Key information
UCAS code:
B740
Typical offer:
112-120 UCAS points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent, with 32 UCAS points from a Science or Social Science subject
Showing content for section Overview
Overview
Achieve your potential and make a difference – become a qualified nurse with our BN (Hons) Nursing (Adult) degree.
Learn how the human body works and support patients with acute or lifelong illnesses. Discover how to assess their needs and plan appropriate care from registered nurses, who will support you in becoming caring and compassionate adult nurses.
By training in our extensive simulation suite, you'll develop the knowledge and skills to care for adults and be a confident nursing student, before spending time on placement in real life healthcare settings.
Our degree in Adult Nursing is developed and delivered with NHS partners allowing you to get the most extensive, practical experience possible.
Why study nursing at Portsmouth?
98%
Portsmouth nursing graduates in work or further study
HESA graduate outcomes survey conducted in 2020/21
Our nursing degree will give you the skills and confidence to begin a career making a real difference to people's lives.
You'll care for patients at various stages of their lives, from acutely unwell to those with long-term conditions.
You’ll also benefit from:
1. NMC approval and expert teaching
- Study on a nursing course approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and endorsed by Skills for Care – allowing you to register to practice as an adult nurse in the UK
- Practise your technical skills on medical manikins and work on communication with simulated patients in our Centre for Simulation in Health and Care – preparing you to confidently work in healthcare
- Learn from experienced nurses in the field – keeping your skills current as you build industry connections
2. Great career opportunities
- Take part in a variety of clinical placements, including hospitals, clinics and patient homes, helping you gain a wide range of experiences throughout your training and broadening your skillset
- Join the 98% of Portsmouth nursing graduates in work or further study (HESA graduate outcomes survey conducted in 2020/21)
- Access continued career support after you graduate for up to 5 years, with the potential to work with local NHS partners
3. Extra funding
Receive additional funding through the NHS Learning Support Fund – at least £5,000 a year.
UK students on this course may be eligible for additional funding through the NHS Learning Support Fund bursary of at least £5,000 a year.
Hear from our students
Want to know more? Discover what our students have to say and why nursing at Portsmouth was the right choice for them.
Adult Nursing at Portsmouth is amazing! The Simulation Centre simulates different health conditions, allowing us to assess patient manikins safely and explore clinical emergencies in a way that can't be done in the real world.
My favourite part of the course is how dedicated the staff are to ensure we get the most out of our learning and to prepare us to be newly qualified nurses.
Contact information
Contact AdmissionsEntry requirements
Entry requirements
Typical offers
- A levels - BBB-BBC
- UCAS points - 112-120 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent, with 32 points from a Science or Social Science subject (calculate your UCAS points)
- T-levels - Merit. Acceptable T Level Subjects: T Level in Health (Acceptable Occupational Specialisms: Supporting the adult nursing team, Supporting the mental health team), T Level in Healthcare Science (Acceptable Occupational Specialisms: Assisting with healthcare science), T Level in Science (Acceptable Occupational Specialisms: Laboratory sciences, Metrology sciences)
- BTECs (Extended Diplomas) - DDM-DMM
- International Baccalaureate - 25
You may need to have studied specific subjects – find full entry requirements and other qualifications we accept
Selection process
- All shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an interview in support of their application.
- If successful, applicants will be required to declare if they have been subject to any disciplinary procedures of fitness to practice by any other regulator, professional body, employer or educational establishment.
- Applicants must pass Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and Occupational Health checks before starting the course.
English language requirements
- English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 7.0 with a minimum component score of 7.0 in reading, listening and speaking, and 6.5 in writing.
See alternative English language qualifications.
We also accept other standard English tests and qualifications, as long as they meet the minimum requirements of your course.
We look at more than just your grades
While we consider your grades when making an offer, we also carefully look at your circumstances and other factors to assess your potential. These include whether you live and work in the region and your personal and family circumstances which we assess using established data.
Values and the NHS Constitution
We embed the principles and values of the NHS Constitution in all our health and social care courses. When you apply for this course, we’ll expect you to demonstrate how your values align with the values of the Constitution.
Your facilities
Before you join real paramedics on placement, you'll practise life-saving skills on manikins in our safe and supportive Simulation Centre.
These include:
- ECGs
- resuscitation
- venepuncture
- A to E assessment
- Communication and relationship management skills
Mass casualty simulated experiences | University of Portsmouth
Discover how the School of Health and Care Professions at the University of Portsmouth uses mass casualty simulated experiences to support its teaching. These events enhance the learning of students and conduct research into the processes of healthcare providers as well as using simulated patient experience to teach empathy to nursing students
Hazel
The simulation centre is as close as you can get to an actual ward. It's just a safe place to practice your skills that enable you to become the best you can be at what you want to do.
