Assisting with Healthcare Science - Health and Science - T Level

A T Level is an exciting new technical qualification which will teach you the knowledge and skills needed to progress into skilled employment or higher-level technical training, such as higher education and higher apprenticeships. The T Level study programme is eligible for UCAS points. 

The content for this qualification was devised by T Level panels, which included employers and industry stakeholders. Employers and other stakeholders helped create the assessments and set the standards to ensure you achieve the level of competence needed to enter skilled employment.

The T Level is made up of different components:

• A technical qualification in Health (the core component)
• A technical component in Assisting with Healthcare Science (the occupational specialism)
• A substantial industry placement with an external employer (a minimum of 315 hours)

You’ll spend 80% of your time in the classroom and 20% on an industry placement with an employer (equivalent to 45 days) to give you the skills and knowledge companies look for. Your industry placement gives you the chance to learn what a real career is like while you continue your studies. When and how you complete it depends on the T Level, school or college, and employer.

To achieve the T Level, you will need to successfully demonstrate your achievement of each of the components.

This course is delivered at the Centre for Applied Sciences, more info here.

The core component will cover topics including:

• Working within the health and science sector
• Health and safety regulations in healthcare science
• Providing person-centred care when working in healthcare science
• Infection prevention and control in healthcare science  
• Managing information and data
• Good scientific and clinical practice
• Core science concepts

The occupational specialism will teach you how to contribute to patient care by:

• Supporting physiological, physical, and clinical engineering services to produce reliable data and images for use by healthcare professionals in diagnosis and treatment.
• Supporting the collection of a range of specimens for analysis to aid diagnosis and treatment.
• Processing and analysing service user specimens in a range of life science areas and laboratory environments to produce reliable data sets for use by healthcare professionals in diagnosis and treatment.

Entry requirements for this T Level programme are:

• A minimum of five GCSEs at Grade 4 or above
• Including English Language, Maths and Science (Combined) at Grade 4 or above
• A Level 2 qualification in Health and Social Care with a Distinction profile may be accepted instead of a GCSE Science 

All applicants will be invited for an interview and assessment to confirm that the course is suitable for them.

The core component of the study programme is 100% externally assessed through two written examinations and an employer-set project.

The purpose of the employer-set project is to ensure that you have the opportunity to apply core knowledge and skills to develop a substantial piece of work in response to an employer-set brief. The brief and tasks are contextualised around an occupational area and chosen by you.

The combined results from these assessments will be aggregated to form the overall core component grade (A* to E and U).

The Assisting with Healthcare Science occupational specialism is separately assessed through synoptic assignments, graded at distinction, merit or pass.

Aged 16-18

If you will be aged 16, 17 or 18 on 31st August prior to the start date of your course and you have the legal right to remain in the UK for the duration of your programme then your study with us will be free. Please see here for the documents you will need to show us.

Some courses will have other associated costs, such as for specialist materials and trips. Many of our students are eligible for financial support, see here for details.

T Levels are eligible for UCAS tariff points with equivalency to A Levels and most universities have confirmed they will be given equal merit. 

As well as higher education, this study programme will also enable you to gain employment in the health sector as a healthcare science assistant (physiological measurements, sample collection and sample analysis) or apply for relevant apprenticeships, for example, the NHS.