Program Overview

---

Nursing: Adult (MSc)

About this course

Qualify as a registered nurse in just 2 years with our MSc Adult Nursing programme.

This MSc Adult Nursing course is ideal for those who want to:

• qualify as a registered adult nurse
• gain advanced knowledge and professional registration in adult nursing

You’ll develop the expertise required to transform adult patient care, including skills to assess patient needs, coordinate care, and advocate effectively on behalf of those you serve. As part of this MSc Adult Nursing programme, you'll join the third-highest ranked nursing community in the UK (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025).

Our experienced educators and researchers will equip you with both the competence and confidence needed for a successful nursing career. With access to advanced facilities and a balanced approach to theory and practice, you’ll gain practical skills through hands-on placements in top healthcare settings.

Placement settings include:

• adult intensive care units
• emergency departments
• specialist medical wards
• outpatient services
• community services, such as the District Nursing Team
• general, medical and surgical wards

An experienced registered nurse will support you as your personal academic tutor, providing guidance throughout your studies.

Graduates from our MSc Adult Nursing program enjoy excellent career advancement opportunities. Upon graduating, you’ll be well-prepared to take on leadership, research, and specialised roles in various adult nursing fields.

Lead in Healthcare with an MSc Adult Nursing Qualification

With an MSc Adult Nursing qualification, you can pursue a rewarding career across diverse healthcare environments, including:

• NHS and private hospitals
• emergency medical services
• hospices and long-term care facilities
• universities and training institutions
• clinics and GP practices

Upon completing the degree, you’ll be eligible to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). You must submit your application within 5 years of course completion.

Take Adult Nursing as a PGDip Instead

We also offer a 2-year Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Adult Nursing. This programme covers the same foundational content as the MSc Adult Nursing course but without a dissertation module, offering a streamlined route to nursing registration and practice.

We regularly review our courses to ensure and improve quality. This course may be revised as a result of this. Any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Find out why, when, and how we might make changes.

Our courses are regulated in England by the Office for Students (OfS).

Course lead

Dr Chris Allen has over 15 years of healthcare related experiences in clinical education and research capacities in varied specialist roles. His main teaching and education interests are in global and public health, social sciences, technology, and digital health. In 2018, Chris completed a PhD that considered long-term condition self-management support and the internet as part of an NIHR funded clinical academic fellowship.

Visit Dr Allen's profile page to learn more about his research work.

Accreditations

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

Learn more about this subject area

Nursing, midwifery and healthcare

Lead and challenge practice as you become a confident, capable healthcare professional. Choose from cardiac physiology, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.

Course location

This course is based at Highfield.

Awarding body

This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.

Entry requirements

You’ll need a 2:2 degree as well as GCSE English language, mathematics and science, grades 4 to 9 or A* to C.

We accept applicants from all degree programmes, and have successful alumni from degrees including Psychology, Biology, English, Fine Art, Ship Science, Business Studies, Accountancy, Law, and Archaeology.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Our pre-registration postgraduate diplomas and master’s degrees in nursing are accelerated courses, so they're shorter than usual.

To make sure we meet the requirements of the NMC, we must assess your previous learning and healthcare experience. This happens as part of our Recognition of Prior Learning scheme which recognises elements of your previous academic and practice learning.

To be considered for the master’s degree you must submit:

• 325 hours of relevant theoretical learning from your first degree or employment
• 675 hours of practice worked in a healthcare environment under the supervision of a registered healthcare professional

To be considered for the postgraduate diploma you must submit evidence of:

• 990 hours of relevant theoretical learning from your first degree or employment
• 110 hours of practice worked in a healthcare environment under the supervision of a registered healthcare professional

You can still apply for the PGDip without any practice experience. We offer an option to complete these hours during the first 8 months of the course.

Your RPL submission must be made directly to the University. Our admissions team will guide you through this process and explain how to prepare your portfolio of evidence.

