Program Overview

Our course will help you shape a career path at the forefront of the nursing profession, helping children and their families. The course combines expert teaching, support, and placements at London’s premier hospitals to give you the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in this field.

As the course has been developed in partnership with NHS Trusts, you’ll spend 50% of your study time on placement in our prestigious partner hospitals, which we’ll help you secure. Our nursing course is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, guaranteeing the highest standard of education.

Nursing can be a rewarding and flexible career you can shape according to your interests. Once you graduate and become a registered children’s nurse you can choose to specialise, pursuing paths like neonatal intensive care, oncology, and even opting to become a school nurse.

We have been nominated in five categories at the prestigious Student Nursing Times Awards 2019, in a record year for entries to the competition.

Our high-tech facilities and simulation suites will help you apply all the theoretical knowledge gained in a practical setting. The suites come equipped with the latest simulators for practise of realistic emergency care situations. A number of life-like mannequins will be on hand alongside all the professional training equipment you’ll need.

Thanks to our excellent relationships with NHS trusts across London, we can help you secure a placement in several highly sought-after spots. These include Barts Health NHS Trust, Marie Curie Hospice, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, plus many more.

We know sometimes you’ll need assistance and support when it comes to your studies. During your time with us you'll get assistance from a Personal Tutor. If you require a little extra help, we have Student Learning Assistants and Graduate Academic Assistants on hand to help.

We are regularly reviewing and updating our programmes to ensure you have the best learning experience. We are taking what we have learnt during the pandemic and enhancing our teaching methods with new and innovative ways of learning.

We aim to model a wide range of teaching strategies and approaches on the course which you can adapt to your own setting.

You will be taught through a combination of Lectures, Seminars, skills based practicals, demonstrations and practice based learning/placements. Practice based learning amounts to 50% of the entire programme and students must complete a set amount of hours to meet the Professional Body’s clinical criteria for professional registration. Lecturer-led sessions will allow you to gain and develop knowledge in your subject area and this will be supported by a range of practice- based activities, at University and in a practice environment, and smaller seminar or similar groups that will help you develop and engage with your understanding of topics covered in taught sessions. You will be  divided into smaller groups of approximately 30-35 students per seminar group. Seminar topics range from skills rehearsal following lead lectures in anatomy and physiology to reflective, interactive, problem based learning addressing the assessment and nursing management of children young people and their families. In addition, you will be supported by our personal tutor arrangements and be able to seek module leader guidance by appointment. You will also have access to and use resources to support your learning including; access to My Learning on Unihub where module content is found, along with pre and post session learning activities (including on-line quizzes, student discussion boards, recommended reading, podcasts), Kortext e-books, Virtual Case Creator (VCC) to support practice learning, and experienced clinicians, mentors and practice link lecturers to support you throughout your course.

During your first year (level 4), your weekly timetable will typically consist of:

When not attending your teaching sessions mentioned above, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, and preparing for assessments including coursework, practice evaluations and formal practice assessment tools, personal development logs, presentations and examinations. Your independent learning is supported by the facilities available including the library and Study Hub, Laptop hire, and with online materials in MyUniHub (see student support section below).

Your overall workload will include the activities listed above, and with each credit being completed equating to 10 hours of study time (You will complete 120 credits per level of study, which are broken down into modules of typically 30 credits). While your actual hours may depend on the optional module that you choose (if available), the following information will give you an indication of how much time is allocated to teaching and independent study on your course;

Level 4

17% of your time is spent in timetabled Teaching and learning - typical structure activity:

Level 5

13% of your time is spent in timetabled Teaching and learning - typical structure activity:

Level 6

18% of your time is spent in timetabled Teaching and learning - typical structure activity:

You will have access to academic support services that you assist you in the following areas:

These services can be accessed through the UniHelp Desk in the Library building.

The course will provide you with opportunities to test your knowledge and understanding informally through ‘formative’ assessment. Formative assessment for this course is provided through essay plans, e-learning log plans, e-numeracy and anatomy and physiology quizzes, poster presentations, group presentations, e-workbooks, mock exam, mock job interviews and practice OSCES-(Objective Structured Clinical Exam) which will provide feedback to support you towards the formal ‘summative’ assessment. (Formative assessments are developmental and any grade you receive from formative assessment does not count towards your final marks).

The formal ‘summative’ assessment usually occurs towards the end of the module, although there may be periodic assessments that contribute to your final mark for that module. Assessment methods could include written examinations, a range of coursework including essays, reports, portfolios, your main final year project, practice based assessment tools, and practical sessions including performance, presentations or lab based exams. The grades from the summative assessments count towards your module mark. Assessments are reviewed annually and may be updated based on student feedback, to suit content or based on feedback from an external examiner.

The balance of assessment will depend on the modules that you complete throughout your course. The approximate percentage of the course which is assessed by coursework is outlined below: