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BSc (Hons)

Nursing (Learning Disabilities): Flexible Learning

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

How to apply Apply Through UCAS Book an Open Day Chat to Us

Key Course Details

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £785*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

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.

DESIGNED FOR

Healthcare Support Workers who are looking for an exciting avenue of career progression.

Accredited by

  • Nursing and Midwifery Council

Skills taught

  • Informed Decision Making
  • Confidence in Practice
  • Leading and Managing Quality Care

We make a difference in practice, not just on paper. Our courses are designed by people who offer jobs - and taught by people who have real work experience.

Patient and nurse sat together chatting in a home setting
A patient in a wheelchair looking at a tablet screen with the help of a carer
A student nurse smiles while chatting and showing papers to a patient with learning disabilities
Two student nurses looking at medical notes in the clinical simulation centre

Course Highlights

Placement opportunities

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.

Outstanding 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.

Accredited learning

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.

Overview

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.

Year One
The Essentials of Nursing Practice 
Promoting Health and Preventing ill Health
Assessing Needs and Creating Therapeutic Opportunities
Developing Confidence in Practice 

Year Two
Enhancing Assessment & Evidence-based Interventions 
Professional Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing

Year Three
Evidence Based Practice: Evaluating Care within the Context of Practice
Informed Decision-Making in Practice
Advancing Knowledge, Skills & Therapeutic Interventions  

Year Four
Leading and Managing Quality Care across Settings
The Nurse as an Educator
Becoming a Proficient Practitioner 

 

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

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.

Teaching staff

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.

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.

Placements

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

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.

Careers and Employability

Possible career paths

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.

 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

UCAS Points: 120 (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 120 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.

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.

Additional requirements include:

  • All applicants are required to attend an interview. 
  • 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)

International applications welcomed:

International applications welcomed through an approved agent for our April intakes only from green list countries only. 

For our agent contacts, please check our country pages. 

Please Note: Applications will open for our April 2025 intake on the 19th August 2024 and close on 30th August. Any applications received before/after this date will not be considered. 

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.5 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

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.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch and we'd to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Part-time Fee

£785

per 20 credits*

Further Information

Studying at University is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. You may be eligible for loans, grants or bursaries to help towards your tuition fees and living costs.

*Important: 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.

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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. 

*Obligatory

An enhanced DBS is required. The update service is recommended.

Cost: £64.74 annually for enhanced DBS and £16 for the update service.

University Quality Assurance

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.

Life at USW

Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.

A student sat smiling and talking to friends off camera in Treforest Student's Union
Student Life
Close up shot of the front of the Alfred Russell wallace building.
Pontypridd Campus, Glyntaff
A double room at our Pontypridd accommodation featuring a large window.
Accommodation

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.)

Advanced entry

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.

International admissions

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.
 

Next Steps

How to apply
Apply Through UCAS
Book an Open Day
Chat to Us