Nursing (Mental Health)
Entry requirements
96 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent).
96 points from Access to HE Diploma
GCSE/National 4/National 5
3 GCSEs at grade C, or grade 4, or above, including English and Maths, Science is preferred.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
96 UCAS Tariff points acquired from BTEC Level 3 Diplomas are accepted, related subjects are preferred, a minimum of 60 guided learning hours must come from a Science unit.
96 UCAS Tariff points from Scottish Advanced Highers are accepted, related subjects are preferred. 96 UCAS Tariff points from Scottish Highers are accepted, related subjects are preferred.
UCAS Tariff
UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent).
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
About this course
**Please note that advanced entry is not available on any of our Pre-Registration Nursing Programmes at this time.**
Mental health nursing is a challenging but rewarding field. As a qualified mental health nurse, you’ll identify people’s needs before planning and providing care. Working closely with clients and patients, you’ll encourage them to believe that recovery from mental health problems is possible.
Studying in Cambridge or Chelmsford, our Mental Health Nursing BSc (Hons) degree will equip you with all the practical skills you need to start your nursing career.
Student nurses can take advantage of nursing training grants worth at least £5,000 per year.
At ARU, we’re dedicated to the continual improvement of every aspect of healthcare and delivering the values set out in the NHS Constitution.
Our Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Mental Health Nursing degree mixes classroom learning in our clinical facilities with practical placements. We will consider the experiences of people with mental health issues from different age groups, cultures, belief systems and ethnicities. We’ll also look at the experiences of carers and care-givers; and learn how the law – including human rights legislation – affects the management of mental health.
Biological, psychological and social factors can all have an impact on mental health and illness. Our understanding of causes and ‘triggers’ is changing all the time, so we’ll keep up to date with the latest knowledge – as well as the different interventions used to help people. Since mental health nursing is very much about connecting with people, you’ll also enhance your ‘softer’ communication and people skills. As people with mental health issues may also have physical health conditions, we’ll prepare you to offer advice to aid prevention.
Most mental health nurses work in the community, but some provide in-patient care. Either way, it’s standard practice to work as part of a team of health and care professionals. As part of your studies, you’ll develop your team working skills and gain practical experience in mental health settings, both in the community and in hospital.
While on placement, you’ll work shifts with your supervisors and assessors, taking part in late, early and night shifts and will work at weekends and on bank holidays. There’s also the option of a self-funded overseas placement at the end of Year 2.
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. Meanwhile, teaching on campus usually takes place between 9am–5pm, Monday–Friday.
We’re proud to have been shortlisted for Nurse Education Provider of the Year in 2019 and 2020 by the Student Nursing Times. It speaks volumes about the quality of our teaching.
Modules
Year one
• 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
• Exploring the Values, Theories and Evidence Underpinning Mental Health Assessment and Practice
• Developing Mental Health Nursing Practice 1
• Medicines Calculations for Safe Practice 2
• Therapeutic engagement in mental health nursing
• Developing Mental Health Nursing Practice 2
Year three
• 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
We use a range of methods to help ensure you are making the right level of progress during the course. Besides exams, they include essays, presentations, care studies and practice assessment.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Cambridge Campus
Chelmsford Campus
School of Nursing and Midwifery
What students say
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How do students rate their degree experience?
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Mental health nursing
Teaching and learning
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Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
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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.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
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
£31k
£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.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
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Graduate field commentary:
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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?
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