FdScHealth Care Play Specialism
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- 2026
- 2027
Why study a health care play specialist foundation degree at Solent University
Develop the specialist skills and confidence to support children’s emotional wellbeing through therapeutic play, guided by experienced practitioners and excellent professional learning opportunities.
- 0%nursing graduates in high-skilled employment or further study 15 months after graduating (HESA 2023)
- Top0%of UK unis for teaching quality, out of 130 institutions (Times Good Uni Guide 2026)
- £0minvestment in our campus and industry-standard facilities
- Study this course via distance learning, enabling you to study anywhere in the world.
- Develop specialist skills in therapeutic play, communication, assessment, and supporting children through medical procedures.
- Benefit from strong partnerships with healthcare providers, ensuring placements and teaching reflect current employer expectations.
- Gain extensive hands on experience through supervised placements in NHS hospitals and children’s healthcare settings.
- Study in a supportive environment with small group teaching, personalised feedback, and dedicated academic support.
- Students who successfully complete the course can become eligible to join the public register of Health Play Specialists and to use the job title ‘Registered HPS’.
Any questions?
Contact international admissions
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The Health Care Play Specialism foundation degree provides a supportive and practice‑focused route into a specialist profession that makes a real difference to children, young people and their families. This course introduces you to the principles of therapeutic play, child development, emotional wellbeing, and professional care environments, helping you build the confidence and competence required for safe and effective practice.
Across the programme, you'll explore how therapeutic play supports children coping with illness, treatment, hospitalisation, and challenging life events. Through expert teaching, simulation, guided practice hours, and placements you'll learn how to assess children’s needs, plan meaningful play interventions, and work collaboratively within multidisciplinary healthcare teams.
You'll be taught by an experienced team of health play specialists, nurses, and child‑health practitioners, ensuring your learning is grounded in the realities of modern healthcare. Strong links with NHS trusts and healthcare partners mean your placements and learning experiences are designed to reflect current professional standards and employer expectations.
By combining academic knowledge with hands‑on practical experience, this foundation degree prepares you for a rewarding career supporting children’s emotional wellbeing. Whether you aim to progress into the health play specialist role, continue to further study, or build a broader career in children’s healthcare, the course equips you with the specialist and transferable skills needed to succeed.
Accreditations
Higher Technical Qualification
Who is this course for?
This course is ideal for individuals who are passionate about supporting children and young people during challenging health‑related experiences. It is particularly suited to those who want to work in a caring, hands‑on role that uses therapeutic play to reduce anxiety, promote understanding, and support emotional wellbeing.
Applicants should enjoy working within multidisciplinary teams, communicating with children and families, and developing specialist skills that make a meaningful difference in healthcare environments. The course is well‑suited to people who are compassionate, creative, reflective, and motivated to build a professional career in child‑health settings.
It is also an excellent pathway for those already working in healthcare, early years, or education who wish to develop specialist expertise and progress into the Health Play Specialist profession.
What does this course lead to?
Graduates are well prepared for a rewarding career supporting children and young people in healthcare settings. Most students progress into the health play specialist role, working within hospitals, community health services, and paediatric units to deliver therapeutic play that reduces anxiety, supports understanding, and enhances emotional wellbeing.
The specialist skills developed on the course also open doors to a range of wider child‑health and support roles, including positions within children’s hospitals, hospices, community healthcare teams, mental health services, and charitable organisations working with children and families.
Many graduates use this degree as a platform for further professional development, progressing into roles such as senior health play specialist, paediatric support worker, child‑development practitioner, or continuing to higher‑level study in areas such as child health, nursing, play therapy, psychology, or wellbeing services.
Meet the team
The University cannot guarantee any particular members of staff will teach specific aspects of the course in the future, but will endeavour to ensure the teaching team maintains their balance of experience and qualifications.
Facilities
Our award-winning teaching building, The Spark is centred around students and offers a stimulating study environment with flexible learning spaces.
Away from studying, why not try out the gyms, fitness studios and sports halls in our £28 million Sports Complex, or watch a blockbuster film at our student-run cinema with Dolby Atmos audio.
What you'll study
Core modules
Developing Reflective Practice
The syllabus for this module will reflect the developmental journey that underpins the world of direct practice within the Health Play Specialist environment. This module will directly draw upon your practice experiences through Work-Based Learning: subject to an agreed contract of learning. This contract will recognise, encourage, and embrace the true potential of your professional aspirations at this stage in your development.
