Nursing Associate FdSc

This course is in clearing

Overview

Course options

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Degree

UCAS code: B700 48 UCAS points
  • FdSc Nursing Associate, home applicant, full time

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 2 years
    • Pound 9250 per year

What makes this course different

Highly rated by our students

95 per cent of nursing associate students responded positively when asked about teaching, exceeding the sector average by over 5 per cent. - NSS 2024

Ready for the working world

Get ready to work in a clinical environment with our AR and VR equipment, Oxford medical simulation facilities, on-campus intensive care room, maternity ward, birthing suite and OT room.

Work-life balance

You’ll only be on campus one to two days per week to ensure you can accommodate your personal schedule, whether that be child-care or a part time job.

Course modules

Download course specification

Your future career

Nursing associates monitor and deliver planned care. They work with nurses and a multidisciplinary team. Nursing associate jobs are still relatively new so it is an exciting time to learn to become a registered nursing associate. As the role continues to evolve, you will be ready as more career pathways emerge. The nursing associate role is professional in its own right, however, it can be a stepping stone to the registered nurse course in the future.

Industry links

Central to the nursing associate course are placement experiences with local healthcare providers who work collaboratively with the University in the delivery of the nursing associate course. Through our placement links, we have close connections with a range of NHS and independent nursing associate job providers. These include Barts Health NHS Trust, Barking Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals Trust, Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, and East London NHS Foundation Trust.

Graduate employers

We have close links with our healthcare partners. This ensures employment in the future for learners who successfully complete their courses and are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. 

Many of our graduates secure nursing associate jobs within the trusts that have supported them during their course. Upon completion, our graduates work in acute hospitals, community services, nursing homes, care homes, and the private and independent sectors.

Job roles

As a trainee nursing associate, you’ll usually be paid on band 3 of the Agenda for Change (AFC) pay system, with qualified nursing associates usually employed on band 4.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

Further study

Some nursing associate graduates choose to study on our BSc Nursing (Adult) course. Some Nursing Associates can enter the second year of the course to make it shorter.

Patricia Smith, Senior Lecturer in Professional Health Science
I am always inspired as an educator when students have that light bulb moment and say “ Ahh, now I get it, now I understand!”. It motivates me to continue the work of helping students achieve their academic and career goals."
Dr Patricia Smith

Senior lecturer in Allied and Public Health

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated career support, and further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting-edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

This digital platform provides you with careers and employability resources, including: 

  • Jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work 
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts 
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services 
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you've mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

Our Mental Wealth programme

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top:

  • Work-based projects
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations
  • Support in starting a new business
  • London on our doorstep

How you'll learn

When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, specialist facilities, such as game labs, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.

Guided independent study

Our innovative Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) approach enhances face-to-face learning by providing students with scheduled on-campus contact hours and additional learning opportunities. Through our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), students can access course materials and resources beyond their scheduled hours. We offer access to industry-standard technology and specialised spaces to prepare students for their future careers. 

Dedicated time for activities and development, along with a holistic approach to learning, fosters academic, personal, and professional growth. Students benefit from career support through on-campus and virtual Career Zones, personalised support services, and a dedicated online portal, Track My Future (TMF)

Academic support

Students are supported with academic or subject-related queries by a programme director, module leaders, academic advisors (you’ll have an academic advisor from the teaching team as soon as you arrive with us), and university central support services.

Dedicated personal tutor

If you need a bit of extra help with certain skills such as academic writing, English, maths, or statistics, academic tutors offer workshops, drop-in sessions, and one-to-one appointments to help you achieve your potential. 

You can receive advice and guidance on all aspects of the IT systems provided by the university from our IT Service Desks located on all three campuses. 

Our Student Support hubs feature centralised helpdesks. UEL provides support and advice for disabled students and those with specific learning difficulties (SPDs).

Placements

You'll be based in the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience in Stratford. As this course integrates theory alongside practice, you'll also spend time on placements and temporary nursing associate jobs in many clinical settings. We have strong links with local NHS trusts and private-sector providers, which means you'll have a range of work placement opportunities. 

When not on placement, you'll enjoy practical and clinical sessions in our Clinical Education Building. Our modern, purpose-built campus offers superb teaching facilities, as well as our Nursing Simulation Lab where you can practice what you have learnt in a safe immersive environment.

Your timetable

Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

Class sizes

The size of our nursing classes can vary depending on the nature of the course, module and activity. This can range from large groups in a lecture theatre setting, to smaller groups taking part in seminars and collaborative work.

How you'll be assessed

Assessment tasks are mainly spread across the year to make the workload manageable. Assessment methods include group work, exams and individual work including essays, presentations, case studies, professional development and practical activities depending on the nature of the course. All grades count towards your module mark. More details will be included in the student handbook and module guides. 

You'll always receive detailed feedback outlining your strengths and how you can improve. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days, although you will receive immediate feedback following many of our face-to-face assessments.

Campus and facilities

Water Lane, Stratford

Who teaches this course

This course is delivered by School of Health, Sport and Bioscience

The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.

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Statistics for FdSc Nursing Associate Degree, Full Time

Statistics for FdSc Nursing Associate Degree, Full Time

What our students and staff say

Kelly Ncube
I love UEL because of its diversity, equality and inclusivity for staff, students and the Newham community. I love our Hospital and Primary training hub that uses the latest technology, AR, VR, and Oxford Medical Simulation (OMS) for our nursing students."

Kelly Ncube

Senior lecturer in Adult Nursing

Stephen Thompson featured
"My favourite thing about teaching is the engagement with students. I love hearing all their points of view and learning what they find interesting. It motivates me to explore. In my lessons, I am big on experiential learning and Kolb's theory."

Stephen Thompson

Senior lecturer, Department of Nursing