential health and social care theory and concepts, considering how different political and cultural environments affect equality, diversity and inclusion. Additional themes include mental health, communicable and non-communicable disease, inequalities, the diverse social factors that can affect health, and the legal and ethical principles that support health and social care practice.

You’ll examine the influence of data and information on the health and social care sector and how evolving digital health innovations and policies are contributing to the health and wellbeing of others. Your professional and academic skills will be developed through debates and problem-based tasks, while reflective practice activities will encourage you to explore your career aspirations and personal strengths.

Career focused courses, a vibrant student community and a beautiful 600-acre campus – this is Keele.

Whether you’re a passionate natural scientist, or eager to explore law, business, humanities or social sciences, our innovative courses are designed with your future in mind. Many of our courses offer a placement opportunity – just one of our initiatives that prepare you for real-world success.

Recognised for outstanding student experience and teaching quality, we were ranked a Top 10 UK university for student satisfaction across 15 subjects (National Student Survey 2025, broad-based English universities) and achieved Double Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (2017 and 2023).

Located in the Staffordshire countryside, but within easy reach of a bustling town, vibrant city and our noisy neighbours of Manchester and Birmingham, Keele truly offers the best of both worlds: a close-knit campus community and an exciting local area to explore.

We’d love to see you on campus soon.