Laura Knight
SimEx is a simulated mass casualty event. It takes place all over the greater Portsmouth area, with multiple exercises going on with multiple students involved and multiple agencies as well and it just allows not only hospital environments, but also disaster response environments to be able to test their mass casualty processes and protocols to make sure that we deal with it in the best way that we possibly can.
Sarah Herbert
The event today was based on a traffic accident. We've got actors playing the parts of patients, various injuries, some relatively minor, up to some pretty serious stuff and unfortunately, a few people that didn't make it.
Laura Knight
Last year we did one day full of adult casualties. This year, we've doubled the days up and we've added a paediatric element in which allows QA and our students to be able to prepare themselves if the worst ever happened and we did have a lot of children needing attention medically at any one time.
Melanie Tanner
It's a really rare opportunity to be involved in something that's in such big scale, as in SimEx. The students, of course, do have placements. They have to do 2300 hours, be put on the register to be a nurse. But to get this experience with this mass casualty situation would be very, very rare for them.
Laura Knight
A lot of the time, students have to take a bit of a backseat role when stuff like this comes in during clinical placements. Being able to do it in a controlled environment allows the students to be able to practice their skills that they're going to have to be doing when they qualify and when they come across a major incident in real life.
Melanie Tanner
By seeing this and working together with the QA team here now, they are getting such valuable learning experience and if they ever have to deal with this in the future, it will allow them to be more confident and competent practitioners.
Makaylia
I believe that getting this experience as a student opens my eyes to what actually happens in the real world. I feel like I've had the experience where I can implement those skills into anything that I come across.
Hazel
There are so many different aspects of the multidisciplinary team within the hospital setting and being able to understand each other's roles and communicate with each other and work together is what optimises patient outcomes.
Makaylia
This will help me in my future career because of all the experience that I've gained and an insight of what it's like to work with different types of teams, for example, doctors, consultants and other nurses. It's good for communication and teamwork.
Melanie Tanner
20 of my student nurses I've directed up to Tipner. They're going to be involved in a humanitarian exercise and they will be working with the crisis and management team. The idea is by putting student nurses in those roles is they get to see what it's like to be on the other side, to feel vulnerable, to feel empathy for that person in that situation.
Debbi Atkinson
It's about recognising the roles of others, seeing the impacts that they can have and I think its just about taking those transferable skills that our students have and putting it into a different situation.
Steve Searby
Nursing isn't a traditional, ward based approach. Some of the students here could go on and work for international aid agencies. It is really important that they have an awareness of the kind of pressures that they could be involved in.
Phil Crook
There's negotiations that have to be undertaken with local important people. There's interviews with the media to show off their organisation and develop relationships. They face a series of other challenges, such as passing checkpoints and to access and assess a particular location as to its suitability to develop into a refugee camp or camp for internally displaced people. The better we can make that experience now, the better equipped they'll be when they go into that world in the future.
SimEx allows us to offer an exercise environment to other organisations, external to the university such as voluntary organisations, sometimes local authority, emergency responders, United Nations organisations, civil protection organisations from around the world and then sat behind all of that, because we're a university, there's a huge amount of research that goes on.
Melanie Tanner
This experience will really help the students in their future careers. It will really make them feel safe, confident and competent going forward. If it becomes a reality, which we do have major casualty incidents, then they will feel more confident as a team all together to work together and hopefully get a better outcome for everyone in our community.
Careers and opportunities
Nursing is a vital role with healthcare services – nurses and midwives make up nearly half of the global health workforce.
There is high demand for nurses all over the world. Even before the pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that nurses and midwives accounted for more than 50% of the global shortage in health workers. In England alone, there's a need for more than 50,000 new nurses by 2024/5, according to the Health Foundation.
Part 1 registration
When you finish your Adult Nursing course, you'll be eligible to apply for registration on part 1 (Adult) of the professional Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register, which allows you to work as a Registered Nurse in the UK.
You'll also be ready to work as a nurse overseas, within a wide range of nursing roles in primary and secondary care (once you've registered with any applicable overseas nursing bodies).
What can you do with an adult nursing degree?
Studying an adult nursing course can lead to a variety of careers.
You could work in:
- nursing roles in primary or secondary care in the UK and overseas
- charity and aid work
- advanced practice nurse specialisms
- nursing education and mentoring
- healthcare management in ward sister or lead nurse roles
What jobs can an adult nursing course prepare you for?
