Birmingham City University
UCAS Code: 1256 | Foundation Degree in Science - FdSc
Entry requirements
A level
One A level grade D or above Plus GCSE requirements
AS
Two AS level grade D or above Plus GCSE requirements
Access to HE Diploma Plus GCSE requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
Applicants for this course need GCSE English Language and GCSE Maths at grade C/4 or above. If you do not have these or are not undertaking them, we accept other level 2 equivalents, or we may ask you to pass BCU's GCSE equivalency tests.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)
BTEC National Certificate grade PP Plus GCSE requirements
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
BTEC National Diploma grade PPP
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About this course
The two year Foundation Degree Nursing Associate course was developed to support the introduction of a new nursing role and is a work based learning course aimed at experienced Health Care Assistants who want to develop themselves to become a Registered Nursing Associate (RNA).
The FdSc Nursing Associate is a full-time course delivered at City South Campus. You will attend university one day a week and also attend a placement in a variety of settings across the four fields of nursing, as well as working in your permanent work base area.
You will study four level 4 modules in the first year which cover key theory and practice knowledge and skills to include person and family-centred care, professional values, the parameters of an RNA’s role and safe administration of medication. The second year modules focus on leadership and mentoring skills, health sociology and health promotion and you will also study key elements of evidence based practice. You will also complete a portfolio of evidence that is compiled over the two years as part of the practice competencies assessments.
On successful completion of the course you will be eligible to apply to be registered on the NMC Nursing Associate register.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
City South Campus, Edgbaston
School of Nursing and Midwifery
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.
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.
Nursing (non-specific)
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
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.
Nursing (non-specific)
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
19,890 nursing qualifications were awarded in 2015, making it much the most popular degree in the country. Despite that, we have a serious shortage of nurses - estimates suggest that we're over 20,000 nurses short - that is only set to continue. So it's no surprise to see that the very large majority of nursing graduates go on to become nurses, and that starting salaries are pretty competitive. There are lots of different specialties to choose from (including midwifery), and the most common by far is adult nursing, but the typical end result for graduates is the same — they go on to become nurses (or midwives). That’s not to say that you can’t do anything else. Some nursing graduates get other jobs - usually, but not always, in health or caring professions, or management, and with nurses in such demand, there are always going to be options for you. Do be aware that even this doesn't necessarily guarantee you can get the exact nursing job you want exactly where you want though - some flexibility in type of job and location will still help your career.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Nursing (non-specific)
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£29k
£31k
£33k
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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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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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