CCEA A-Level Health and Social Care: complete guide to the AS and A2 units, the externally and internally assessed components and how to study each

CCEA A-Level Health and Social Care (specification first taught 2016) is a two-year applied course split into AS and A2, set and marked by CCEA in Northern Ireland. It is available as a Single Award (six units) or a Double Award (twelve units). This page is the index: below is a map of the units, which are examined and which are portfolio-assessed, and how to study each.

The CCEA Health and Social Care units

The qualification mixes externally assessed written examinations with internally assessed portfolios (controlled assessment).

AS 1 Promoting Quality Care (portfolio)

The ethical foundation: the values of care and care value base, the rights of service users and responsibilities of workers, anti-discriminatory practice, the imbalance of power, and how quality is maintained through codes, standards and RQIA regulation.

AS 2 Communication (portfolio)

How care happens: the types and contexts of communication, the communication cycle, the factors that aid effective communication, the barriers (sensory, language, physical, emotional, environmental, jargon) and the strategies to overcome them.

AS 3 Health and Wellbeing (examination)

The concepts and definitions of health (positive, negative, holistic, the WHO definition and four dimensions), the factors affecting wellbeing, the effects of health and ill health with the indicators used to measure health, and how health improvement is promoted and supported.

A2 1 Applied Research (portfolio)

Research literacy: the research process, primary and secondary methods, sampling, the ethical principles that protect participants, and how findings are presented, analysed and evaluated.

A2 2 Body Systems and Physiological Disorders (examination)

Anatomy and physiology: the cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive systems and their disorders (coronary heart disease, asthma, type 2 diabetes), and how disorders are monitored, diagnosed and treated.

A2 3 Providing Services (examination, pre-release)

The structure and sectors of provision (statutory, voluntary, private, informal) and the integrated HSC system, access and referral, partnership working and integration, and safeguarding and quality assurance.

A2 4 Public Health and Health Promotion (examination)

Public health and inequalities, the approaches to health promotion, the models (Tannahill; Ewles and Simnett) and planning and evaluating a campaign, and the agencies and settings that deliver promotion.

A2 5 Supporting the Family (portfolio)

The types and functions of the family, the pressures families face, and the services, policies and professionals that support families across the sectors.

Assessment structure

CCEA A-Level Health and Social Care is split between AS (40 percent) and A2 (60 percent), combining written papers and portfolios.

• AS 1 Promoting Quality Care - internally assessed portfolio.
• AS 2 Communication - internally assessed portfolio.
• AS 3 Health and Wellbeing - written examination.
• A2 1 Applied Research - internally assessed research portfolio.
• A2 2 Body Systems and Physiological Disorders - written examination.
• A2 3 Providing Services - written examination based on pre-release stimulus material.
• A2 4 Public Health and Health Promotion - written examination.
• A2 5 Supporting the Family - internally assessed portfolio.

How to study CCEA Health and Social Care

The course rewards precise frameworks, applied scenarios and reflective coursework.

1. Work from the specification statements. Each unit's content is a checklist; questions and portfolio criteria are written from it.
2. Learn the frameworks precisely. The values of care, the dimensions of health, the body systems, the sectors of provision and the approaches to health promotion are tested directly.
3. Apply knowledge to scenarios. The examined units, especially A2 3 with its pre-release material, reward applying frameworks to a case, not reciting facts.
4. Drill the calculations and anatomy. Body mass index, clinical readings and the labelled body systems recur in A2 2 and AS 3.
5. Build strong portfolios. For the internally assessed units, choose a realistic setting or family, apply the content with concrete detail, and follow the assessment criteria and ethical principles.

The units, dot point by dot point

Each examined unit has a specification-level overview with worked questions and cross-links, plus dot-point pages and a quiz; each portfolio unit has a concise overview. Browse the full set at /ccea-a-level/health-and-social-care/syllabus.

For the official specification

CCEA publishes the full specification, past papers and mark schemes at ccea.org.uk. Always revise from the current CCEA specification and CCEA's own past papers, because assessment style, the balance of examined and portfolio units, and the Northern Ireland context are board-specific.