Close

Nursing (Adult)

BSc (Hons)

UCAS code: (Oxford based) B705 (Swindon based) B706

Start dates: September 2025 / September 2026

Full time: 3 years

Part time: 8 years maximum (limited part-time places available)

Location: Headington (Marston Road site), Swindon

Department(s): Oxford School of Nursing and Midwifery

Overview
Course details
Careers
Entry requirements
How to apply
Tuition fees

Find a course

Expand

Overview

Healthcare delivery is changing fast, and adult nurses are in high demand. Working flexibly with other health and social care professionals is essential. Our adult nursing degree shows you how to care for people in a variety of settings, meeting their mental and physical health needs across their lifespan.

Our facilities let you practise nursing in immersive virtual environments. You could be responding to an accident on the streets or taking care of somebody in a nursing home. Then you’ll go out and do it for real.

The course has been commended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for our partnerships with placement organisations, and for its focus on public health. And there are opportunities to study abroad at destinations like the University of Pennsylvania, one of the top nursing universities in the world.

Order a Prospectus Ask a question Attend an open day or webinar

Male nurse finding a pulse on a medical dummy

Why Oxford Brookes University?

  • Top 20 in the UK

    Nursing (Adult) is ranked 17th in the Guardian General Nursing subject league ranking 2025.

  • Interactive facilities

    Practise nursing care in augmented reality and other simulations before applying them in real scenarios.

  • Community spotlight

    There’s an equal amount of focus on community and hospital nursing, and the relationship between them.

  • Placement opportunities

    We have good links with local healthcare providers, allowing you to gain practical, hands-on work experience. Your time on placement is assessed, so employers know this experience is reflected in your final grade.
     

  • Tailored support

    With small class sizes, we’ll get to know you on a personal level and offer help that suits you.

  • Free language courses

    Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.

  • Study abroad

    We currently have exchange agreements with partners in Europe (Ireland, Spain and Sweden) and with the University of Pennsylvania in the USA (rated the number one university in the world for nursing). Further information will be provided at the start of the programme to inform students about the possibility of an exchange experience.

  • Accreditation(s)

    Approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

    • Nursing and Midwifery Council

Course details

Course structure

In Year 1, you’ll learn the foundations of nursing across the human lifespan and various fields of practice. You’ll cover biosciences, influences on peoples’ health and wellbeing, the values and beliefs that underpin their lives, and the theories that shape nursing practice.

Year 2 explores therapeutic relationships, communication and collaboration, and planning, implementing and evaluating nursing care within the field of practice you want to pursue.

You’ll focus on becoming a registered adult nurse in Year 3. This includes looking after people with multiple health conditions. You’ll learn how to lead, manage, and coordinate nursing care, and what to do when supervising others. We focus on wellbeing and providing the support that shapes you into a confident, resilient practitioner.

You’ll also complete a dissertation. This is your opportunity to showcase the skills you’ve gained over the last two years by presenting research based on your nursing practice experiences.

Student taking notes

Learning and teaching

The teaching and learning approaches have been designed to reflect the transformational ethos of the philosophy.  Learning will be facilitated by a range of approaches during both the practice and university experiences such as:

  • Experiential learning
  • Mentoring and supervising
  • Active learning
  • Student-centred learning
  • Blended and on-line learning
  • Use of technology and informatics
  • Collaborative learning with other disciplines in practice, interprofessional learning
  • Problem-based/solution-focused learning; for example, small group working using complex, multi-faceted scenarios, prioritising or decision-making in practice.

Assessment

All modules have an assessment component, where we ask you to demonstrate your learning and its application to enhancing patient care. 

Examples of assessments include:

  • Reflective essay
  • Presentations
  • Episodes of care
  • In-class tests
  • Multiple choice examinations
  • Neighbourhood study
  • Case studies.

During placements your progress will be assessed by a Practice Assessor (NMC Pre-registration Standards, 2019) using the Brookes electronic Practice Assessment Document (BePAD).

Each Clinical Practice Experience module must be achieved in order to progress into the next year of the course, as well as fulfil the professional requirements to be eligible for registration as an Adult Nurse at the end of the programme. 

Study modules

Teaching for this course takes place Face to Face and you can expect around 15 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

  • Preparation for Academic and Professional Learning

    As a nursing student, this module will help to prepare you for academic and professional learning. You will develop the skills for academic writing, including your academic integrity. You will be introduced to evidence informed practice and critical thinking. 

