Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Nursing (Adult and Mental Health)

Entry requirements


GCSE/National 4/National 5

3 GCSEs at grade C, or grade 4, or above, including English and Maths.

UCAS Tariff

96

from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent).

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Adult nursing

Mental health nursing

**Please note that advanced entry is not available on any of our Pre-Registration Nursing Programmes at this time.**

Join our full-time four-year, NMC dual registration Adult and Mental Health Nursing degree course and take the first step towards a career as a nurse. Immerse yourself in placements that will help you build practice-based nursing skills and knowledge in both of these fields of nursing. Study in Cambridgeshire or Chelmsford, in our cutting-edge skill laboratories and become a part of our supportive nursing community. When you graduate, you’ll be ready to start your career as a registered nurse in both adult and mental health nursing.

Here at ARU, we are dedicated to the continual improvement of healthcare and stand by the values of the NHS Constitution. We think it’s important to reflect on what makes a great nurse. A compassionate nurse understands that the wellbeing of individual patients must be placed at the centre of the care delivered. A courageous nurse uses good communication to advocate for what is right for patients and commits to act as a role model. We’ll work with you to help you grow into a competent nurse and concentrate on developing your leadership skills.

We are proud to have been shortlisted for Nurse Education Provider of the Year in both 2019 and 2020 by the Student Nursing Times. This speaks volumes about the quality of our teaching. You’ll soon discover that our faculty is a stimulating place to learn, with excellent facilities and registered, practising tutors who will make sure you’re being taught the latest techniques and give you the support you need to succeed. We make use of technology to support your learning. Good examples are the use of virtual reality scenarios or monitoring your progress with real time assessment.

Our Nursing and Midwifery Council validated course places equal value on clinical practice and theory. It’ll take you from university lectures to clinical placement settings for young and mature adults. You may well find yourself at a GP surgery, attending health visits or in the middle of a variety of hospital settings, from accident & emergency through to acute care and oncology.

Placements last around seven to twelve weeks and will include both acute and community settings. Placement opportunities include: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, District Nursing, Surgical Setting and many more. You’ll also undertake additional four-week placements at the end of year one and two, which allows you to explore other areas, or travel overseas in year two.

You’ll be linked to one of our NHS healthcare trust partners for your placements in hospitals or community settings.

If you study in Cambridge, you’ll do your placements in or around Cambridge
If you study in Chelmsford, you’ll do your placements in or around Chelmsford, Southend, Basildon, Harlow or Colchester.

We want to make sure you experience a variety of placements and that you graduate as an effective practitioner. Our placement maps will help you plan your travel before you start on the course.

Teaching on campus usually takes place between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. On placement, you’ll be expected to work the same shifts as your nursing team. This can mean early, late and night shifts, as well as working weekends and bank holidays. Each year, you’ll get allocated annual leave at set points to support you in balancing your course and relaxation time. You’ll have the chance to share experiences with students from other courses, and to see how the professions work together to provide effective and seamless care.

Modules

Year one, core modules

Essential Knowledge and Skills for Person-centred Care
Essential Nursing Skills and Practice 1
Exploring and Promoting Health and Wellbeing
Medicines Calculations for Safe Practice 1
Essential Nursing Skills and Practice 2

Year two, core modules

Exploring the Values, Theories and Evidence Underpinning Mental Health Assessment and Practice
Developing Mental Health Nursing Practice 1
Therapeutic engagement in mental health nursing
Developing Mental Health Nursing Practice 2
Medicines Calculations for Safe Practice 2

Year three, core modules

Holistic Care for People with Long-term Conditions
Developing Adult Nursing Practice 1
Recognising and Responding to the Deteriorating Adult Patient
Developing Adult Nursing Practice 2

Year four, core modules

Nurses as Future Leaders
Leading and Co-ordinating Care with Confidence
Undergraduate Major Project: Becoming an Independent Practitioner
Medicines Calculations for Safe Practice 3

Assessment methods

To make sure you’re developing the skills and knowledge needed for professional practice, we use a range of assessment methods. These include essays, presentations, exams, case studies, project work and assessment of practice competencies in the clinical setting. We know feedback is essential for your progress and our lectures take pride in giving you clear guidance on how to improve your expertise.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course locations:

Chelmsford Campus

Cambridge Campus

Department:

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

75%
Adult nursing
81%
Mental health nursing

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Adult nursing

Teaching and learning

77%
Staff make the subject interesting
83%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
91%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

76%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
83%
Course specific equipment and facilities
56%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

94%
UK students
6%
International students
10%
Male students
90%
Female students
72%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
C

Mental health nursing

Teaching and learning

79%
Staff make the subject interesting
79%
Staff are good at explaining things
90%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
94%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

76%
Library resources
90%
IT resources
86%
Course specific equipment and facilities
69%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
33%
Male students
67%
Female students
61%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
C
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Adult nursing

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
100%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

98%
Nursing and midwifery professionals
1%
Health professionals
1%
Caring personal services

Mental health nursing

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
100%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

98%
Nursing and midwifery professionals
1%
Health professionals
1%
Caring personal services

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Adult nursing

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£30k

£30k

£31k

£31k

£32k

£32k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Mental health nursing

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£30k

£30k

£31k

£31k

£32k

£32k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Explore these similar courses...

Share this page

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here