Job roles you could go on to include:
- community nurse
- critical care nurse
- palliative care nurse specialist
- practice nursing
- care home manager
- research nurse
The NHS is as great as it is because of the people that are in it. Every day is exciting, and the rewards are priceless. Since the lockdown, I feel so lucky that I get to spend time with patients – that’s an amazing feeling.
Potential salary
As an NHS nurse in 2021, you could expect a starting salary of £25,655 moving up to £31,534 (Band 5).
With more experience as a senior nurse, you could earn from £32,306 to £39,027 (Band 6) and with a role in management or consultancy, you could make up to £90,387 (Band 8d) as a chief nurse.
Ongoing careers support
Get experience while you study, with support to find part-time jobs, volunteering opportunities, and work experience.
Towards the end of your degree and for up to five years after graduation, you’ll receive one-to-one support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to help you find your perfect role.
Clinical placements
You'll spend a large amount of your time during this course on clinical placements with partner Trusts in local community and hospital and GP practice environments, supported by clinical mentors and registered healthcare professionals.
Our placement partners span a large area, including Portsmouth, Brighton, Winchester, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Basingstoke, Surrey and Sussex.
Recent students have completed placements at the following locations, among others:
- Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust
- Fareham Community Team
- East Surrey Hospital
Further work experience and volunteering
We can also help you find further relevant work experience, placements, internships and voluntary roles during your course.
This kind of work can really boost your nursing career prospects. In fact, a report by Health Education England, in partnership with the University of Portsmouth, found that NHS staff who volunteered either within the NHS or for external voluntary organisations benefited from acquiring new skills they could transfer into their working lives.
Building experience in a volunteering role while you're studying can enrich what you're learning and help you stand out to employers.
Modules
Each module on this course is worth a certain number of credits.
In each year, you need to study modules worth a total of 120 credits. For example, four modules worth 20 credits and one module worth 40 credits.
What you'll study
Full-time core modules
As you gain academic awareness and an understanding of different perspectives, you'll be able to identify your own personal learning needs, formulate a development plan, identify and retrieve evidence and outline the concept of evidence based practice.
By summarising evidence about a specific area of practice, you'll learn to critique health inequalities, understand public health, and the delivery of health and social care.
When you finish, you'll confidently apply your study skills to key public health issues.
Through lectures about clinical and academic support, you'll develop resilience strategies for the workplace. You'll participate in practice-based learning and demonstrate your expertise and professional attitude – applying classroom theory to real nursing scenarios and cementing your knowledge, values, and skills in nursing practice.
This module contributes to meeting NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses. You'll also need to complete the requirements for the 'Passport to Practice' before attending placements.
Learn to view patients as equals when planning, developing and monitoring care and gain knowledge around legal, professional and ethical patient issues that impact nursing scope and boundaries.
You'll build your understanding on the benefits and challenges of personalised care through reflective exercises of your values, attitudes and assumptions.
By successfully applying your learning, you'll demonstrate NMC standards of proficiencies.
You'll develop the communication skills needed to obtain patient histories and convey assessment findings to teams. You'll demonstrate a strong understanding on anatomical structures and physiological processes, including the major organ systems and learn to perform accurate physical checks, applying your abilities when evaluating and planning care.
By gaining knowledge in the science that informs practice, you'll take steps towards meeting NMC and HCPC standards.
Full-time core modules
Learn to assess deterioration of physical, psychological and mental health while providing safe, patient-centred holistic care. You'll build your ability to supply relevant interventions and support the needs of those during acute episodes of ill health.
Through this module, you'll also meet the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses through your clinical learning.
You'll continue to participate in practice-based learning and demonstrate your expertise and professional attitude. You'll showcase your knowledge and skills in medicine management as you identify your learning and development needs through an action plan.
By evaluating the challenges faced by interprofessional teams in delivering safe, person-centred care, you'll be prepared to reduce and manage errors and near misses. Reflecting on human factors and behaviors that enable safety, you'll analyse the role of organisations and professional bodies, and how they deliver effective and quality improved care.
When you finish, you'll confidently understand the individual and professional responsibilities in delivering safe and effective care as a healthcare professional.
By exploring ethical considerations and selecting appropriate approaches, you'll explore the stages involved in the design and planning of a project in health or social care. You'll discuss the strengths and weaknesses of published evidence that inform practice and consider the barriers, enablers, and contextual factors surrounding evidence based decision-making.