    You will select reflective tools and explore the concept of reflection as a tool for developing your self-awareness and learning in the academic and clinical environments.
     

  • Bioscience for Nursing Practice

    Following the UK Bioscience in Nurse Education guidance, this module will help you to build confidence in bioscience knowledge that underpins nursing clinical practice. This will include developing your knowledge of anatomy, scientific terminology and physiological principles that underpin health and illness, including microbiology and genetics. You will also look at how medications act on body systems.

    The knowledge you develop and build will help to inform your clinical decision making and communication regarding patient care.
     

  • Foundations of Nursing Practice

    This module is your introduction to professional values, professional identity, ethical principles and the culture and practice of nursing. You will study themes such as 

    • team working
    • collaborative practice
    • person and family centred care
    • nursing models.

    Which will also include the nursing process; within the context of your field of practice. You will also look at caring for people across the lifespan and to meet the specific care needs of people within your chosen field of practice. To help you develop a sound basis of nursing practice.
     

  • Adult Health and Wellbeing

    This module complements your first year modules by exploring health in a wider context. You will explore health and health inequalities from an individual, family and societal perspective acknowledging that health inequalities are unfair and often avoidable. Looking at key Public Health, Health Promotion and Education strategies you’ll address such health inequalities and the role adult nurses play. Also you will examine wider influences and determinants of health considering political, geographical and socioeconomic factors and how these impact on health across the lifespan and though populations. 

    You'll build knowledge of the value of the adult nurse’s role in education, empowerment and advocacy. Also you’ll gain understanding of the importance of sound professional judgement and collaborative working practice. 

    This module prepares you for your second year modules:

    • Assessment and Planning Adult Nursing Care
    • Promoting Health in Adult Nursing Practice.
       

  • Clinical Practice Experience 1 (Adult)

    Through simulation based education and direct care, this module will help you to develop a relevant knowledge base, skills and behaviours to fulfil the professional requirements for the adult nursing programme.  

    Your placement experience for this module will usually include two placements during the year. Completion of this module will contribute to the achievement of Part 1 of your programme.
     

Year 2

Compulsory modules

  • Research Methods and Analysis

  • Enhancing Therapeutic Relationships in Nursing Practice

    Research shows that better relationships with patients leads to better outcomes. In this module, you’ll gain an insight into how the diverse experiences of people and their families inform all stages of the nursing process, and help them get the most out of therapy from a physical and mental health care perspective.

    You’ll deepen your knowledge from Year 1 of how human connection, communication and self-awareness can be a crucial element in forming a therapeutic relationship with the patient, greatly influencing their quality of care and overall health outcome.

    You will be supported to critically reflect on the concept of therapeutic use of self and approaches to working collaboratively with people and their families, who may be at any stage of life and who may have a range of mental, physical, cognitive or behavioural health challenges.

    By the end of this module, you’ll be able to manage individuals’ physical, psychosocial and developmental stages in order to inform your practice.  

  • Clinical Practice Experience 2 (Adult)

    In this module, you’ll gain valuable hands-on experience through a combination of simulation practice learning (SPL) and direct care. You’ll develop a real-world knowledge base and obtain relevant skills and behaviours to equip you with the essential abilities for working in the clinical practice environment and fulfilling the professional requirements for the adult nursing programme.

    Alongside this, you’ll have the opportunity to engage in two placements during the year, and completion of this module will contribute to the achievement of Part 1 of your programme.

  • Assessing and Planning Adult Nursing Care

    In this module, you’ll build upon your knowledge and understanding gained in the bioscience module of year 1, with particular focus on a variety of adult illnesses related to key physiological systems. You’ll immerse yourself in topics such as pathophysiology, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment, which will make up part of your assessment and discovery of how these elements impact on people’s health and illness experience.

    You will also consider the effects of lifespan development, disease trajectory and care locations. The insights you will discover will go towards promoting your knowledge and designing your skills of assessment, diagnosis and planning, which is vital for evidence-informed clinical practice. Throughout your study you’ll be taught a variety of tools and frameworks to aid assessment and planning. By the end of this module you’ll be positioned with the ability to make responsible clinical decisions. 

