Select your course options:
Summary:
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (B740)
Course Code: B740
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (B740)
Course Code: B740
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (B740)
Course Code: B740
Where Are You Applying From?
How Would You Like To Study?
When Do You Want To Start Your Studies?
Which Campus Would You Like To Study At?
Which Options Would You Like With Your Course?
Why choose the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Education
50% of your learning time is spent in practice, giving you hands-on experience of providing care across a range of healthcare settings.
98% of our Nursing graduates are in graduate-level employment – one of the highest rates in the country (Guardian, 2024).
92% of our health studies students were satisfied with how well the course developed knowledge and skills for the future (NSS, 2024).
About the course
A nurse needs to be able to assess care needs then plan, implement and evaluate care for people with a wide range of illnesses. This calls for excellent communication skills and compassion as well as specialist knowledge and nursing skills, all of which you acquire from this degree. It is designed to give you high levels of hands-on experience in hospital and community settings, with 50% of your time spent in practice settings.
Find out if you are eligible for a £5,000 NHS training grant to help with living costs.
Course accreditation
All our Nursing and Midwifery courses are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). On successful completion of your course, you can register with the NMC as an adult nurse.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Access to the latest medical/health equipment and facilities at regional hospitals and community health settings during placements
- Fully immersive simulation suites at both our Luton and Bedford campuses, preparing students to respond to and manage clinical situations and scenarios
- Simulation wards with a range of medical-grade training mannequins to tackle real-life scenarios in a safe and supported environment
- For students situated at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, we have a three-storey building with simulation ward; classrooms; library; social learning spaces; and computer study facilities
Industry links
To ensure your learning meets the benchmark set for care providers, our healthcare courses have been developed in collaboration with our regional healthcare providers and health authorities.
Student experience
We deliver predominantly face-to-face teaching so your tutors are on site to support you while you get to meet and exchange ideas with other healthcare students.
Adult Nursing, Mental Health Nursing and Midwifery students gain a wider range of expertise through general units taught by tutors from all three courses.
Our lecturers are all experienced registered nurses and have published widely in their field.
Our strong links with regional healthcare providers mean you can secure a practice placement in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire or East London.
Clinical specialists from our partnership trusts come to campus to support your learning so your studies are underpinned by the latest research and practice.
Our Aylesbury campus is situated at Stoke Mandeville Hospital so you can fully immerse yourself in the hospital environment.
On your placement, you undertake a mix of early, late and night shifts to ensure you experience typical shift patterns for a healthcare professional.
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
What will you study?
Studying our Adult Nursing BSc (Hons) course aims to provide you with specialist knowledge and skills in nursing and care. In doing so, we offer some introductory units such as an Introduction to Public Health where you will learn about the fundamentals of health and public health promotion. Based on published evidence and literature, you will explore current perspectives of health and the role of ethics in public health practice. You will then link this theory to practice in our Introduction to Nursing Interventions unit, where you will learn to be confident in performing a range of basic nursing procedures and interventions. This ties closely into our unit in Care Across the Lifespan in Adult Nursing, that aims to develop your awareness of adult nursing practice by providing direct holistic care to adults in practice learning environments. In other areas of practice, you will be taught the skills and knowledge around patient needs and planning care in our Assessment and Interventions in Adult Nursing Practice unit. Here, you will learn to assess adult patients while developing targeted plans for nursing interventions that will enable you to intervene appropriately and work collaboratively in clinical environments.
In pharmacological aspects of care, you will gain the knowledge and skills to safely administer medicines in our Law and Decision Making in Medicines Management unit. Following professional standards and legislation, you will account for safeguarding, consent, pharmacology and medicines administration. Combined with other components including life sciences, psychology and sociology present in our Understanding Health unit, you will examine the structure and functions of a healthy body and mind to better understand a range of people. These theories will also be particularly useful in our Planning, Delivering and Coordinating Care for Adults unit where you will develop a deep understanding of a diverse range of patients' needs to be able to cater to them efficiently by working closely with other professionals to plan, deliver and coordinate care in a variety of clinical settings. As a result, you will reflect and think critically about service delivery discussed in our Transforming Care unit while also proposing ideas for change.
