BSc (Hons) Nursing (Flexible Learning)

The flexible part-time nursing course gives experienced healthcare support workers (HCSWs) an opportunity to become a Registered Nurse whilst still working and earning.

The course has been designed to provide an exciting career progression opportunity for HCSWs who are working for one of our affiliated health care providers. Accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, this course enables eligible candidates to work towards Registered Nurse status, gain a degree qualification in one of four specialist fields of nursing, whilst continuing their contracted hours in employment as a healthcare support worker.

The four fields of nursing available to study flexibly include Adult Nursing, Child Nursing, Learning Disability Nursing and Mental Health Nursing. Candidates are ask to select their preferred field of study upon application.

Please note: Details on whether your employment is eligible for this programme can be obtained from the course team, via your employer or through attending an Open Day.

2024

UCAS Code	Study Mode 2024	Duration	Start Date	Campus	Campus Code
N/A	Part-time	4 Years	September	Glyntaff	A

Year One: Part-Time Nursing Degree

The essentials of nursing practice
Promoting health and preventing ill health
Assessing needs and creating therapeutic opportunities
Developing confidence in practice

Year Two: Part-Time Nursing Degree

Enhancing assessment & evidence-based interventions
Professional Legal and Ethical issues in nursing

Year Three: Part-Time Nursing Degree

Evidence based practice: evaluating care within the context of practice
Informed decision making in practice
Advancing knowledge, skills & therapeutic interventions

Year Four: Part-Time Nursing Degree

Leading and managing quality care across settings
The nurse as an educator
Becoming a proficient practitioner

Support

Nursing students enjoy exceptional student support at USW. Our open door policy ensures that there is always someone on hand to assist you when a problem arises and this is something our students really appreciate.

The course team also liases closely with the affiliated health care providers, where a designated person in your sponsoring organisation is available to provide additional support to students

Teaching

You will study the same modules as our full-time nursing students, but delivery is stretched out over four years rather than the conventional three.

Students remain in employment at one of our affiliated health care providers and as part of their work contract study for an average of 23 hours a week as a student nurse.

Studies involve a 50:50 ratio of clinical placements and theory time. Much of this involves eLearning but students do attend occasional mandatory study days, 15 in the first year and then 10 for each successive year. As part of this students will be exposed to simulated clinical learning in our state-of-the-art simulation centre.

Before applying for this nursing course, we strongly recommend you attend one of our Open Days where you can speak to the course team.

Accreditations

The University of South Wales is an NMC Approved Education Institution (AEI).

Graduates from nursing degree can apply to join the NMC professional register and start to practise in the UK.

Placements

Supervised placements are an integral part of the part-time nursing degree. These are in our partner health boards, as well as in the community and independent sector.

You will have practice opportunities across a wide range of healthcare settings that include community, hospital, palliative care, nursing homes and GP surgeries, developing key skills that will enhance your employability.

When you are working with your mentor in clinical practice, you have to work the shift patterns of the clinical area to which you are allocated.

Facilities

As part of your part-time nursing degree, you will learn in our impressive health facilities. Our Clinical Simulation Centre replicates clinical environments for education and training.

These include two, four-bedded bays to simulate a hospital setting, dedicated paediatric and maternity facilities, including a special care baby unit, an intensive care environment and an emergency department with a fully equipped ambulance simulator. There is also a two-bedroom flat to simulate providing healthcare in a home environment.

The Centre is used for healthcare education and nurse training, dealing with everything from essential clinical skills to complex, multidisciplinary clinical scenarios. You’ll use the same equipment you will find in healthcare settings, and work on patient simulators that mimic the body’s reactions to illness, care and treatment.

Lecturers

Our nursing lecturers have a wide variety of clinical expertise in both hospital-based and community-based care, including medicine, surgery, pain control, cardiac care, trauma care, critical care and infection control as well as practice nursing, community district nursing, caring for the older person, palliative care nursing and cancer care.

We regularly revalidate courses for quality assurance and enhancement

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

The entry criteria below reflect our standard entry requirements for the course. However, all applications received by the University are reviewed holistically and individually.

Contextual 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. Here is a link to our Contextual Admissions Policy.

Other qualifications and experience

We can also consider combinations of qualifications and other qualifications not listed here may also be acceptable. We can sometimes consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or advanced entry to year two or three of a course where this is possible.

To find out which qualifications have tariff points, please refer to the UCAS tariff calculator.

If you need more help or information or would like to speak to our friendly admissions team, please contact us here

Additional requirements include:

Applicants must be employed as a healthcare support worker and have the support of their employer to undertake this course. Their employer may wish to screen applicants before supporting them.
Two satisfactory references.
A satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check for the Child & Adult Workforce and Child and Adult Barring Lists and subscription to the update service. (no offences are considered spent)
A satisfactory medical.
Applicants will need to complete a personal statement. Please read our nursing personal statement tips for help and advice. ·
Applicants are required to attend an interview. You will have to demonstrate awareness of the role of nurses in your chosen field and show your commitment to the part-time degree.

Please read this information for nursing applicants web page for further guidance on how you can meet the entry criteria and advice on the application, interview and decision making process.

If you have any questions about your eligibility for the part time nursing course, please feel free to contact Dr Gareth Parsons, Course Leader, for an informal discussion.

Typical A-Level Offer

BBB to exclude General Studies

Typical Welsh BACC Offer

Grade B and BB at A Level to exclude General Studies

Typical BTEC Offer

BTEC Extended Diploma Distinction Distinction Merit

Typical Access to HE Offer

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.

Additional Requirements

GCSEs: 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 Maths. (Must have be achieved since 2016)

Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee will remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course.

August 2024 - July 2025 Fees

Part-time UK: TBC

Student Perks

At the University of South Wales, you’re investing in so much more than a degree. We strive to provide our students with the best possible experience, no matter what you chose to study. Whether it’s access to top of the range mac books and PCs, state-of-the-art facilities packed with industry-leading equipment and software, masterclasses and events led by industry experts, or a wide range of clubs and societies to meet likeminded people, better tomorrows start with extra perks.

Each course also has their own unique student benefits to prepare you for the real word, and details of these can be found on our course pages. From global field trips, integrated work experience and free course-related resources, to funded initiatives, projects working with real employers, and opportunities for extra qualifications and accreditations - at USW your future, is future-proofed.

Click here to learn more about student perks at USW.

Additional Costs

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.

Funding

Funding to help pay for (or cover) course tuition fees and living costs

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).

To learn about course fees, funding options, and to see if you are eligible for financial support, visit our Fees and Funding pages.

Apply directly to the University for this course.

Apply now

Admissions statement

Career options

Our nursing degrees prepare you for the challenges of modern healthcare through the right mix of knowledge, skills and experience. The theory you learn in the classroom is reinforced by practical learning on campus and work-based learning. Employers are keen to recruit our nursing graduates because they know they are well-prepared, confident, competent and safe practitioners.

Depending on experience and training, graduates of nursing degrees can reach the highest levels of the NHS. Once qualified, students will be employed as Registered Nurses by their sponsoring health care provider.

Our Careers and Employability Service

As a USW student, you will have access to advice from the Careers and Employability Service throughout your studies and after you graduate.

This includes: one-to-one appointments from faculty based Career Advisers, in person, over the phone or even on Skype and through email via the "Ask a Question" service. We also have extensive online resources for help with considering your career options and presenting yourself well to employers. Resources include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, interview simulator and application help. Our employer database has over 2,000 registered employers targeting USW students, you can receive weekly email alerts for jobs.

Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find relevant placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.