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100+ Free CCEA GCE HSC Practice Questions

Prepare for the CCEA GCE Health and Social Care (2016) Single and Double Award (Northern Ireland) exam with instant access — no signup required.

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Key Facts: CCEA GCE HSC Exam

A* to E

CCEA GCE Health and Social Care A level is graded A* to E

CCEA GCE grading

6 or 12 units

Single Award requires six units; Double Award requires twelve

CCEA GCE Health and Social Care (2016)

2 hours

Each external examination unit lasts 2 hours with three compulsory questions

CCEA specification assessment table

50% external

About one-third of units are external but carry 50% of award weighting

CCEA GCE Health and Social Care (2016)

AS 3 compulsory

Health and Well-Being is the compulsory AS external for Single and Double Award

CCEA specification

A2 3 pre-release

Providing Services exam materials are issued about eight weeks before the paper

CCEA external assessment guidance

Centre entry

Schools and registered centres pay CCEA entry fees

CCEA centre entry model

MCQ adaptation

This free bank is an English MCQ study aid, not the official exam format

OpenExamPrep

CCEA GCE Health and Social Care (2016, NI) is Single or Double Award AS/A2: six units (Single) or twelve (Double), external written 2-hour papers plus internal portfolios. External options include physiology (AS 7), human behaviour (A2 6) and nutrition (A2 7); A2 3 Providing Services is compulsory with pre-release. Graded A*–E. Centre-paid CCEA entry fees. This free 100-question bank is an English MCQ study adaptation only — practise real written papers and portfolios separately.

Sample CCEA GCE HSC Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your CCEA GCE HSC exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1In CCEA GCE Health and Social Care, which set correctly names the four main types of service-user need often summarised as PIES?
A.Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social
B.Personal, Institutional, Economic, Statutory
C.Practical, Informal, Educational, Safeguarding
D.Preventive, Integrated, Emergency, Specialist
Explanation: PIES is the standard framework used across this specification: physical, intellectual, emotional and social needs. Care workers and services are expected to assess and meet needs holistically using these categories.
2Which definition best matches a holistic view of health and well-being used in Health and Social Care?
A.Health is only the absence of diagnosed disease
B.Well-being is purely financial security
C.Health and well-being include physical, intellectual, emotional and social aspects of a person’s life
D.Well-being is determined solely by genetic inheritance
Explanation: A holistic view treats health and well-being as multi-dimensional, covering physical, intellectual, emotional and social aspects rather than disease absence alone. This underpins needs assessment and care planning in the specification.
3Which factor is best classified as a behavioural factor affecting health and well-being?
A.Air pollution near the home
B.Smoking tobacco
C.Living in rural versus urban housing
D.Inherited predisposition to diabetes
Explanation: Behavioural factors include lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcohol misuse, illegal drug use, diet and exercise. Smoking is a classic behavioural risk factor with clear physical and wider well-being impacts.
4Which health promotion approach focuses mainly on diagnosing, treating and curing disease through medical intervention?
A.Social change approach
B.Educational approach
C.Medical approach
D.Fear arousal approach
Explanation: The medical approach prioritises clinical diagnosis, treatment, screening and curing disease. Other approaches target social conditions, knowledge, behaviour change or emotion-based messaging.
5A campaign that bans smoking in enclosed public places to protect non-smokers is mainly an example of which health promotion approach?
A.Medical approach
B.Social change approach
C.Fear arousal approach
D.Behaviour change counselling only
Explanation: Legislation and environmental policy that reshape social norms and reduce exposure illustrate the social change approach. Smoke-free laws alter the environment rather than treating individuals clinically.
6Which statement best describes the educational approach to health promotion?
A.It relies only on frightening images to force behaviour change
B.It provides information and skills so people can make informed health choices
C.It replaces all individual responsibility with state treatment of disease
D.It ignores literacy and accessibility needs of service users
Explanation: Educational approaches aim to increase knowledge and skills (for example about diet, contraception or first aid) so people can make informed choices. Effectiveness depends on clarity, accessibility and whether knowledge converts into action.
7How can discrimination most directly harm a service user’s health and well-being in a care setting?
A.By increasing choice, dignity and access to appropriate support
B.By treating the person less favourably so needs are overlooked and trust in services falls
C.By guaranteeing equal access under all policies automatically
D.By improving partnership working between agencies
Explanation: Discrimination means unfair or less favourable treatment linked to characteristics such as age, disability, race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. In care settings it can delay access, dismiss needs, damage self-esteem and reduce willingness to seek help.
8Which example best illustrates anti-discriminatory practice in an early years setting?
A.Assuming all families share the same cultural practices
B.Providing resources and activities that reflect children’s diverse languages and cultures
C.Ignoring a child’s additional needs to treat everyone 'the same'
D.Excluding a child from outdoor play because of a physical disability without adaptation
Explanation: Anti-discriminatory practice actively promotes equality, diversity and inclusion. Reflecting diverse languages and cultures supports identity, belonging and equal opportunity to learn and play.
9Which set best groups socio-economic factors that can affect health and well-being?
A.Reflex arcs, hormones and enzymes
B.Income, employment, education and housing quality
C.Myelin sheath, thalamus and cerebellum
D.Cross-contamination, core temperature and HACCP only
Explanation: Socio-economic factors include income/poverty, employment or unemployment, education, social class and housing. They shape access to resources, stress levels and health opportunities across the life course.
10Geographical location and occupational hazards are best classified as which type of factor affecting health?
A.Behavioural factors only
B.Purely genetic factors
C.Environmental factors
D.Health promotion approaches
Explanation: Environmental factors include geographical location, pollution and occupational hazards. They affect physical health (for example respiratory disease) and can also influence social and psychological well-being.