In addition to administering care, our Supporting Learning unit will allow you to support people by teaching them the skills to self-manage their own condition just as registered nurses do. At the same time, this will equip you with the teaching and supervision skills to support learning in clinical environments for patients, carers and even other students in preparation for your role as practice supervisor. Another essential part of care is safety, and this is discussed in our Advocacy, Empowerment and Protection unit that will enhance your awareness of safeguarding as part of your responsibility as a nurse to protect people through advocacy, empowerment and care. At a more advanced stage, you will learn about Leading Complex Care in Adult Nursing to equip you with the skills for risk management within an adult nursing setting. This experience will give you the knowledge and skills for decision making, planning, intervention and evaluation of complex care needs.
Aside from this, you will discover the health needs of your local population in our Exploring Health and Primary Care Services in the Community unit that will support your learning in health service provision. More importantly, this will enable you to pursue your own topic of interest relevant to your field of practice for your own project. To aid with this, our unit in Exploring Evidence will provide you with the knowledge and skills to draw conclusions from healthcare research and use this evidence to inform the nursing practice and care you provide.
Multi-Professional Care For Adults
Adult nurses care for people with a great variety of health needs in a wide range of clinical environments. Adult nurses need to understand the journeys through healthcare that people experience and to be adaptable and flexible to meet needs but also to contribute to those journeys through effective practice with the wider multi-disciplinary team.
In this unit you will engage in working closely together with other professionals to plan, deliver and coordinate care for adults in a variety of settings with a focus on patient safety. You will examine how healthcare policies and legislation influence the delivery of care.
Exploring Evidence
Developing an understanding of the relationship between research, practice and policy underpins the development of nursing knowledge and underpins evidence-based practice. Judicial use of evidence underpins and informs all aspects of nursing practice and this unit explores the three main research paradigms, the construction of research design and the research process that forms the foundation of evidence.
This unit will support you in developing your ability to do this through equipping you with the knowledge and skills to appraise the evidence base underpinning nursing practice so that you can continue to provide contemporary nursing practice by drawing your own conclusions from healthcare research and thus informing the evidence-based care that you provide.
Leading Complex Care In Adult Nursing
This unit will enable you to understand the principles of leadership risk management and their application in leading complex care in adult nursing setting. The knowledge and skills acquired will enable you to reflect upon decision making, planning, intervention and evaluation of complex care needs in line with NMC competencies.
The unit will help you prepare for NMC registration and the incumbent responsibilities.
Supporting Learning
Registered nurses support people to be active participants in their own care by supporting them to learn skills to self- manage their condition. Nurses also support the learning of students from their own and other disciplines and that of support workers.
The aim of this unit is to enable you to develop teaching skills and the skills to supervise and support learning in clinical environments for patients, service users, their carers, students and other learners and begin to prepare you for your role as practice supervisor.
Advocacy, Empowerment And Protection
Safeguarding is the concern and responsibility of all healthcare staff and is underpinned by the findings from a significant number of historical failures in care. The aim of this unit is to enhance your awareness of the role of the nurse in safeguarding people through advocacy, empowerment and care.
Students from across each field of nursing practice will work in collaboration on aspects of the unit and have specific content to prepare them for their professional responsibilities as registrants within their chosen area of practice.
Law And Decision Making In Medicines Management
This unit aims to develop your knowledge and skills to be able to safely administer medicines in accordance with professional standards and legislation, make appropriate decisions in relation to medicines and educate others about the pharmacological aspects of care.
The unit addresses what you must know and do to fulfil the professional standards in relation to the law, safeguarding, consent, pharmacology and medicines administration and optimisation. This is in line with the NMC in Future nurse: Standards of proficiency for registered nurses (NMC, 2018). The content is designed to meet the needs of nurses in all fields of nursing practice. Therefore, some sessions are for all students and some will be delivered in field specific groups as identified in the syllabus.
Transforming Care
This unit will support you to develop the skills to think critically about service delivery and to develop and propose ideas for change.
Care Across The Lifespan In Adult Nursing
This unit is your introduction to adult nursing practice. Within this unit you will develop your awareness of the nurse in meeting the health needs of adults across the lifespan. You will engage directly with adult nursing in practice learning environments to enable your development of the skills
needed for the person-centred and holistic care of adults.