Evidence-Based Practice In Healthcare
You will learn from this module skills in investigating therapeutic play and recreation in healthcare. This will include investigating the appropriateness of different activities and resources used in play and recreation. To enable this, you will develop study skills relating to Information gathering, locating sources of evidence, and critically evaluating evidence.
Play and Recreation for Healthcare
The module will provide you with a theoretical perspective on play and recreation. It will explore the historical development of play and recreation within hospitals and the valuable role of therapeutic play and recreation in healthcare settings. You will learn how therapeutic play can be used to help children understand their illness better and how you can help prepare them for treatment. You will also explore the right of the child to play for its own sake and how to provide an environment conducive to play.
Policy and Practice for Children and Young People
Students on this module will acquire theoretical knowledge of the relevant policy, guidelines, legislation and codes of conduct necessary for effective practice in the provision of therapeutic and recreational play as a healthcare play specialist.
The Developing Child
In this module you will get the opportunity to learn about the stages of child development with a focus on cognitive development, psycho-social and emotional theories, mental health, and the interaction between the environment and a child’s development.
Core modules
Healthcare Leadership and Management
In this module, you will learn about what leadership means in the HPS role, to prepare you for practice in the provision of therapeutic and recreational play. You will learn to think as a leader, integrating this with other aspects of your practice. Topics covered in the module will include, management theory and models, organisational structures and culture. Leadership styles and how to manage change. Effective communication and information management. How to facilitate decision making and problem solving.
Promoting Resilience
Through this module you will develop a theoretical understanding of the experience of healthcare for children and young people, the importance of resilience in healthcare settings and the factors that affect resilience. You will explore emotional wellbeing and how using play will enhance emotional wellbeing, emotional intelligence and providing emotional and psychosocial support.
The Child in Society
During this module you will explore key themes such as how children are socialised and how social influences impact upon them. You will consider how childhood has been constructed, how this has changed over time, and how it differs across cultures. We will also look at the extent to which children and young people are protected or allowed independence. How government interventions are targeted to address societal issues affecting children including poverty and deprivation as well as the provision of educational support will be investigated.
The Health of Children and Young People
This module will cover basic concepts of anatomy, physiology and common interventions used in the management of a variety of childhood and adolescent conditions. You will study the broader concepts of health and wellbeing and the importance of health promotion and adopting healthy lifestyles.
The Reflective Healthcare Practitioner
This module will draw directly upon your practice experiences through Work-Based Learning: and will be subject to a new, agreed contract of learning. This contract will extend opportunities for you to engage with the “macro” impact of your increasingly sophisticated professional role.
Any questions?
Contact international admissions
Email: Call:How you will learn and be assessed
You will learn through a combination of directed learning, collaborative learning and guided learning. You will also make use of the University's online learning platform Solent Online Learning (SOL).
You will be assessed by:
- Group presentations
- Individual presentations
- Essays
- Reports
- Case studies
- Portfolios
Solent’s curriculum framework builds on our unique, creative and applied approach to teaching. The transformation of students’ lives is at the heart of our mission as a university, and our curriculum – informed by the latest theory – reflects this shared educational vision.
Find out more
Study support
The student achievement team are on hand to help you succeed during your studies at Solent. They aim to contact you at key times during your time here with personalised information, advice and guidance, by email or phone.
The disability advice team provides information, advice and guidance for disabled students.
All students can access Succeed@Solent, Solent's online guide to getting better grades. It offers extensive, practical information and advice on topics such as academic writing, research and presentations.
Why choose a career as a health play specialist?
A foundation degree in healthcare play specialism is a requirement to become a health play specialist and leads to registration with the Healthcare Play Specialist Education Trust.
A career as a health play specialist is rewarding, offering the opportunity to make a meaningful difference to children and families during some of their most challenging moments. Health play specialists play a vital role in reducing anxiety, improving understanding, and supporting emotional wellbeing through therapeutic play - skills that are increasingly recognised and valued across modern healthcare settings
You could earn:
Health play specialist
Starting salary (NHS band 3): £20,330 to £21,777
Qualified health play specialists can earn between £22,549 and £24,282 (band 4), rising to between £25,655 and £31,534 for more senior roles (band 5). Team leads and professional leads can earn between £32,306 and £39,027 (band 6).
The stated salaries are published on prospects.ac.uk.
Solent Careers
The Solent Careers team is committed to getting students into great careers.
While you are studying, the team can help you with finding work experience or placements, link you with a mentor, check your CV, or offer one-to-one guidance.
