BSc (Hons) in Paramedic Science

Program Overview

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Paramedic Science

BSc (Hons)

Overview

Responding to 999 calls. Delivering life-saving care. Helping people in their hour of need. Working on the front line is fast-paced and rewarding. If that’s your ambition, we’ll help you get there, training you to become a registered paramedic. We’ll also show you other exciting opportunities so you can forge a career as an allied health professional.

We’ve designed this course to help you care for patients with diverse healthcare needs, in and out of hospital settings. We’ve developed our modules in partnership with healthcare providers including South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

As a student paramedic, you’ll complete placements in a variety of ambulance and healthcare settings in the Thames Valley region. Applying theory to practice is central to your time with us, so you become the best paramedic you can be.

Whether on placement or studying on campus, you’ll be surrounded by support. Our friendly teaching team will share their own experiences and expertise. And you’ll meet other students on the same journey as you by joining the Student Paramedic Society.

Why Oxford Brookes University?

• Accredited course: Our degree is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council meaning employers will value your qualification.
• Hands-on placements: You’ll experience at least 14 weeks of clinical practice education each year in diverse settings.
• Benefit from specialist facilities: Apply your skills in our specialist clinical skills suites with a range of simulation equipment including a SimBulance.
• Diverse career opportunities: Prepare for positions in clinical practice, education, management and research. Learn from a team who have worked as paramedics in a wide range of settings and listen to the stories from their careers as you kickstart your own.
• Top 10 in the UK: Paramedic Science is ranked 8th in the Guardian Paramedic Science subject league ranking 2025.
• Learn a language: Our university-wide language programme is available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.

Course Details

Course Structure

From novice to fully-fledged paramedic, our course provides you with the knowledge you need to practise safely and effectively. The curriculum is designed to provide you with the behaviours, clinical experience and values you need for success.

Your learning falls under 5 themes:

• Bioscience basis for paramedic practice
• Evidence-based practice skills and attributes
• Patient assessment and management development
• Clinical practice experience and development
• Paramedic practice skills and attributes.

You'll learn to assess and manage the patients paramedics encounter, with simulation on campus and at least 14 weeks each year in real clinical settings. This could be within the ambulance service, emergency departments or primary care. You can experience placements in end-of-life care, airway management, or paediatric settings to aid your development.

The curriculum is updated to help graduates more effectively support society. For example, we’ve added a module on mental health to address the growing need for health professionals to understand this area when treating patients.

Learning and Teaching

You will have practical and theory-based modules. We take a research and evidence-informed approach to clinical practice. You’ll often reflect on your personal and professional development.

In health and social care, professional groups work together. You’ll meet students from our wide range of courses, including:

• Health and social care
• Nursing (adult, children's and mental health)
• Midwifery
• Occupational therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Social work.

This helps you understand the other professional roles you’ll encounter in practice. We offer you a wide range of learning resources, including:

• Online lectures
• Handouts and information
• Learning exercises.

Assessment

We will assess you through:

• Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) - practical exams
• Coursework
• Placement hours/competencies
• Presentations
• Online quizzes
• Vivas.

Study Modules

Teaching for this course takes place Face to Face and you can expect around 11 hours of contact time per week. In addition to this, you should also anticipate a workload of 1,200 hours per year. Teaching usually takes place Monday to Friday, between 9.00am and 6.00pm.

Contact hours involve activities such as lectures, seminars, practicals, assessments, and academic advising sessions. These hours differ by year of study and typically increase significantly during placements or other types of work-based learning.