Introduction To Nursing Interventions
This explores the knowledge underpinning clinical skills in nursing. It provides you with the opportunity to develop your confidence in performing a range of basic nursing skills and interventions relevant to nursing care. This unit links theory to practice by considering physical health and psychological wellbeing to enable you to learn and use evidence-based, best practice approaches when undertaking nursing procedures.
Understanding Health
The concept of health underpins nursing and supports your developing understanding of people as individuals and groups from a range of perspectives. You will engage with life sciences, psychology and sociology in this unit to develop your understanding of the structure and function of the healthy body and mind. How these theories shape our understanding of health and influence the determinants of health in contemporary society will form the focus of this unit.
Academic Skills Development For Nursing
This unit will support your transition into Higher Education study and support your academic development as a student nurse. You engage with study skills, time management and planning skills and strategies that will enable you to become an independent learner and develop the academic skills to support your progress through the course. The nature of knowledge alongside an introduction to research and its place in developing and enhancing nursing knowledge and practice will prepare you for the development of research skills in subsequent years.
During the unit you will develop your numeracy, literacy and digital literacy skills. You will have an introduction to your chosen area of nursing practice through practice visits, in order to initiate your reflective skills. Underpinning these visits is an introduction to reflection and reflective writing.
Exploring Health And Primary Care Services In The Community
This unit aims to develop your understanding of health service provision in your locality and how this is shaped by policy and the health needs of the local population. It will enable you to pursue your own topic of interest relevant to your field of practice and will support you to develop the skills to plan, carry out and report your own project.
Assessment And Interventions In Adult Nursing Practice
Assessing needs and planning care is an essential component underpinning the work of the nurse in everyday practice. This unit aims to develop further your nursing skills by equipping you with the knowledge and skills to assess the adult patient and develop person centred plans for nursing interventions. A range of nursing interventions will be explored in order for you to equip you with the ability to intervene appropriately and work collaboratively.
Planning, Delivering And Coordinating Care For Adults
Adult nurses care for people with a great variety of health needs in a wide range of clinical environments. Adult nurses need to understand the journeys through healthcare that people experience and to be adaptable and flexible to meet needs but also to contribute to those journeys through effective practice with the wider multi-disciplinary team.
In this unit you will engage in working closely together with other professionals to plan, deliver and coordinate care for adults in a variety of settings.
Introduction To Public Health
This unit exists as a general introduction to public health. Fundamental to public health is the understanding of the various concepts of health that exist, together with the models and approaches and principles of public health/health promotion. In this unit you explore how health is viewed, what concepts this is based upon and what philosophies are supported. You are encouraged to view this from your own perspective and from published evidence and literature. You will also start to explore the role of ethics and ethical practice in public health.
How will you be assessed?
The assessment strategy for this course is closely aligned to the teaching and learning strategy which is designed to have: immediate professional relevance to ensure safe and effective practice; foster active learning be leaner-centred in approach and draw on expertise-by-experience. The choice of assessments is determined by their fitness for purpose i.e. to evidence achievement of unit learning outcomes at undergraduate level (Level 6). You will be assessed across a range of practice settings and learning environments throughout the course.
To enhance your understanding and experiences of assessment practices you will encounter a wide range of formative and summative assessment methods including those that enable you to undertake practice-focussed tasks that have the potential to influence care delivery. Many of the assessment tasks are designed so that you can tailor them to your professional interests experience and development needs. They are also designed so that you can rehearse ways of thinking and acting that are professionally relevant. Examples include: written assignments ranging from reflective pieces to case studies and academic essays as well as assessed practice within your placements. Assessments are also designed to support you integrating learning in theory and practice and in demonstrating that integration. You will be assessed in practice through the use of a Practice Assessment Document which outlines the skills and competencies required as a registered nurse.
These assessments are recorded and confirmed by a Practice Assessor alongside your own selfreflections on your progress. Service users and carers also contribute to your assessments. During each of your placement allocations you will have a nominated Practice Assessor in accordance with the NMC Part 2: Standards for student supervision and assessment (NMC 2018). They conduct assessment to confirm that you have achieved the NMC proficiencies and course outcomes for practice learning. You will also have a nominated Academic Assessor who is responsible for confirming your achievement of the NMC proficiencies and course outcomes in the academic environment for each part of the course. Together the Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor evaluate and recommend a student for progression for each part (year) of the course in line with course standards and local and national policies.