We also have graduate job opportunities just for Solent graduates.
Top 25%
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Longitudinal Educational Outcomes, 2025
Certificate in Practical Artificial Intelligence
Every student at Solent University will also have the option to study an additional Certificate in Practical Artificial Intelligence qualification alongside their course. Free of charge, the course ensures you'll be prepared for a fantastic and varied career after graduation.
Tuition fees
The tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are not yet available. For guidance, the 2025/26 fees were:
- UK, ROI, EU (settled status) and Channel Island full-time fees: £6,550 per year
- International full-time fees: £17,750 per year
For further information, please visit our tuition fees page.
Extra course costs
While most course costs are covered by your tuition fees, some essential resources and optional extras may need to be paid for separately. These additional costs are listed below. For advice on budgeting and managing your money, please contact student.funding@solent.ac.uk.
The 2026/27 additional costs are not yet available. For guidance, previous additional costs have been:
Compulsory costs
- There is a compulsory professional body (HPSET) indexation fee of £100.
Bursaries, scholarships and financial support
Solent University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships that provide financial assistance or waive fees for tuition or accommodation. Each bursary or scholarship has specific eligibility criteria. Check out our bursaries and scholarships pages to find out more.
Cost of living support
At Solent, we understand that the cost of living crisis may be of some concern. To help, we've put together some detailed information to show what support is available and how to make your money go further.
Graduation costs
There is no charge to attend graduation, but you will be required to pay for the rental of your academic gown (approximately £45 per graduate, depending on your award). You may also wish to purchase official photography packages, which range in price from £15 to £200+. Graduation is not compulsory, so if you prefer to have your award sent to you, there is no cost. Extra guest tickets will go on sale after results publication and will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis. The cost per ticket is currently £20. Please note, we do not guarantee there will be any extra tickets available to purchase.
Any questions?
Contact international admissions
Email: Call:Entry requirements
Please select an option below:
Key entry requirements
Applicants will need to provide evidence of their ability to study at foundation degree level. A GCSE at grade C or above in English (or equivalent) are essential.
- Applicants must have a level 3 qualification in health, childcare, or education.
- Minimum of two years’ employment working with children, after gaining the Level 3 qualification.
- Good communication skills.
- Evidence of continuous professional development.
- Evidence of current or recent, regular, relevant employment in the sector.
- Identification of a registered play specialist who agrees to act as a work-based mentor.
- Commitment to negotiate and complete a 200-hour placement each year, if not already employed in a hospital.
Key entry requirements
As a general guide, we look for qualifications that are equivalent to the British high school A-levels.
If you are applying from outside the UK, find information about entry requirements, visas and agents for your country here.
For further information about EU qualifications, please see our course entry requirements document.
Key entry requirements
As a general guide, we look for qualifications that are equivalent to the British high school A-levels.
If you are applying from outside the UK, find information about entry requirements, visas and agents for your country here.
For further information about international qualifications, please see our course entry requirements document.
Note to all international students requiring a visa
All international applicants need to be aware that the English language requirements to attend Solent University, and the English language requirements to obtain a visa from the Home Office, may be different. This means that if you meet the Solent University language requirement to gain a place on the course, you may still have to meet additional requirements to be granted with a visa by the Home Office.
We strongly advise all applicants to visit the Home Office website which outlines all the requirements for a successful visa application.
How to apply
Applications for this course are made directly to the University and can be made at any time prior to the start of the course. If you have any questions about applying for this course, please contact the admissions office by emailing admissions@solent.ac.uk.
Language requirements
Applicants who do not have English as their first language will be required to demonstrate an approved level of proficiency in the use of the English language. The agreed minimum requirements for this course are:
- IELTS minimum 6.5 overall with no component score below 5.5.
- Duolingo English Language Test - 115 overall with minimum of 100 in each component, or equivalent.
TOEFL IBT tests taken prior to 21 January 2026
- Minimum overall score of 80 with a minimum of 20 in each individual component.
TOEFL IBT tests taken from 21 January 2026
- Minimum overall score of 4.5 with a minimum of 4 in each individual component.
Qualifications are checked before enrolment, and international students must bring their original certificates or certified copies when coming to study at the University.
Pre-Sessional English programme
The University also offers a pre-sessional English programme for international students who wish to improve their level of English before starting a degree course.
Any questions?
Contact international admissions
Email: Call:Make your application
- 2 years full-time
