T Level Health: Person-Centred Care and Communication

This material covers person-centred care, one of the largest areas of the core knowledge in the T Level in Health. In the specification used for students starting from September 2026, it belongs to the paper on working in the health sector, one of the two written exams that, with an employer-set project, make up the core assessment. It builds on the consent, confidentiality and boundaries covered elsewhere in this category and turns to the values, ethics and skills behind everyday care.

You start with the NHS values and the 6 Cs of care, identifying which value a worker is showing in a situation, and with the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice, including how two of them can pull in different directions. You work with the duty of candour when something goes wrong and with declaring a conflict of interest. Holistic care is covered through treating the person rather than the condition, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, promoting independence and self-care, and the social model of disability.

The communication questions cover verbal and non-verbal communication, Makaton, British Sign Language and hearing loops, and the barriers found in real settings: noise, jargon, sensory loss, time pressure and poor positioning, with ways to reduce each. You then apply person-centred care to nutrition and hydration, from adapted equipment to cultural and religious food needs, and to recognising pain in people who cannot describe it. The last part covers end-of-life care: palliative care, end-of-life care and hospices, the Kubler-Ross stages of grief, and supporting a family after a death.

Most quiz questions are short scenarios in invented surgeries, hospitals, care homes and hospices, each with one best response. The flashcards hold the key terms. The written work has eight longer tasks, such as planning nutrition support for an older resident or explaining how two ethical principles can conflict, marked against key points. The exam is a conversation with an examiner who describes a care situation, asks what you would do and why, and gives brief feedback at the end.

The questions are original practice material and do not predict what a particular exam will ask.

• Apply the NHS values, the 6 Cs and person-centred principles to care situations
• Explain autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice, the duty of candour and conflicts of interest
• Promote independence using holistic approaches and the social model of disability
• Identify barriers to communication and choose ways of reducing them
• Support nutrition, recognise pain in people who cannot report it, and support people at the end of life and their families

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the core content of the Pearson T Level Technical Qualification in Health specification (Version 1.2, July 2026, for students starting from September 2026), content area 5 (Providing person-centred care), sections 5.1 to 5.14. Not endorsed by Pearson or the Department for Education.