Year 1

Compulsory Modules

• Principles of Professional Practice
• Fundamentals of Evidence Based Practice
• Fundamentals of Paramedic Patient Assessment and Management
• Anatomy and Physiology for Paramedics
• Fundamentals of Paramedic Clinical Practice

Year 2

Compulsory Modules

• Mental Health: Application to Paramedic Practice
• Paramedic Research Methods and Analysis
• Developing Paramedic Patient Assessment and Management
• Pathophysiology for Paramedics
• Developing Paramedic Clinical Practice

Year 3

Compulsory Modules

• Pharmacology & Medicines Management for Paramedics
• Applied Practice Education
• Enhanced Paramedic Patient Assessment and Management
• Enhanced Paramedic Clinical Practice
• Paramedic Science Dissertation

Work Placements

Clinical practice experience is an important part of your programme of study, developing the behaviours and skills required to practise as a modern paramedic. There are 750 hours of practice education placements each year, where you’ll always practise as a supernumerary Student Paramedic.

The planning and organisation of these clinical placements allows your learning to integrate theory and clinical practice. A structure of development allows your experience to build upon ‘Fundamentals’ which are introduced in Year One, ‘Developing’ in Year Two, and ‘Enhanced’ in Year Three.

You’ll experience placement including operational experience with SCAS to learn safe and effective practice in this setting. You will also gain experience in other health, social and care settings.

Careers

Your employability is a top priority for us. As you prepare to graduate, we’ll invite you to a careers fair where you’ll meet employers who will explain different career paths and spend time answering your questions. We’ll also provide support with writing applications and interviewing.

Paramedics work in a variety of healthcare settings with pathways such as:

• Clinical practice
• Research
• Education
• Management.

There are career opportunities at the specialist, advanced and consultant levels in paramedic practice. Opportunities are available in NHS Ambulance Trusts, where many of our graduates work but you might also find work in other NHS/alternative organisations.

Perhaps you’ll specialise in an area like critical care or forensic medicine. Maybe you’ll work with colleagues in general practice. There are even more niche opportunities like working on cruise ships or oil rigs, which appeal to graduates who want to have an international career.

Professional Accreditation

Our degree is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council meaning employers will value your qualification.

Entry Requirements

Wherever possible we make our conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff. The combination of A-level grades listed here would be just one way of achieving the UCAS Tariff points for this course.

Standard Offer

• UCAS Tariff Points: 112
• A Level: BBC
• IB Points: 30
• BTEC: DMM

Contextual Offer

• UCAS Tariff Points: 88
• A Level: CCD
• IB Points: 27
• BTEC: MMM

Specific Entry Requirements

• A Level: Including one A Level or a comparable Level 3 qualification in a science subject (e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physical Education, Physics, Psychology).
• GCSE: Grade 4 (C) in English, Maths and Science. For English and Maths, Level 2 Functional Skills are accepted as alternatives to GCSEs.
• Relevant experience or a suitable indication of your interest in, and understanding of, the relevant healthcare profession.

Applicants must have a full clean UK driving licence, ideally with provisional C1 entitlement. This must be completed before the publication of A-Level results in the same year as entry.

We welcome applications from mature students, but they must show evidence of academic achievement in the last two-years, typically meeting the entry requirements. Please contact us for further advice on your circumstances, which may include recommendation to undertake further recommended academic modules/A Levels.

All students are screened for HIV and Hepatitis A, B and C. This is a Department of Health requirement for this professional group.

If clearance has not been completed prior to enrolment, then enrolment may not be possible. If enrolment has been agreed, then continuation on the programme will be contingent on satisfactory clearances.

Tuition Fees

2025/26

• Home (UK) full time: £9,535
• International full time: £17,750

2026/27

• Home (UK) full time: £9,535*
• International full time: £18,250

*Tuition fee level for . Tuition fees for home undergraduate students in will be confirmed by the Government later in 2025 and will be updated on our website as soon as the information becomes available.

Please note, tuition fees for Home students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by government. Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning Home students at the maximum permitted level.

For further information please see our tuition fees FAQs.

Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.

The following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support.

Additional Costs

You will be required to undertake clinical placements spent in a variety of settings across the Thames Valley region. You will need a car to travel to these settings and transport allowances will not be provided.

You will need to purchase a stethoscope suitable for practice and clinical assessment and examination of patients. You will also need a copy of the National Clinical Guidelines and associated pocket book. Further information on additional costs for healthcare courses can be found here.