English language requirements

If English isn't your first language, you'll need to complete an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to demonstrate your competence in English. You'll need all of the following scores as a minimum:

IELTS score requirements

• overall score: 7.0
• reading: 7.0
• writing: 6.5
• speaking: 7.0
• listening: 7.0

If you do not meet the English language requirements through a test or qualification, you may be able to meet them by completing one of our pre-sessional English programmes before your course starts.

If you don’t meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.

Pre-masters

If you don’t meet the academic requirements, you can complete a pre-master's programme through our partnership with OnCampus. Learn more about the programmes available.

Got a question?

Please contact us if you're not sure you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Course structure

You must pass every module and there are no optional modules to choose from. Your modules include a mix of theoretical learning and 2,300 hours of practice learning.

In your first year you'll gain skills in providing person-centred care to meet the basic physical and mental health needs of people of all ages.

In your second year you’ll develop specialist skills in managing and coordinating the care of adult patients. You’ll also prepare for your leadership role as a registered nurse within the workforce.

You'll also need to complete an independent research project and dissertation. This takes place across the 2 academic years that you study the course.

This course is full-time so you must be available for study and practice placements.

If you’re a graduate nurse studying through RPL, you can complete the course in around 20 months.

Modules

The modules outlined provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our course to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand. Find out why, when and how we might make changes.

We don't have module information for this course yet. Please check again later.

Learning and assessment

Learning

You'll complete practice learning to gain the experience and skills needed to work as a registered nurse. Some of this will be in a simulated environment, but most will be in placements throughout your course.

You'll be an active member of an adult nursing ‘Professional Practice Development Group’. This will support and refine what you learn and assess what you do and do not know.

Conference days are a forum for our professors to share the latest research with you. They provide opportunities for you to learn, build networks and experience a conference environment.

The University will set up your placements in a variety of hospital and community settings in local NHS Trusts and other healthcare providers.

Assessment

Assessments on this nursing degree include essays, exams, projects, professional conversations and your dissertation.

We’ll assess your practical skills while you’re on placement and your practice mentor will record these.

Your assessment is designed to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding, competency and professional values.

You’ll need to pass both practice and theory components of the course. This means you cannot make up a lower score in one component with a higher score in another.

Timely and constructive feedback will develop your confidence and give you the support to work on learning needs, and get extra educational support.

We’ll assess each module to help you demonstrate that you’ve met the required learning outcomes.

Dissertation

Need SME guidance for a line on dissertation.

Academic Support

We’ll organise your practice placements and support your learning in practice working with your practice assessor.

Careers and employability

The employability and enterprise skills you'll gain from this course are reflected in the Southampton skills model. When you join us you'll be able to use our skills model to track, plan, and benefit your career development and progress.

Download skills overview

Work experience opportunities

Choosing to do work experience is a great way to enhance your employability, build valuable networks, and evidence your potential. Learn about the different work and industry experience options at Southampton.

Read more

Careers services and support

We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022). Our Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise team will support you. This support includes:

• work experience schemes
• CV and interview skills and workshops
• networking events
• careers fairs attended by top employers
• a wealth of volunteering opportunities
• study abroad and summer school opportunities

We have a vibrant entrepreneurship culture and our dedicated start-up supporter, Futureworlds, is open to every student.

Your career ideas and graduate job opportunities may change while you're at university. So it is important to take time to regularly reflect on your goals, speak to people in industry and seek advice and up-to-date information from Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise professionals at the University.

More about careers support

Fees, costs and funding

Tuition fees

Fees for each year of study:

• UK students pay £9,250
• EU and International students pay £30,300
• Channel Island, Isle of Man and Irish students will be charged the same tuition fee as UK students

Tuition fees for this pre-registration postgraduate healthcare course are paid in the same manner as undergraduate tuition fees.

Additionally, to support living costs, eligible (UK) students may be eligible for a Student Finance maintenance loan; also a £5,000 NHS Training Grant of £5,000 per academic year.

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fee covers the full cost of tuition and any exams. The fee you pay will remain the same each year from when you start studying this course. This includes if you suspend and return.

Find out how to pay your tuition fees.

