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University of Salford

UCAS Code: B713 | Foundation Degree in Science - FdSc

Entry requirements

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE Maths and English at grade C/ grade 4 or above or equivalent Functional Skills Level 2

About this course

Course option

2years

Full-time | 2025

Subject

Nursing

The Nursing Associate role is a highly trained support role within healthcare, bridging the gap between support workers and Registered Nurses. This two-year programme leads to a Nursing Associate Foundation Degree, equipping you to deliver effective, safe, and compassionate care across a wide range of health and care settings.

As a Nursing Associate, you will work both independently and as part of a healthcare team, providing hands-on care in various primary, secondary, community, and social care environments. You will be expected to work the same shift patterns as your practice supervisor, including weekends and night shifts, and will need to travel to various clinical placements. These placements, spread across the Greater Manchester area, will offer you invaluable experience in diverse care settings.

50% of your time will be spent at the University, where you will engage in theoretical learning, while the other half will be dedicated to working in clinical settings. This balanced approach ensures you gain both the knowledge and practical experience necessary to excel in the Nursing Associate role.

The Uni

Course location:

Peel Park Campus

Department:

School of Health and Society

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.

91%
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.

Nursing (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

90%
Staff make the subject interesting
94%
Staff are good at explaining things
95%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
96%
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

90%
Library resources
86%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
88%
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?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
9%
Male students
91%
Female students
64%
2:1 or above
8%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
B
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.

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.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
99%
low
Employed or in further education
97%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

98%
Nursing and midwifery professionals
0%
Welfare professionals
0%
Production managers and directors

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

£29k

£31k

£31k

£30k

£30k

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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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