You'll explore long-term conditions at various stages of patient lives, as well as their pathophysiology and impact on patients and their families. You'll also learn to work collaboratively across primary and secondary care, including with other professionals outside the NHS.
Supported by academics and clinical experts, you'll enhance your self directed learning skills and take steps towards meeting various NMC standards.
Full-time core modules
Select a potential elective placement and topic for in-depth analysis – from safeguarding and dementia care to global public health or child mental health.
Critically evaluate evidence around your chosen issue while considering the cultural, political and psychosocial influences on integrated healthcare.
Deepening understanding of community health approaches and policies allows you to apply robust models that address complex population needs.
You'll enhance your skills in care planning, medicines management and emergency priorities – including supervising junior staff. By compassionately managing caseloads and reflecting on patient-centred care, you'll be prepared to take on the responsbilities of a registered nurse and adopt the attitudes and values expected of the role.
Through engaged discussion and critical evaluation, you'll apply ethical, legal, and professional frameworks to manage care efficiently. You'll develop your understanding of clinical governance and quality improvements by examining clinical leadership qualities and how they apply to personalised care.
You'll discuss the importance of supporting equality and diversity when responding to legal and professional challenges.
With strengthened abilities for reflective practice, clinical judgment, and supportive communication, you'll confidently overcome challenges in team based working and successfully deliver safe care.
You'll get the opportunity to independently analyse a specific area of nursing practice and design a quality improvement project that solves a clinical issue.
Drawing on evidence-based practice, you'll generate innovative solutions for enhancing service delivery in your chosen area of interest and build your knowledge on methods that introduce change in clinical practice. You'll be equipped with crucial skills to implement these changes, including critical thinking, project planning, stakeholder engagement, and measuring outcomes.
When you finish, you'll have the valuable capabilities to proactively and collaboratively lead and influence change in practice.
Changes to course content
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry. If a module doesn't run, we'll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
How you're assessed
- academic work including essays, reports, case studies and reflective accounts
- performance-based clinical practice assessments including portfolios and simulation
- in-class tests and examinations
- presentations and scientific posters
- work-based projects
- online learning activities
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
Teaching
Teaching methods on this course include:
- lectures
- simulation
- seminars
- independent study
- work placement
You can access all teaching resources on Moodle, our virtual learning environment, from anywhere with a Web connection.
For more about the teaching activities for specific modules, see the module list above.
How you'll spend your time
One of the main differences between school or college and university is how much control you have over your learning.
We use a blended learning approach to teaching, which means you’ll take part in both face-to-face and online activities during your studies. As well as attending your timetabled classes you'll study independently in your free time, supported by staff and our virtual learning environment, Moodle.
A typical week on your adult nursing course
You will be taking part in scheduled study blocks for up to 20 hours a week. You’ll also be in placement activities for roughly 40 hours a week. The rest of the time you’ll be involved in timetabled activities such as tutorials, lectures and workshops alongside independent study such as research, reading, coursework and project work, alone or in a group with others from your course. You'll probably do more independent study and have less scheduled teaching by your third year.
Term dates
The academic year runs from September to June. There are breaks at Christmas and Easter.
The support from academic staff is brilliant. I've thoroughly enjoyed my training and feel I'm a better nurse because of it.
Supporting you
The amount of timetabled teaching you'll get on your degree might be less than what you're used to at school or college, but you'll also get support via video, phone and face-to-face from teaching and support staff to enhance your learning experience and help you succeed. You can build your personalised network of support from the following people and services:
Types of support
Your personal tutor helps you make the transition to independent study and gives you academic and personal support throughout your time at university.
As well as regular scheduled meetings with your personal tutor, they're also available at set times during the week if you want to chat with them about anything that can't wait until your next meeting.
You'll have help from a team of faculty learning support tutors. They can help you improve and develop your academic skills and support you in any area of your study.
They can help with:
- improving your academic writing (for example, essays, reports, dissertations)
- understanding and using assignment feedback
- managing your time and workload
- revision and exam techniques
As well as support from faculty staff and your personal tutor, you can use the University's Academic Skills Unit (ASK).
ASK provides one-to-one support in areas such as:
- academic writing
- note taking
- time management
- critical thinking
- presentation skills
- referencing
- working in groups
- revision, memory and exam techniques
Our online Learning Well mini-course will help you plan for managing the challenges of learning and student life, so you can fulfil your potential and have a great student experience.
You can get personal, emotional and mental health support from our Student Wellbeing Service, in person and online. This includes 1–2–1 support as well as courses and workshops that help you better manage stress, anxiety or depression.
