School of Nursing

BNurs (Hons) Learning Disability Nursing

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BNurs (Hons)
Start date(s)
18 September 2023,16 September 2024
UCAS Code
B761
Course specifications
Course length
Full-time (3 years)
Campus location
Walsall Campus
UCAS points calculator

Why choose this course?

Working as a qualified Learning Disability Nurse is a rewarding and fulfilling career option. If your aim is to work with people who require various levels of empowerment and support then our course will provide you with a good mixture of practice centred opportunities to achieve your goal.

Employment opportunities after you complete your course are excellent with a wide variety of job prospects available to you. Our graduates have recently secured employment as community nurses, working in forensic settings and within nursing homes to name a few. Services for people who have a learning disability are changing and its exciting to be part of this change.

It is our aim to provide you with the opportunities to enable you to build your own career pathway as a Learning Disability Nurse.

f life and life chances, and to enable the person with a learning disability to achieve their aspirations to engage in citizenship in their local communities.

Placements will be undertaken with one of six NHS Trusts; The Royal Wolverhampton TrustWalsall Healthcare NHS TrustThe Dudley Group NHS Foundation TrustSandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS TrustShrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, or in private health organisations. 

For more information on placements and locations, visit Nursing Placements.

 

What happens on the course?

Our Learning Disability Nursing course provides you with the necessary exposure to placements within the NHS, private and voluntary sector. It is our aim to provide you with the necessary tools to enable you to learn to work effectively within an interprofessional team and with service users plus their carer’s.

Over your 3 years with us you will spend 50% of your time with us in the university and 50% of your course time out in practice settings. Our integrated course design supports to develop you to be the best learning disability nurse you can be. Our modules involve people who have a learning disability within the teaching team via our university SUCCESS group.

On successful completion of the course you will enter the Nursing and Midwifery Council register as a Learning Disability Nurse with an Hons degree.

Course Modules

Potential Career Paths

Successful completion of the BNurs (Hons) Learning Disability Nursing will lead to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

This course will build and develop upon your knowledge and skills as a practitioner working with people with learning disabilities in a variety of settings. The management and organisation of service provision is constantly changing and developing in line with health and social care policy and you are working with and being involved with such changes. Hence you need to develop the knowledge and skills to enhance your employability and to accept the greater responsibilities that these changes will bring and to be prepared for such changes.

Employability’ is concerned with the development of skills aimed at enhancing your employment prospects in learning disability services throughout your time here at the University of Wolverhampton. Developing specialist subject and academic knowledge is important for employers but they also want to employ individuals who are able to:
  • Communicate effectively
  • Work in a team and have good interpersonal skills.
  • Solve problems
  • Work on their own using their own initiative and are able to adapt to changing situations
  • Be self-confident
  • Demonstrate flexible and transferable skills whilst working in a variety of settings
This course will assist you in developing your skills to analyse practice by using appropriate evidence to improve service delivery and to promote empowerment for life chances and healthy lifestyles for people with learning disabilities

Registered Nurses continue to study after they have qualified, often in a specialist area, as they develop their career path within the UK or working abroad. 

 

Additional Information

Everything you need to know about this course!

Studying the BNurs (Hons) Learning Disability Nursing course enables you to experience:

  • Excellent opportunities for inter-disciplinary learning across all nursing pathways and with midwifery, social work and social care students.
  • Excellent placement opportunities across a range of health, education, day services and social care settings
  • Opportunities to contribute to national and regional Learning Disability conferences
  • Opportunities to publish in national learning disability journals
  • Opportunities to participate in national and regional research projects
  • £250 Travel Fund for first year students that can be used for travel to placements as well as to University. If additional costs are incurred when attending placements, you can apply to the NHS for support: www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/learning-support-fund/travel-and-dual-accommodation-expenses.
  • International placement opportunities such as Spain, Finland, Norway

 

As a Registered Learning Disability Nurse you will:

  1. Meet the NMC Standards of proficiency for pre-registration nursing education.
  2. Provide nursing care that is safe, effective and ethical and assume full responsibility and accountability for your own practice as a Nurse registered on the NMC register within the legal framework of the country in which you are employed.
  3. Reflect upon and critically evaluate evidence to reach sound nursing judgements and exercise effective decision making in complex situations within the learning disability sphere of practice.
  4. Critically examine the impact of political, professional and social contexts on your provision of person centred learning disability nursing care within the context of a multidisciplinary team.
  5. Effectively apply your learning to identify, manage and lead enterprising innovations and service improvements in learning disability practice.
  6. Demonstrate competence in the use of advanced technologies to quality assure and enhance your learning disability nursing practice and maintain your life-long learning.

Location Mode Fee Year
Home Full-time £9250 per year 2022-23
Home Full-time £9250 per year 2023-24
Home Full-time £9250 per year 2023-24
Home Full-time £9250 per year 2024-25
International Full-time £13450 per year 2022-23
International Full-time £14450 per year 2023-24
International Full-time £14450 per year 2023-24
International Full-time £14950 per year 2024-25

Additional Course Costs

Mandatory Costs

  • International checks (INTCC) as part of the DBS are required and costs vary by country.
  • Uniform and ID badges are provided for this course, however the University of Wolverhampton reserves the right to charge for extra uniform should this be required
  • You will be required to provide appropriate foot wear at a cost of approximately  £25-£40  

Further information on these additional costs will be provided prior to the start of your studies

The University is committed to a transparent fee structure, with no hidden costs, to help you make an informed decision. This includes information on what is included in the fee and how fees are calculated and reviewed

GCSEs at grade C+/ 4 in an English-based subject and Maths or equivalent qualifications (e.g. Key Skills Level 2/ Learn Direct Level 2/ Functional Skills Level 2).

