Pearson BTEC Make Video About WLC Health and Social Care Students

Pearson, the large education company that oversees vocational BTEC qualifications, visited West London College last week to make a video about students on their Health and Social Care Level 3 course. The promotional video focused on interviews with students, teachers and staff from Charing Cross Hospital, part of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Pearson Marketing Manager, Moira Reid, first got in touch with the college late last year after learning about the pilot NHS work placements the students had undertaken at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary’s Hospitals.

Moira said: “Our goal is to inspire students to work in a sector which has a huge impact on people, providing them with rewarding careers in the process. For us, success is shown when students take what they learned in the classroom and successfully implement it at work, as well as bringing the latest industry practises back into the classroom.”

Moira found out about the college’s work experience initiative when she came across a social media post by Lead Nurse for Healthcare Support Workers, Dinah Ofosu-Asante.

Dinah believes working with the college’s Health and Social Care students is critical for developing a pipeline of future healthcare assistants and nurses. Dinah also took part in the Pearson promotional video. 

Dinah said: “I wanted to support my local college by participating, as well as getting the message across about career opportunities in the NHS and doing what I can to boost recruitment.”

Head of Health and Social Care, Liam Wild, set up the work placement project working closely with the college’s careers team, as well as Dinah and Sharon Probets, Head of Learning, at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Liam said: “A career in healthcare is very rewarding but can be challenging, so it’s great for our students to experience life first-hand in busy hospitals to make sure they are following the career path that is right for them.” 

Chloe Fowle, one of the students interviewed by the Pearson team, explained that at the end of her course, she wants to work with children in a special needs school. She already has a position as a teaching assistant lined up. Chloe said: “My work placement was with children awaiting surgery and I got so much out of working with them to help them overcome their anxiety about what was going on.” 

Completing a work placement for Hannamiya Ahmed reinforced her strong desire to make her career in health care. As a result of her placement, she now wants to become an osteopath and plans to study osteopathy at Kingston University. Hannamiya said: “I met osteopaths at the hospital who described their work to me and I became inspired.” Hannamiya performed so well in her placement that the NHS Trust now employs her two days a week as a health care assistant. 

BTEC Nationals are career-based qualifications designed to give students the skills they need to move on to higher education or go straight into employment.