Vocational pathway: Health & social care

About this resource

This Religious Education and health and social care resource shows how high-quality RE can prepare young people for careers involving care, health, wellbeing and responsibility for others. It is particularly relevant to pupils considering careers such as nursing, care work, paramedicine, dental technology, pharmacy and healthcare support.

The resource connects religion and worldviews learning with real issues encountered in health and social care, including beliefs about health, illness, disability, diet, birth and death. It also explores ethical questions surrounding dignity, consent, confidentiality, end-of-life decisions, justice and fair access to healthcare.

Alongside subject knowledge, the resource demonstrates how RE develops important employability skills including empathy, active listening, sensitive communication, critical thinking and understanding people from different religious, cultural and personal backgrounds. Teachers can use it to connect secondary RE and careers education, helping pupils understand why religious literacy, ethical reasoning and cultural awareness matter in modern health and social care professions