Midwifery
This degree prepares you for a lifelong career, linking theory with hands-on experience. Learn vital skills in health promotion, public health, law, and ethics, alongside clinical placements in local health boards, providing holistic, woman-centred care throughout pregnancy, birth, and beyond.
Applications for September 2026 are now closed.
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UCAS Code
B720
Start Date
September 2026
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
120
Fees
Home students: £9,790*
UCAS Code
B720
Start Date
September 2027
Location
Pontypridd
Campus Code
A
UCAS Points
120
Course Overview
Prepare for a rewarding midwifery career with practical midwifery skills from year one. Experience clinical placements, apply theoretical knowledge, and provide holistic, woman-centred care.
Approved by
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Approved by The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Why study this course?
What you'll study
In Year One, you'll learn basic midwifery skills and foundational care practices, focusing on health promotion, life sciences, and professionalism.
You'll also build communication skills and confidence in clinical settings.
Explore health promotion, prevention, and protection, and understand the midwife's role from local to global perspectives.
Learn about professionalism in midwifery, focusing on effective communication and interpersonal skills.
Build an understanding of essential care aspects in normal midwifery to support your practical skills.
Study anatomy, physiology, and other factors critical to midwifery practice, including psychological and cognitive aspects.
Prepare for practice-based learning, focusing on safe and effective clinical skills.
In Year Two, you'll tackle more complex midwifery tasks, like managing emergencies, understanding professional and legal issues, and examining newborns.
You'll deepen your evidence-based knowledge to make informed decisions in practice.
Develop skills to identify, assess, and manage emergencies and complications in midwifery and neonatal care.
Learn to evaluate and apply knowledge on professional, legal, and ethical issues in midwifery practice.
Evaluate and apply research and audit findings to improve midwifery care based on evidence.
Gain skills to conduct thorough health and physical assessments of newborns.
Enhance your skills and confidence to manage deviations in midwifery and neonatal care effectively.
In your final year, you'll focus on compassionate leadership, change management, and holistic care.
These advanced skills will enhance your autonomy as a practitioner and prepare you for midwifery registration.
Critically evaluate and lead midwifery services, initiating and managing change to enhance practice and drive service improvements.
Develop skills to assess and deliver inclusive care, addressing the bio-psycho-social and spiritual needs of childbearing individuals.
Gain knowledge to assess and manage physical and psychological conditions during childbirth, working with multidisciplinary teams for optimal care.
Learn to manage acute health deteriorations in childbearing individuals, enhancing your skills for effective team-based care.
Combine your knowledge and skills to confidently practise as an independent midwife throughout the childbirth continuum.
We regularly review our courses to keep pace with changing skills and employer needs. If a review leads to significant changes, we’ll contact you to explain what’s changing for the coming year.
Teaching and Assessment
This is a practice-focused course that combines academic study with extensive hands-on clinical experience. You will learn through study days, block teaching weeks, simulation-based learning, placements, and independent study, with an equal balance of theory and practice throughout the programme.
Your Midwifery training combines study days, block teaching weeks, and private study, using a blended learning approach with both synchronous and asynchronous elements. Theory and practice are evenly split, with assessments in both areas for each module.
You'll be evaluated through various methods in clinical and academic settings, developing essential midwifery skills. You'll complete an electronic portfolio annually, along with written assessments, presentations, and a practice improvement project.
You will be assessed academically through various authentic means such as practical exams, presentations, essay writing and poster and resource design. Assessments have been designed to ensure the skills and knowledge you use to complete them will enhance your midwifery practice.
Within the practice learning environment, you will be periodically assessed by your practice supervisors and assessors to ensure you are meeting the required NMC standards.
As part of your midwifery training, you’ll undertake clinical placements across several local health boards, each lasting multiple weeks. These placements may involve extended travel and shifts that include late nights, early mornings and weekends.
You will be fully supported and supervised by registered practitioners and the wider multi-professional team, providing care for childbearing individuals in diverse settings.
In your third year, you’ll also get to take a negotiated placement, either within the UK or abroad, to further develop your experience.