Careers
The course is vocational leading directly to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council under the new Standards which will allow you to start and quickly progress in your nursing career across a range of healthcare environments: community hospital and residential. It can also provide a route into specialised clinical practice management or education.
In adult nursing we offer postgraduate study at Master's and Doctoral level. The Master's includes the V300 Prescribing course and the Advanced Care Practitioner course.
Graduate Rachel Marlow says "I studied Adult Nursing at the University of Bedfordshire, I now work as a sister in the children's emergency department. Studying this course it really helped in my nursing career. I've got to get out on clinical placements and obviously learn the job.
We did a range of placements from hospital based, community based, which was really interesting. So you get to really understand and learn what kind of things you want to do and where you want to work.".
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points including 96 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 English
- Safeguarding checks, including an Enhanced DBS, and Occupational Health check are required
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points including 96 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 English
- Safeguarding checks, including an Enhanced DBS, and Occupational Health check are required
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points including 96 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 English
- Safeguarding checks, including an Enhanced DBS, and Occupational Health check are required
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points including 96 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 English
- Safeguarding checks, including an Enhanced DBS, and Occupational Health check are required
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs.
See www.gov.uk/student-finance
The University of Bedfordshire offers a number of scholarships and bursaries to help you finance your studies.
See www.beds.ac.uk/scholarships
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
Additional NHS funding
You will be eligible for additional support of at least £5,000 to help with living costs with funding from the NHS. The funding will be given to new and continuing degree-level students.
The funding comes as part of the government’s pledge to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 over the next five years.
You will receive at least £5,000 a year, with further funding available for eligible students:
- £1,000 for specialist disciplines
- £2,000 for childcare costs
- Exceptional Hardship Fund of up to £3,000.
The funding will not have to be repaid by recipients. You will also be able to continue to access funding for tuition and maintenance loans from the Student Loans Company.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,800 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs.
See www.gov.uk/student-finance
The University of Bedfordshire offers a number of scholarships and bursaries to help you finance your studies.
See www.beds.ac.uk/scholarships
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
Additional NHS funding
You will be eligible for additional support of at least £5,000 to help with living costs with funding from the NHS. The funding will be given to new and continuing degree-level students.
The funding comes as part of the government’s pledge to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 over the next five years.
You will receive at least £5,000 a year, with further funding available for eligible students:
- £1,000 for specialist disciplines
- £2,000 for childcare costs
- Exceptional Hardship Fund of up to £3,000.
The funding will not have to be repaid by recipients. You will also be able to continue to access funding for tuition and maintenance loans from the Student Loans Company.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,800 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs.
See www.gov.uk/student-finance
The University of Bedfordshire offers a number of scholarships and bursaries to help you finance your studies.
See www.beds.ac.uk/scholarships
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
Additional NHS funding
You will be eligible for additional support of at least £5,000 to help with living costs with funding from the NHS. The funding will be given to new and continuing degree-level students.
The funding comes as part of the government’s pledge to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 over the next five years.
You will receive at least £5,000 a year, with further funding available for eligible students:
- £1,000 for specialist disciplines
- £2,000 for childcare costs
- Exceptional Hardship Fund of up to £3,000.
The funding will not have to be repaid by recipients. You will also be able to continue to access funding for tuition and maintenance loans from the Student Loans Company.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,800 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs.
See www.gov.uk/student-finance
The University of Bedfordshire offers a number of scholarships and bursaries to help you finance your studies.
See www.beds.ac.uk/scholarships
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
Additional NHS funding
You will be eligible for additional support of at least £5,000 to help with living costs with funding from the NHS. The funding will be given to new and continuing degree-level students.
The funding comes as part of the government’s pledge to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 over the next five years.
You will receive at least £5,000 a year, with further funding available for eligible students:
- £1,000 for specialist disciplines
- £2,000 for childcare costs
- Exceptional Hardship Fund of up to £3,000.
The funding will not have to be repaid by recipients. You will also be able to continue to access funding for tuition and maintenance loans from the Student Loans Company.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,800 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Virtual Tour