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. There may also be extra costs for retake and professional exams.

Explore:

• accommodation costs
• living costs
• budgeting advice
• fees, charges and expenses regulations

Extra costs you might have to pay

There will be extra costs for the following:

• suitable shoes for your practice placements
• your own fob watch
• your enhanced DBS certificate
• your professional registration fee (on graduation)

You may be able to claim some travel and accommodation expenses when you're working on placement.

If you're a UK resident, visit the NHS 'Financial Support at University' page to learn more about financial support for your living costs.

If you're a resident of Ireland you may be able to apply for financial support through the Student Universal Support Ireland scheme (SUSI).

10% alumni discount

If you’re a graduate of the University of Southampton, you could be eligible for a 10% discount on your postgraduate tuition fees.

NHS Learning Support Fund

As a student on this course you may be entitled to help from the NHS Learning Support Fund.

This can include a training grant of £5,000 per academic year, parental support of £2,000 for students with at least one dependent child under 15 years, or under 17 years if registered with special educational needs, and help with travel and temporary accommodation costs for placements.

Find out more on the NHS Learning Support Fund website.

Southampton Health Sciences Postgraduate International Scholarship

A scholarship of £3,000 is available to international students studying for a postgraduate master’s in Health Sciences.

Find out more about the Southampton Health Sciences Postgraduate International Scholarship, including eligibility and conditions.

Other postgraduate funding options

A variety of additional funding options may be available to help you pay for your master’s study. Both from the University and other organisations.

How to apply

UCAS
You must in the first instance apply for the PGDip in Adult Nursing. Applications are processed through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). When you apply, you'll be taken to the UCAS website where you'll need to register an account to submit an application.

You’ll need to use the codes below:

• UCAS Course Code: 3010
• UCAS Institution Code: S27

Our admissions team will transfer you to the master’s degree once we receive the application from UCAS.

Application deadlines

The deadline to apply for this course is Thursday 31st July 2025 via UCAS.

Supporting information

When you apply you’ll need to submit a personal statement explaining why you want to take the course.

You’ll need to include information about:

• your knowledge of the subject area
• how your personal values align with those of the nursing profession
• why you want to study a postgraduate qualification in this course
• how you intend to use your qualification

Your referee should relate to one of the following:

• academic studies in higher education completed in the last 3 years
• your current or most recent, main employer

Additional references may be requested later.

Your application must include your education achievements from age 16 to date including any you're currently completing. You must include your IELTS score (if you are a non-native English speaker). Without these, your application may be delayed.

What happens after you apply

You’ll be able to track your application through UCAS.

We will assess your application on the strength of your:

• personal values and how these might add to the profession
• previous and current academic achievements
• relevant experience and how this shapes your aspirations
• personal statement
• academic and/or employer reference(s)

If your application is shortlisted you’ll receive an email invitation from our admissions tutor to attend a selection event. The event involves an interview and your perspective on a video-based scenario. The invitation includes information on how to prepare and what to expect.

Unfortunately, due to number of applications we receive, we may not be able to give you specific feedback on your application if you are unsuccessful.

Equality and diversity

We treat and select everyone in line with our Equality and Diversity Statement.

Got a question?

Please contact us if you're not sure you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Related courses

Nursing: Adult (MSc) is a course in the Nursing, midwifery and healthcare subject area. Here are some other courses within this subject area:

• Clinical Exercise Physiology
• Advanced Clinical Practice (Advanced Allied Health Practitioner)
• Advanced Clinical Practice (Advanced Critical Care Practitioner)
• Advanced Clinical Practice (Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner)
• Advanced Clinical Practice (Advanced Nurse Practitioner)
• Advanced Health Assessment and Prescribing
• Amputation and Prosthetic Rehabilitation
• Audiology
• Audiology with Clinical Placement
• Clinical and Health Research
• Leadership and Management in Health and Social Care
• Neonatology
• Nursing Studies
• Nursing: Child
• Nursing: Mental Health
• Professional Practice in Health Sciences
• Public Health
• Public Health