Integrated Health and Social Care (CertHE)
Make a real difference in people’s lives. This CertHE Integrated Health and Social Care gives you the skills, confidence and knowledge to begin a rewarding career supporting individuals, families and communities. Whether you are returning to study, changing direction, or taking your first step into higher education, this course has been designed with you in mind. You will learn in a supportive environment that values your life experiences and helps you build the practical and professional skills employers are looking for.
With health and social care services in Wales evolving to provide more joined‑up, person‑centred support, there has never been a better time to develop your career in this vital sector. From day one, you will explore how health and social care professionals work together to improve wellbeing, tackle inequalities, and empower people to live independently. You will build strong foundations in communication, safeguarding, ethical practice, digital skills, and reflective learning - skills that transfer directly into frontline roles and further study.
Accessible entry routes and supportive teaching make this course the ideal starting point for learners from all backgrounds. By the end of the year, you will be ready to move into employment such as support work, care coordination, community outreach or health assistant roles - or progress to a full degree in integrated health and social care, or related professions.
If you want to make a difference and build a career that truly matters, this is the place to start.
This course is delivered on a timetable of one day on the weekend, and one day during the week.
Please note that this page was updated to clarify the course’s start dates, entry requirements, delivery timetable, curriculum and additional costs in March 2026.
Why choose this course?
What you will learn
Throughout the CertHE Integrated Health and Social Care, you will develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to thrive in today’s health and social care sector. The programme blends essential academic development with practical, people‑focused learning grounded in real‑world practice.
You will start by building strong foundations in academic skills, developing the ability to structure assignments, think critically, and manage your learning effectively. You will also learn how to find, evaluate and communicate information, giving you the tools to interpret evidence, understand policy, and make informed decisions that support high‑quality care.
As you progress, you will explore the principles that shape modern integrated care in Wales through an introduction to Integrated Health and Social Care. This includes understanding how services work together to support individuals and communities, and the vital role of multi‑professional collaboration. Your learning will also focus on public health and wellbeing, examining how lifestyle, environment, inequality and community support influence health outcomes. You will consider how early intervention, prevention, and empowerment help improve lives across the lifespan.
The culture, values and ethical practice module will help you understand what compassionate, person‑centred care truly means. You’ll explore professional values such as dignity, respect, safeguarding and confidentiality, and learn how to apply ethical reasoning in everyday practice. Finally, you will develop practical and professional communication skills through Foundations of Communication for Practice. This includes building confidence when working with service users, carers and professionals, understanding non‑verbal communication, and responding sensitively to diverse needs.
By the end of the course, you will have a solid grounding in the academic, ethical and professional skills needed to succeed in health and social care roles, and a clear understanding of how to support individuals and communities in meaningful, effective ways.
Compulsory modules
• Skills for Academic Success (20 credits)
• Finding, Evaluating and Communicating Information (20 credits)
• Introduction to Integrated Health and Social Care (20 credits)
• Introduction to Public Health and Wellbeing (20 credits)
• Culture, Values and Ethical Practice (20 credits)
• Foundations of Communication for Practice (20 credits)
Disclaimer
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The modules outlined above provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this course based on recent academic teaching. We continuously review our courses to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand. Where your course includes optional modules, these are to provide an element of choice within the course. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed.
You’ll typically complete 120 credits per year of study on a full-time course. For more information visit our Student Agreement.
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Staff
Our People
You will be taught and supported by a wide range of professional staff and teams here to help you get the university experience you are looking for. Our teaching staff were ranked 2nd in Wales for Teaching, Assessment and Feedback and Academic Support (NSS 2024) meaning that the support and feedback you get will help you learn and develop strong academic skills. Our students have placed us 1st in Wales for Learning Opportunities and Student Voice (NSS 2024) meaning that there are a wide range of opportunities available to enhance your studies and that students play an active role in shaping their learning experiences. Our commitment to your learning has seen our students place us as 1st in Wales and joint 3rd in the UK for student satisfaction (Times Higher Education, 2024, ‘Overall Positivity’ measure). Find out more about our academic staff who teach across our courses.
Further information
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Applications to this course must be made directly to the University of Wales Trinity Saint David using our online application form. Students under the age of 21 will have 64-80 UCAS points or equivalent. For those aged 21 or over, entry on to the course is by individual merit and largely determined by admissions interview performance, with experience often taken into consideration in lieu of formal qualifications. Cert HE courses are only open to home applicants.
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Coursework and practical tasks are set in a variety of formats. These include:
- Practical in-class set exercises.
- Role play
- Presentations
- Portfolios of work
- Academic interviews
- Case studies
As the course attracts learners from a range of backgrounds, with a variety of work and personal experience, in many cases assessments provide flexibility for the student to use their background and experience to make learning relevant to their prior work experience; students will be encouraged to develop their assessment work as relevant to their career aspirations.
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Welsh Opportunities
As a leading Welsh university, we are proud to offer dedicated support services and halls of residence for Welsh-speaking students, encouraging the sense of community and the feeling of a home away from home, including joining clubs and societies for Welsh speakers and becoming a member of our vibrant Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol branch.
Opportunities to Learn Welsh
We also provide a variety of opportunities to learn and develop your Welsh language skills.
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You may be eligible for funding to help support your study. To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available, please visit our Bursaries and Scholarships section.
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We have a very strong employment support and work experience system within the Health Portfolio.
We link and work closely with public, private and third sector organisations and groups to provide opportunities for both paid and unpaid work for students.
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Costs are likely to be associated with appropriate computing hardware and software: approximately £400.
For students for whom funding is a barrier to purchasing their own device, they can apply for the UWTSD digital connectivity bursary (currently up to £300).