T Levels
T Levels are new courses that follow GCSEs and are equivalent to 3 A Levels. They’ve been co-created by the industry you want to be a part of, so you can gain the knowledge and skills you need to leap ahead of the crowd and into your desired career. They are assessed by a mixture of exams and practical activities, so better for those students who struggle with end of course assessment. You can find more information on T Levels here.
T Level Healthcare Science
The core element of a T Level in Healthcare Science will boost your knowledge in a range of topics such as the principles of good scientific and clinical practice; as well as standard
operating procedures, management of equipment and work areas, and the importance of quality standards, health and safety. Healthcare Science is critical, not only for the delivery of current healthcare, but also to develop innovative tests and treatments for the future.
You will then specialise in the skills you need to assist in healthcare such as working with patients, performing tests, quality control, ethics, collecting and processing samples, career paths, regulations, infection control and data management.
Finally you will be able to put everything you learn into practice, with a substantial industry placement of around 45 days. Giving you an amazing opportunity to work with an employer while you study, in a laboratory, hospital or healthcare setting, and gain invaluable experience as well as key skills that employers are looking for.
Content
In Years 12 and 13 the students follow the NCFE specification.
There are 3 components to the T Level course: The Core Content, Occupational Specialism; and Industry placement.
Core content covers:
Core content covers
Working within the health and science sector - policies, principals, practice, ethics and legislation
Healthcare science sector -careers, structures and funding; new technologies, automation and artificial intelligence.
Health, safety and environmental regulations.
Providing person-centred care.
Infection prevention and control.
Managing information and data.
Good scientific and clinical practice.
Core knowledge:
- Cell theory
- Types of cells and their specialisation
- Structure and function of organelles
- Bacteria
- Protein structure, function and properties
- Carbohydrate structure, function and properties
- Lipid structure, function and properties
- Exchange and transport mechanisms
- Genetics
- DNA and RNA structure, function and semi-conservative replication
- Homeostasis
- Microbiology
- Microscopy
- Immunology
- Body systems (endocrine, nervous, respiratory, musculoskeletal, digestive, cardiovascular, reproductive, renal, integumentary and ocular)
- Atomic structure and the Periodic Table
- Chemical properties
- Acids / bases and chemical change
- Rates of reaction and energy changes
- Chemical analysis
- Electricity
- Magnetism and electromagnetism
- Waves
- Particles and radiation
- Units
The use of physiological measurement tools and techniques in monitoring the action of physiological systems.
The normal expected ranges for physiological measurements and how to identify when physiological measurements fall outside the normal expected ranges.
Specific diseases and disorders.
Injury and trauma and how the body reacts systemically.
What is meant by epidemiology and how its objectives provide information to plan and evaluate.
How health promotion helps to prevent the spread and control of disease and disorders.
The concepts of genome and genomics and why these are different to the concept of genetics.
Bioinformatics.
How physics principles are applied in the field of medical physics to support prevention, diagnosis.and treatment of disease
strategies to prevent illness, including how this has contributed to the prevention of the spread ofspecific diseases
Occupational Specialism :
Be able 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.
- Job roles, disciplines and divisions in physiological, physical and clinical engineering services
- Human anatomy and physiology
- Equipment and devices used to take clinical measurements to support physiological, physical and clinical engineering services
- Principles and practice of equipment management used for the collection of clinical measurements
- Techniques used to support patient care when collecting clinical measurements and images
- Health, safety, regulation, legislation, local and national policies and standards when assisting with healthcare science in physiological, physical and clinical engineering services
- Use and importance of standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Infection control procedures when assisting with healthcare science in physiological, physical and clinical engineering services
- IT systems for recording service user information
- Procedures for reporting service user information in physiological, physical and clinical engineering services
- Urgent or immediate referrals
Contribute to patient care by supporting the collection of a range of specimens for analysis to aid diagnosis and treatment
- Job roles, disciplines and divisions in physiological services, physical sciences and life sciences in relation to the collection of specimens
- Specimen collection procedures
- Equipment and resources used in the collection of patient specimens
- Handling collected specimens
- Disease states and the collection of specimens
- Waste streams for equipment used in the collection of specimens
- Requirements for good stock control and storage/use of limited stability products
- Point of care testing (POCT)
Contribute to patient care by 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
- Job roles, disciplines and divisions in the processing and analysing of service user specimens
- Quality assurance in processing patient specimens
- Receiving, handling and storage of samples for processing and subsequent disposal
- Laboratory equipment used in the processing of specimens
- Underlying principles of techniques used in the processing of specimens
- Techniques and specimens to be processed
- Specimen details and results from specimen processing
Industry Placement
All T Level students will complete a 3 month pavement working in the laboratories of one of our partner organisations, such as Addenbrooke's Hospital or the Medical Research Councils Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
Assessment
There are 3 components to the T Level course: The Core Content, Occupational Specialism; and Industry Placement, to achieve the T Level you must pass/complete all three, each is assessed in a different way. The overall grade is calculated from these.
Core Content is assessed by 2 written exam papers and an employer set project.
Paper A Written examination: Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes
• 110 marks (plus 12 marks for Quality of Written Communication) = 112 marks total
• This paper is composed of 4 sections:
- section A: short-answer and extended writing, 34 marks
- section B: short-answer and extended writing, 34 marks
- section C: short-answer and extended writing, 21 marks
- section D: short-answer and extended writing, 21 marks
Paper B Written examination: Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes
• 100 marks plus 12 marks for Quality of Written Communication = 112 marks total (10-16 marks for maths already included in the 100 marks)
• This paper is composed of 4 sections:
- section A: short-answer and extended writing, 45 marks
- section B: short-answer and extended writing, 26 marks
- section C: short-answer and extended writing, 17 marks
- section D: short-answer and extended writing, 12 marks
Employer Set Project is an externally-set (in conjunction with employers) project: Duration: 18hours
The purpose of the employer-set project is to ensure that students 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 the student ahead of the assessment window.
Occupational Specialism is assessed by synoptic assessments comprising of task based assignments including observations. Duration 6 hours, 25 minutes
Synoptic assignments comprise 3 assessments covering:
Assignment 1: 1 hour
Assignment 2: 55 minutes
Assignment 3: 2 hours 30 minutes
Assignment 4: 2 hours
Industry Placement must be completed.
Where could this course take me?
Following a T Level, you could progress straight into a skilled profession or continue your studies with a degree or higher apprenticeship. The course is ideal for those wanting a career in practical laboratory work.