How is the CCEA AS 3 Health and Wellbeing unit assessed?

AS 3 is externally assessed by a written examination, typically a two-hour paper, and it is the externally assessed AS unit (the other two AS units, Promoting Quality Care and Communication, are internally assessed portfolios). The paper uses structured short-answer questions, data and calculation questions (such as body mass index) and extended-writing questions that ask you to explain and apply the concepts of health, the factors affecting it, and how health is improved.

What does AS 3 Health and Wellbeing cover?

The unit covers four linked areas: the concepts and definitions of health and wellbeing (positive, negative and holistic, the World Health Organization definition, and the physical, intellectual, emotional and social dimensions); the factors affecting health and wellbeing (physical, social and emotional, economic, environmental and lifestyle); the effects of health and ill health on individuals and families, with the indicators used to measure physical health; and how health improvement is promoted and supported, including the barriers to change.

What is the difference between positive and negative definitions of health?

A negative definition treats health as the absence of disease or illness, so you are healthy if nothing is medically wrong. A positive definition treats health as a state of wellbeing and the capacity to function and flourish, not merely the absence of illness. The negative view is clear and measurable but ignores quality of life, while the positive, holistic view is broader and more realistic but harder to measure.

What factors affect health and wellbeing?

CCEA groups the factors as physical (genetics, age, illness, disability), social and emotional (relationships, culture, stress, isolation), economic (income, employment, working conditions), environmental (housing, pollution, access to services) and lifestyle (diet, activity, smoking, alcohol, drugs, sleep). Some factors can be controlled by the individual (lifestyle) and some cannot (genetics, age), and they interact and reinforce one another.

What measurements are used to assess physical health?

Common indicators include blood pressure (about 120 over 80 millimetres of mercury when healthy), resting pulse rate (about 60 to 100 beats per minute), body mass index (healthy range 18.5 to 24.9, calculated as mass in kilograms divided by height in metres squared), peak flow (lung function) and body temperature (about 37 degrees Celsius). Each is compared against a normal range to identify needs and track change.

How should I revise AS 3 Health and Wellbeing?

Learn the definitions and the four dimensions precisely, because questions are built from them. Practise sorting factors into the five categories and into controllable and uncontrollable, and rehearse interaction chains. Drill the body mass index calculation and learn the reference ranges for the common measurements. For health improvement, learn the components of a healthy lifestyle with their benefits, and pair each barrier to change with a matched form of support, then practise extended-writing answers under timed conditions.

Northern IrelandHealth & Social Care

CCEA A-Level Health and Social Care AS 3 Health and Wellbeing: definitions, factors, effects and improving health

A deep-dive guide to the externally assessed CCEA AS 3 Health and Wellbeing unit. Covers the concepts and definitions of health, the factors affecting wellbeing, the effects of health and ill health and how health is measured, and how health improvement is promoted and supported, with the exam patterns CCEA repeats.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.816 min readCCEAUpdated 2026-06-16

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

Jump to a section

What this unit demands
Concepts and definitions of health
Factors affecting health and wellbeing
Effects of health and ill health
Promoting and supporting health improvement
How this unit is examined
Check your knowledge

What this unit demands

AS 3 Health and Wellbeing is the externally assessed AS unit (the other two AS units are internally assessed portfolios). It asks a deceptively simple question, what does health actually mean, and builds a whole framework from the answer. CCEA tests two linked skills: precise recall of definitions, dimensions, factors and indicators, and the ability to apply them to individuals and to explain how health is affected and improved.

This guide walks through the four dot points of the unit, then sets out the exam patterns CCEA repeats. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with worked questions; this overview ties them together.

Concepts and definitions of health

Health can be defined negatively (the absence of disease) or positively (the presence of wellbeing and the capacity to flourish). The World Health Organization definition, "a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity", is the standard positive, holistic reference. The holistic concept treats health as the whole person across four interacting dimensions: physical, intellectual, emotional and social.

Factors affecting health and wellbeing

CCEA groups the factors as physical, social and emotional, economic, environmental and lifestyle. Some are within personal control (lifestyle) and some are not (genetics, age). The key idea is that factors interact: a low income can lead to poor housing and then to illness, while protective factors reinforce one another to build wellbeing.

Effects of health and ill health

Good health supports independence, work, relationships and quality of life; ill health, especially long-term illness, affects all four dimensions and the people around the individual. Physical health is assessed with indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, body mass index, peak flow and temperature, each compared against a normal range to identify needs.

Promoting and supporting health improvement

A healthy lifestyle combines diet, activity, sleep, not smoking, limiting alcohol, managing stress and positive relationships. People are supported to change through formal sources (GP, dietitian, stop-smoking services) and informal sources (family, community). Change is blocked by barriers (financial, practical, emotional, social, knowledge), each overcome by matched support.

How this unit is examined

A typical CCEA profile for AS 3:

Definitions and recall. Stating the WHO definition, the dimensions, the factor categories and the reference ranges.
Calculation. Working out body mass index and interpreting the result.
Application. Sorting factors, tracing interaction chains, and explaining effects of ill health across the dimensions.
Extended writing. Explaining how health is improved and supported, and how barriers are overcome.

Check your knowledge

State the World Health Organization definition of health. (2 marks)
Name the four dimensions of wellbeing. (4 marks)
List the five categories of factors affecting health. (5 marks)
A person has a mass of 81 kilograms and a height of 1.8 metres. Calculate their body mass index. (2 marks)
State three indicators used to measure physical health. (3 marks)
Explain one effect of long-term illness on emotional wellbeing. (2 marks)
Name four components of a healthy lifestyle. (4 marks)
Explain one barrier to health improvement and how support overcomes it. (3 marks)

Solutions

Q1: "A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
Q2: Physical, intellectual, emotional and social.
Q3: Physical; social and emotional; economic; environmental; lifestyle.
Q4: $\text{BMI} = 81 / 1.8^2 = 81 / 3.24 = 25.0$ , the overweight threshold.
Q5: Blood pressure, resting pulse rate and body mass index (peak flow and body temperature are also valid).
Q6: Common effects are anxiety, low mood or loss of confidence as the person adjusts to the diagnosis and an uncertain future.
Q7: Balanced diet, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, and not smoking (limiting alcohol and managing stress are also valid).
Q8: A financial barrier (the cost of healthy food or a gym) is overcome by free or subsidised services and accessible local facilities.

Sources & how we know this

CCEA GCE Health and Social Care specification — CCEA (2016)