Nursing Associate
Anglia Ruskin University
UCAS Code: B742 | Foundation Degree in Science - FdSc
Anglia Ruskin University
UCAS Code: B742 | Foundation Degree in Science - FdSc
Entry requirements
GCSE/National 4/National 5
2 GCSEs at grade C/4 or above in English and Maths or equivalent level 2 qualification, gained prior to the start of the course.
UCAS Tariff
from a minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent).
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
About this course
Take the first step towards a fulfilling career as a Nursing Associate with our NMC-validated Foundation degree. When you graduate, you’ll be ready to start working as a registered Nursing Associate.
This course is currently undergoing NMC revalidation. The course and module information on this page is liable to change.
The role of a Nursing Associate is a new role that is designed to bridge the gap between a healthcare assistant and a registered nurse.Their valuable contribution to healthcare is regulated by the NMC and will allow for progression via further study to registered nursing programmes such as Adult Nursing, Mental Health Nursing and Child Nursing.
As part of your course, you’ll get the chance to immerse yourself in placements that will help you to build up the practice-based knowledge and skills to deliver such care, and become an integral part of the nursing community.
Here at ARU, we are dedicated to the continual improvement of healthcare and stand by the values of the NHS Constitution. We’ll support you to be become a confident, compassionate, competent and responsive practitioner with knowledge, skills and behaviours required to deliver safe, high quality, person-centred nursing care across a range of health and social care environments. You’ll understand the service user experience and look for ways to improve this through contribution to innovation in health care practice.
We're proud to have been shortlisted for Nurse Education Provider of the Year in 2023 by the Student Nursing Times. It 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. During your two-year Foundation degree you’ll have four main placements, on hospital wards (surgical, medical, general, child, A&E), with the mental health team in the community and specialist clinics.
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 Cambridge, Huntingdon or Peterborough.
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 working shifts, this can mean early, late and night shifts, as well as working weekends and bank holidays. You’ll be supported by practice supervisors and assessors on placements as well as staff from ARU.
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.
For Nursing Associate Direct Entry student, Health Education England will provide one payment of £1,000 to each student to cover the entire 2 year programme.
Modules
Core modules Fundamentals of Care for Patient Safety Practising Fundamentals of Care for Patient Safety 1 Supporting Person-Centred Health (Physical and Mental) and Wellbeing Medicines Calculations for Safe Practice 1 Practising Fundamentals of Care for Patient Safety 2 Core modules Medicines Calculations for Safe Practice 3 Supporting learning for quality care Delivering Safe and Effective Person- Centred Care 1 Monitoring and Improving Quality of Care Delivering Safe and Effective Person-Centred Care
Assessment methods
In the first year as a Nursing Associate student, you’ll be introduced to the fundamental aspects of person-centred care and explore the NMC Code to understand what is expected of a proficient, competent and safe Nursing Associate. You’ll also get the chance to put your newfound knowledge and skills to the test with two core practical placements, where you’ll encounter patients with a wide range of needs in a nursing environment. Modules are subject to change and availability.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Chelmsford Campus
Cambridge Campus
School of Nursing
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score 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
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
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.
£31k
£32k
£35k
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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Higher entry requirements
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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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