Our state-of-the-art Clinical Simulation Centre replicates an NHS environment, providing high-fidelity clinical facilities for midwifery students.
You’ll work with advanced birthing and maternal simulators to experience various stages of pregnancy, from spontaneous vaginal births to operative procedures. The simulation suite even mimics real life home, community and hospital settings, enhancing your practical skills in a safe, controlled setting. We also use real actors for role play, giving you insight into the patient’s perspective.
This immersive experience helps build confidence before you enter real-world placements.
Course Leaders
Marianne Paterson
Marie is an NMC-registered Midwife and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). She is passionate about supporting students to achieve their goal of becoming confident and competent midwives, not only at the point of registration but throughout their professional careers.
Sarah Aubrey
Sarah is a registered midwife with over 20 years of midwifery experience and is the Lead Midwife for Education. Sarah's role is to ensure high standards in midwifery education whilst leading, developing and contributing to delivering the midwifery programme.
"Every shift reminds me why i love Midwifery – it's the most rewarding job you could possibly have."
Fiona Lewkowicz, Midwifery student
Entry Requirements
- All applicants are required to attend an interview. For further support on preparing for interview and what to expect at interview, please read our application advice.
- One satisfactory reference from someone who is able to comment on your attitude and approach to learning in a professional or academic sense.
- An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on the Child & Adult Workforce and Child & Adult Barring List and subscription to the DBS Update Service is required. (Overseas equivalent required for non-uk applicants).
- A satisfactory medical will be required once an offer has been made. We will contact you closer to your start date with details of how to obtain these.
- The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
- Equivalent qualifications considered are Essential Skills Level Two in Communication and Application of Number, or Functional Skills Level Two in English and Mathematics. (Must have been achieved since 2016)
Application advice:
We strongly advise applicants to take advantage of the advice available online, from demonstrating you have the relevant qualifications or experience, tips on writing your personal statement to advice on preparing for interview, we have a wealth of support and guidance available to applicants to ensure you are able to demonstrate that you have what it takes and make your application the best it can be. Please read our application advice.
How to applyContextual admissions policyAsk us a question120 UCAS points or above
Typical qualification requirements
A Level:
BBB to exclude General Studies
Welsh BACC:
Grade B and BB at A Level to exclude General Studies
BTEC:
BTEC Extended Diploma Distinction Distinction Merit
Access to HE:
Must complete 60 credits overall with at least 45 at level 3 and 15 at Level 2. Of the 45 credits at level 3, you will need a minimum of 24 Distinctions, 18 Merits and 3 passes
T Level:
M
Closed for International applicants:
Unfortunately, this course is not currently open to international applicants, please visit our course pages where you can find an alternative course choice.
CoursesContextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.
USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.
Fees and Funding
per year
Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).
*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.
Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy. We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
Clinical Placement*
50% of the course takes place on placement. During placement, students may incur costs associated with travel. Travel expenses are available for distances greater than that from home to University. Uniforms are provided, however additional attire such as appropriate shoes that comply with NHS Wales Uniform Policy are expected.
Cost: £30
DBS*
Students will be expected to pay for a DBS or certificate of good behaviour from their home country. The DBS fee includes £49.50 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee and the online administration fee.
Cost: £64.74
Textbooks
There is a wide variety of physical and e-books available via the library. Students may choose to purchase some textbooks.
Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).
*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.
Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy. We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
Clinical Placement*
50% of the course takes place on placement. During placement, students may incur costs associated with travel. Travel expenses are available for distances greater than that from home to University. Uniforms are provided, however additional attire such as appropriate shoes that comply with NHS Wales Uniform Policy are expected.
Cost: £30
DBS*
Students will be expected to pay for a DBS or certificate of good behaviour from their home country. The DBS fee includes £49.50 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee and the online administration fee.
Cost: £64.74
Textbooks
There is a wide variety of physical and e-books available via the library. Students may choose to purchase some textbooks.
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Explore our facilities
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How to apply
All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS
You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time).
If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.
Applicants accepted through advanced entry may study a different combination of modules to those advertised, as they will be joining a course already in progress. You will be contacted and advised about these modules once your application has been processed and an offer made.
International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
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