About the CCEA GCE HSC Exam

CCEA GCE Health and Social Care (2016) is the Northern Ireland applied GCE (AS and A level) available as Single Award or Double Award. Students study values of care, communication, health and well-being, safeguarding, physiology, service provision, public health, family support, psychological perspectives on behaviour, and human nutrition. External units (AS 3 Health and Well-Being; optional AS 5 Adult Service Users and AS 7 Understanding the Physiology of Health and Illness; A2 3 Providing Services with pre-release; optional A2 6 Understanding Human Behaviour and A2 7 Human Nutrition and Health) are 2-hour written papers. Internal units produce portfolios and reports on quality care, communication, safeguarding, holistic therapies, applied research, body systems, public health and supporting the family. Grades run A*–E at A level. This 100-question bank is a free English-language MCQ study adaptation for revision; it does not replace timed written-paper practice, pre-release preparation or centre-assessed portfolios.

Assessment

Fourteen units available across AS and A2. Single Award: three AS units (AS 1 Promoting Quality Care, AS 2 Communication, AS 3 Health and Well-Being — all compulsory) plus three A2 units including compulsory A2 3 Providing Services and two options from the remaining A2 units. Double Award: twelve units including ten compulsory units plus one optional AS external (AS 5 or AS 7) and one optional A2 external (A2 6 or A2 7). External assessments (about one-third of units) carry 50% of the award weighting; all external papers are 2 hours. A2 3 uses pre-release materials issued about eight weeks before the exam.

Time Limit

Each external examination unit: 2 hours. Internal assessment completed under centre-controlled conditions during the course. Full Single Award A level typically spans two post-16 years; Double Award has double the unit load.

Passing Score

No single pass mark. Graded A*–E at A level and a–e at AS. Raw mark boundaries are set independently each examination series; do not invent fixed unit grade boundaries.

Exam Fee

No fee is paid directly by students. Entry fees for CCEA GCE Health and Social Care units are paid by schools and registered centres; private candidates are charged by the centre that enters them. (CCEA (Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment), Northern Ireland)

CCEA GCE HSC Exam Content Outline

Compulsory external

Health and Well-Being (AS 3)

Define health and well-being; physical, intellectual, emotional and social (PIES) needs; impact of health and ill health; socio-economic, environmental and behavioural factors; health promotion approaches (medical, social change, educational, behaviour change, fear arousal); roles of organisations; discrimination and anti-discriminatory practice.

Optional external

Physiology of Health and Illness (AS 7)

Animal cell structure and tissues; nervous, endocrine, digestive and urinary systems and homeostasis; selected disorders of these systems; impact of living with disorders on work, income, leisure, diet, education and relationships.

Optional external

Understanding Human Behaviour (A2 6)

Psychological perspectives (for example behaviourist, cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic, social learning, biological) applied to depression, aggression, stress, eating disorders and phobias; associated therapies (for example CBT, REBT, systematic desensitisation, modelling); socio-economic influences including gender, housing, poverty, family, media, employment, ethnicity and education.

Optional external

Human Nutrition and Health (A2 7)

Functions of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals; balanced diet and current UK dietary guidance (including salt, folic acid and alcohol advice); diet-related disease; factors influencing dietary intake; hygienic food preparation and handling in care settings.