Please note we do NOT accept GCSE Short Courses

PLUS EITHER

  • 112 UCAS points
  • A Levels - grades BBC
  • T Levels - Equivalent to 112 UCAS points or higher in Health or Healthcare Science
  • BTEC L3 Extended Diploma or OCR Cambridge L3 Technical Extended Diploma - grades DMM
  • CACHE Level 3 Extended Diploma at a B grade
  • Access to HE Diploma (60 credits) of which a minimum of 45 must be at Level 3 (112 UCAS point equivalence, minimum 15 credits at distinction)
  • Undergraduate or Postgraduate degrees
  • Foundation degrees /HND/ HNC

Not met the entry criteria for this course?   Did you know you could study Nursing within 4 years?  Why not discover more information about our new Foundation Year courses and what you need to get onto them.  Please visit Foundation Year Courses to find out more about what opportunities we have for you

Have you also considered other careers in Health?  Did you know we also offer:

  • Learning Disability Nursing
  • Coming soon our self-funded apprenticeship  
  • Degrees in Public Health, Social Care and Health Studies
  • Podiatry 

Please visit the Institute of Health for more information

Use the UCAS Tariff calculator to check your qualifications and points

If you've got other qualifications or relevant experience, please contact The Gateway for further advice before applying.

Evidence of digital literacy and technological literacy capability will be determined by successful completion of your application.

 

Other Requirements

Applicants will also be required to provide satisfactory personal statement and reference (academic or employer).

Those meeting the entry requirements may be shortlisted for a values-based selection process and will be subsequently required to meet a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check and Occupational Health requirements.

Read further information regarding interview preparation

 

Additional Information

During the Nursing course you will be required to attend placements.   When you are asked for your choice of placement area we will endeavour to meet your request however we must emphasise that this cannot be guaranteed and therefore you must ensure you are able to travel to the final placement area you are allocated.

Free Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and Occupational Health Check:

Due to the professional nature of some of our courses you may also be required to complete a Declaration of Health and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check.  We will coordinate both of these non-academic conditions with you should your course require this and you receive an offer from us

There will be no cost for the DBS this is free to applicants who have secured an offer and have chosen to study at the University of Wolverhampton.

Student Visa Requirements

Applicants who require a student visa to enter the UK are not eligible to be considered for this course. 

Skilled Worker Visa Requirements

Applicants who are in the UK on a Skilled Worker Visa or are a dependent of a Skilled worker are not eligible to be considered for this course. 

Contextual Offers

The university recognises that many students have additional barriers in progression to university, whether this be through disability, as a care leaver, from an area of deprivation or another factor. The university wishes to provide additional support for these students through the contextual offer scheme. If you are eligible, the University will apply a contextual Admissions decision, in the form of a reduced offer letter by up to two grades or 16 UCAS tariff points. Find out more.

Don't have GCSE English and/or Maths? Take our Equivalency Assessments

We understand that not everyone is able to achieve GCSE Maths and English for a variety of reasons. Our equivalency assessments provide an opportunity for you to further your English and/or Maths skills ready for your studies, as well as being able to meet part of the entry requirements for many of our undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Our online equivalency assessments are free of charge and accepted as the equivalent to a GCSE for the majority of our courses, however applicants of Initial Teacher Training courses will need to sit an on-campus equivalency test which costs £35. Find out more about our equivalency tests.

 

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

Recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for the purpose of registration as a qualified nurse (learning disabilities).

Tuition Fees Loan (Home Fee Status):

Most students will be able to apply for a loans to pay for these subject to eligibility. To find out more information please refer to the government Student Finance website.

Changes for EU students:

The UK government has confirmed that EU students starting courses from 1 August 2021 will normally be classified as having Overseas Fee status. More information about the change is available at UKCISA:

EU citizens living in the UK with 'settled' status, and Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland, will still be classified as Home students, providing they meet the usual residency requirements, for more information about EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) click here.


Self-funding:

If you don’t want to take out a loan to pay your fees or if you aren’t eligible to receive a loan, you might want to take advantage of the University’s scheme to pay by instalments: See How to pay.

For more information please contact the Gateway.


Your employer, embassy or organisation can pay for your Tuition fees:

If your employer, embassy or organisation agrees to pay all or part of your tuition fees; the University will refer to them as your sponsor and will invoice them for the appropriate amount.

We must receive notification of sponsorship in writing as soon as possible, and before enrolment, confirming that the sponsor will pay your tuition fees.


Financial Hardship:

Students can apply to the Dennis Turner Opportunity Fund.

for help with course related costs however this cannot be used for fees or to cover general living costs.


Bursaries and Scholarships:

In addition the University also offers a range of Bursaries and Scholarships packages

You can find more information on the University’s Funding, cost, fee and support pages.

Telephone

01902 32 22 22

Email

enquiries@wlv.ac.uk

Online

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Full-time Course