If you require extra support because of a disability or additional learning need our specialist team can help you.
They'll help you to
- discuss and agree on reasonable adjustments
- liaise with other University services and facilities, such as the library
- access specialist study skills and strategies tutors, and assistive technology tutors, on a 1-to-1 basis or in groups
- liaise with external services
Library staff are available in person or by email, phone, or online chat to help you make the most of the University’s library resources. You can also request one-to-one appointments and get support from a librarian who specialises in your subject area.
The library is open 24 hours a day, every day, in term time.
You can take part in our free In-Sessional English (ISE) programme during your course to improve your English.
Course costs and funding
Tuition fees
- UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £9,250 per year (may be subject to annual increase)
- EU students – £9,250 a year (including Transition Scholarship – may be subject to annual increase)
- International students – £17,900 per year (subject to annual increase)
Funding your studies
Find out how to fund your studies, including the scholarships and bursaries you could get. You can also find more about tuition fees and living costs, including what your tuition fees cover.
Applying from outside the UK? Find out about funding options for international students.
Additional funding – at least £5,000 a year
UK students on this course may be eligible for additional funding through the NHS Learning Support Fund of at least £5,000 a year. The bursary is non-repayable and is in addition to any other support you are eligible for, including Government student loans.
For more information, including eligibility criteria, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
Joining as an EU or international student? Explore the scholarships you can access.
Additional course costs
These course-related costs aren’t included in the tuition fees. So you’ll need to budget for them when you plan your spending.
Additional costs
Our accommodation section show your accommodation options and highlight how much it costs to live in Portsmouth.
You’ll study up to 6 modules a year. You may have to read several recommended books or textbooks for each module.
You can borrow most of these from the Library. If you buy these, they may cost up to £60 each.
We recommend that you budget £75 a year for photocopying, memory sticks, DVDs and CDs, printing charges, binding and specialist printing.
If your final year includes a major project, there could be cost for transport or accommodation related to your research activities. The amount will depend on the project you choose.
Your uniform is included as part of your course fee, but you’ll need to pay £20–£50 for extra or replacement uniforms. You won’t need to pay for a replacement due to fair wear and tear. You’ll also need to supply your own suitable footwear for placements.
You’ll need to purchase clinical items over the course of your study. You should budget around £50 for this.
You’ll need to pay the travel costs associated with your placement, though the NHS may meet some of these costs for students eligible for the NHS Learning Support Fund.
You may have an opportunity to undertake a placement. There are several options for this placement, and you may choose to go abroad. If you want to go abroad or travel within the UK, you need to budget between £1000–£5000. You'll need to cover all your expenses for this placement.
Apply
How to apply
To start this course in 2024, apply through UCAS. You'll need:
- the UCAS course code – B740
- our institution code – P80
If you'd prefer to apply directly, use our online application form.
You can also sign up to an Open Day to:
- Tour our campus, facilities and halls of residence
- Speak with lecturers and chat with our students
- Get information about where to live, how to fund your studies and which clubs and societies to join
If you're new to the application process, read our guide on applying for an undergraduate course.
Applying from outside the UK
As an international student you'll apply using the same process as UK students, but you’ll need to consider a few extra things.
You can get an agent to help with your application. Check your country page for details of agents in your region.
Find out what additional information you need in our international students section.
Admissions terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the University of Portsmouth, you also agree to abide by our Student Contract (which includes the University's relevant policies, rules and regulations). You should read and consider these before you apply.
Common questions about this subject
Can't find the answer to your questions about this course or anything else about undergraduate life? Contact us.
Adult nursing involves working with adults of all ages.
The role of a nurse includes promotion of health and prevention of illness. As an adult nurse, you'll care for adults who are sick or injured, disabled, or at the end of their life.
Adult nursing also includes being an advocate for people and their families when they can't speak up for themselves.
Adult nursing contributes to generating research and shaping health policy.
As well as meeting the course entry requirements, good communication and teamwork skills are useful.
Awareness of the 6Cs of nursing (care, compassion, competence, communication, courage, commitment) is also important.
You'll have the opportunity to get work experience during your degree, but it's helpful to get some work experience before you start the course.
Speaking to someone who works in health and social care is also useful for an insight into the role of a nurse.
For pre-registration nursing, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, (2018, Part 3: Standards for pre-registration nursing programmes, page 8), indicate that recognition of prior learning that is capable of being mapped to the Standards of Proficiency for registered nurses and programme outcomes, is permitted, up to a maximum of 50% of the programme.