Compulsory external

Providing Services (A2 3)

How services developed, are structured, regulated and funded; policy, legislation and demography; practitioners and partnership working; meeting needs of children and families, older people, and people with physical disabilities/illnesses, learning disabilities or mental illnesses (pre-release based exam).

Internal assessment

Applied Internal Units

AS 1 Promoting Quality Care (values, legislation, policies, poor practice); AS 2 Communication skills and interactions; AS 4 Safeguarding children; AS 6 Holistic therapies; A2 1 Applied research; A2 2 Body systems and physiological disorders; A2 4 Public health and health promotion; A2 5 Supporting the family.

How to Pass the CCEA GCE HSC Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: No single pass mark. Graded A*–E at A level and a–e at AS. Raw mark boundaries are set independently each examination series; do not invent fixed unit grade boundaries.
  • Assessment: Fourteen units available across AS and A2. Single Award: three AS units (AS 1 Promoting Quality Care, AS 2 Communication, AS 3 Health and Well-Being — all compulsory) plus three A2 units including compulsory A2 3 Providing Services and two options from the remaining A2 units. Double Award: twelve units including ten compulsory units plus one optional AS external (AS 5 or AS 7) and one optional A2 external (A2 6 or A2 7). External assessments (about one-third of units) carry 50% of the award weighting; all external papers are 2 hours. A2 3 uses pre-release materials issued about eight weeks before the exam.
  • Time limit: Each external examination unit: 2 hours. Internal assessment completed under centre-controlled conditions during the course. Full Single Award A level typically spans two post-16 years; Double Award has double the unit load.
  • Exam fee: No fee is paid directly by students. Entry fees for CCEA GCE Health and Social Care units are paid by schools and registered centres; private candidates are charged by the centre that enters them.

Keys to Passing

  • Complete 500+ practice questions
  • Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
  • Focus on highest-weighted sections
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

CCEA GCE HSC Study Tips from Top Performers

1For every external unit, practise writing under timed conditions: three compulsory questions in 2 hours with quality of written communication marks in extended responses.
2Learn PIES needs, health promotion approaches and anti-discriminatory practice thoroughly for AS 3 — it is compulsory and heavily weighted at AS.
3For AS 7 physiology, link structure and function of cells and systems to named disorders and real-life impacts on work, income, leisure, diet, education and relationships.
4For A2 6, map each psychological perspective to explanations and treatments of depression, aggression, stress, eating disorders and phobias, then apply socio-economic factors to case studies.
5For A2 7, memorise nutrient functions, UK dietary guidance (salt ~6 g/day, folic acid in pregnancy planning, alcohol unit advice) and food hygiene principles for care settings.
6For A2 3, study the pre-release thoroughly for eight weeks: service user group needs, statutory/voluntary/private provision, RQIA regulation, funding and multi-agency partnership.
7Internal units need authentic evidence from settings while protecting confidentiality; follow centre word counts and Harvard referencing guidance from CCEA student materials.
8Do not rely on MCQs alone — official success depends on extended writing, evaluation and portfolio evidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the structure of CCEA GCE Health and Social Care?

It is available as AS and full A level, Single Award (six units) or Double Award (twelve units). About one-third of units are external written exams (50% weighting overall); the rest are internal portfolios/reports. All external papers last 2 hours with three compulsory questions.

Which units are compulsory for Single Award?

At AS: AS 1 Promoting Quality Care, AS 2 Communication, and AS 3 Health and Well-Being. At A2: A2 3 Providing Services is compulsory, plus two optional A2 units from the remaining A2 options offered by the centre.

What are the physiology, behaviour and nutrition external units?

AS 7 Understanding the Physiology of Health and Illness, A2 6 Understanding Human Behaviour, and A2 7 Human Nutrition and Health are optional external 2-hour written papers. Double Award students take one of AS 5 or AS 7 and one of A2 6 or A2 7 among their twelve units.

How does A2 3 Providing Services work?

It is a compulsory external 2-hour written examination based on pre-release materials that CCEA makes available to centres about eight weeks before the exam. Students answer three compulsory questions applying knowledge of service structure, regulation, funding, policy and partnership working.

How is the qualification graded?

A level grades run A* to E; AS grades run a to e. Raw mark boundaries are set each series; there is no single published pass percentage for the subject.

Who pays the exam fees?

Schools and registered centres pay CCEA entry fees. Students do not normally pay CCEA directly; private candidates are charged by the centre that enters them.

Are these official CCEA questions?

No. These are original OpenExamPrep English-language MCQ study adaptation questions for knowledge and applied judgment revision. Official assessment uses written short and extended responses plus internal portfolios. Use CCEA past papers, specimen materials and centre internal tasks separately.