FdSc Nursing Associate (Direct Entry Route)

University of Salford

United Kingdom, Salford

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Home/United Kingdom/Salford /University of Salford/FdSc Nursing Associate (Direct Entry Route)

University of Salford

United Kingdom , Salford

Key Facts

Program Level

Foundation

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

On Campus

Course Code

Course ID B713

Campuses

Main Site

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake DeadlinesSeptember-2026

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 2 year(s)

Tuition Fee

GBP 1,765,000 / years

Next Intake September-2026

FdSc Nursing Associate (Direct Entry Route)

About

Introduction

In a nutshell

The Nursing Associate is a highly trained support role to deliver effective, safe and responsive nursing care in and across a wide range of health and care settings. This role will bridge the gap between a support worker and a Registered Nurse, providing a workforce for future healthcare. The programme is a two-year programme leading to a Nursing Associate Foundation Degree.

Nursing Associates will work independently, and as part of the healthcare team, delivering care in a range of primary, secondary, community and social care settings. In this role, you will deliver hands-on care, focusing on ensuring patients continue to get the compassionate care they deserve.

You will work alongside qualified practice assessors and supervisors in practice learning areas where you will experience a wide variety of care-giving settings. You will be expected to work the same shift patterns as your practice supervisor (including weekends and night duty) and will need to be able to travel to and from clinical placements.

You will spend half of your time at the University and the other half working in hospital and community settings, within the NHS and independent sector. These practice learning opportunities will be across the Greater Manchester area.

You will:

Develop high quality, compassionate care under the direction of a Registered Nurse, Registered Nursing Associate (or other registered health and social care professionals).
Work as part of a designated team delivering care that focuses on the direct needs of the individual.
Learn in our purpose-built, state-of-the-art simulation suite facilities.

Placement

options available

Nursing Associate Student

Simulation Suite

Nursing Associate Student

Nursing Associate Students

This is for you if...

You want to care for patients in all fields of practice (adult, children and young people, mental health, and learning disability)

You would like to work in various settings including acute, primary care, mental health and learning disability care

You want to work as a registered and regulated skilled professional within Health and Social Care

You are looking to develop the skills to work with patients of all ages from pre-conception to death

You want to be part of the professionals who deliver hands on care, bridging the gap between healthcare assistants and registered nurses, focusing on ensuring patients get the compassionate care they deserve

You are hard working and committed to improving the health and lives of people and communities

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Requirements

What you need to know

Healthcare is not a nine-to-five job. Neither is being a student nursing associate:

You will be expected to work the same shifts as your practice supervisor in hospital and community settings. You do not get a long holiday break and our course has fixed non-negotiable annual leave weeks. Please note that considerable travelling may be required for both hospital and community placements.

As part of the application process, you may be invited to complete an assessment / attend an online activity. If this is the case, we will contact you with further details. The programme structure will be delivered on a mix of block theory and block practice delivery basis. Typically students attend three to five theory days during theory blocks.

Whilst on programme you also need to be able to demonstrate an ability to study at diploma level with a commitment to complete a foundation degree programme. You also need to be able to demonstrate that you have capability to learn professional, personal, digital and technology behaviours, skills and attributes in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council Code.

You also need to be able to demonstrate that you hvae capability to learn professional, personal, digital and technological behaviours, skills and attributes in accordance with the Nursing and Midwiefry Council Code.

Experience

Previous experience as a healthcare assistant/clinical support worker is desirable but not essential, however, you will need to demonstrate the commitment to undertake the challenge of a career in healthcare.

Standard entry requirements

GCSE or equivalent

You will need GCSE Maths and English at grade C / grade 4 or above or equivalent Functional Skills level 2 and demonstrate the academic aptitude to undertake the programme.

To be considered, you must fulfil our GCSE entry requirements. We do also recognise Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) and have detailed the requirements linked to this below.

Accreditation of Prior Learning

An applicant who meets the General Entry Academic Requirements as well as further study at Level 4 or above can apply for recognition of prior learning up to a maximum of 50% of the programme. This maximum limit of 50% does not apply to applicants to pre-registration nursing associate programmes who are currently an NMC registered nurse without restrictions on their practice. Visit our Accreditation of Prior Learning webpage to find out more.

Career

Employment and stats

What about after uni?

Completion of this course will prepare you with the practice experience and knowledge required to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a nursing associate. You will gain experience and knowledge to work in all four fields of nursing (adult, children and young people, mental health and learning disability) and across the lifespan. You will also be able to work within a range of community, acute care, social and primary care settings within the NHS, public, private and voluntary sectors.