  • Promoting Health in Adult Nursing Practice

    Promoting health is one of the key cornerstones of good nursing practice. You’ll learn through a combination of simulation practice learning (SPL) and direct care. You’ll develop a real-world knowledge base and obtain relevant skills and behaviours to equip you with the essential abilities for working in the clinical practice environment and fulfilling the professional requirements for the adult nursing programme. Alongside this, you’ll have the opportunity to engage in two placements during the year, and completion of this module will contribute to the achievement of Part 2 of your programme.  

Optional modules

Health Care Elective

The module is a form of independent study in which you need to draw on material from a range of previous modules, as well as their practical experience to date. It involves a 2 week placement.

Global Health

The purpose of this module is to develop and expand your knowledge and understanding of the concept of global health and its challenges. The module will prepare you for nursing practice in a variety of settings around the world.

Year 3

Compulsory modules

  • Dissertation (Honours component)

    In this module you’ll develop research awareness and understanding of the principles and how to apply them in this particular clinical practice. You’ll be given the opportunity to identify your own research question and undertake an independent project under the guidance of an academic member of staff. In addition, there will be the chance to utilise various texts and literature to support your study.

  • Nursing Care of Adults with Complex Needs

    In this module, you’ll consolidate your existing learning, and develop your knowledge of problem solving and decision-making skills with a person-centred approach for specific population groups. You’ll focus on implementing safe and effective practice, ensuring that you are well equipped to appropriately meet the complex needs of the adults in your care. You’ll use an Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) approach to undertake the assessment and management of complex scenarios in a variety of multi-field settings, allowing you to implement holistic methods of care to support the health needs and outcomes of adults with complex needs.

    You’ll explore how collaborative working with professional colleagues provides optimal care. Alongside this, you’ll have the opportunity to integrate and develop your understanding of relevant theory as well as anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology of complex care needs of adults to ensure you are capable of making the right decisions for their healthcare needs.

  • Consolidation of Adult Nursing Practice

    This module will provide you with the ultimate opportunity to seek learning opportunities as a student nurse. You’ll consolidate your skills, knowledge, and strategies required to prepare you to be an effective, safe and knowledgeable practitioner, capable of delivering compassionate, high quality and evidence-based care.

    Not only will this module provide you with the ability to develop and manage your own professional practice, but it will equip you to support, supervise and manage others; paving a way for you to lead and take developmental steps forward in the professional nursing world.

    You'll consider your future career, learning milestones, and form your own identity as an adult nurse. You'll consider strategies that are essential in successfully functioning as practice supervisors, such as effective leadership skills for working with diverse teams. You’ll explore change management theory, which will support the creation of your own service improvement project proposal.

  • Clinical Practice Experience 3 (Adult)

    Through a combination of simulation practice learning (SPL) and direct care, this module will allow you to develop a relevant knowledge base, skills and behaviours to fulfil the professional requirements for the adult nursing programme and ensure you are eligible for nurse registration. You’ll be given the opportunity to experience two placements during the year. Completion of this module will contribute to the achievement of Part 3 of your programme.

Work placements

Compulsory modules

  • Work placements

    We enjoy an excellent working partnership with our local health providers collaborating closely with our clinical colleagues to plan and deliver your programme of learning. This means that you can gain experience in community and acute placement settings that have national and international reputations for innovation and quality of care. You will undertake six placements during your degree. You will work alongside your Practice Supervisors and are required to work both day and night shifts, according to the shift pattern used within the practice setting. This allows you to experience care as it is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is in accordance with NMC (2018) Standards for Pre-Registration Nursing Education. We offer a range of support mechanisms within both the University and the placement area. While on placement, you will be supported by a named member of staff from the placement known as a Practice Supervisor.

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Careers

Once you become a registered adult nurse, you’ll have the opportunity to pursue a career in a variety of healthcare settings. Our graduates have gone on to work in many areas of the NHS and the Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) sector. These include cancer care units, emergency departments, and surgical and medical wards.

Some work in nursing homes and hospices, and community settings like district nursing. Others have pursued nursing careers in the military. One works for the World Health Organisation in Denmark, working on cross-border nursing treatment.

If you want to carry on with your studies, we offer Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Learning Beyond Registration (LBR) opportunities. Since nurses need to be lifelong learners, you may want to consider short refresher courses or postgraduate study. Options include our MSc in Advanced Nursing Practice and Professional Doctorate in Nursing, plus PhDs and MPhils.

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: 104

A Level: BCC

IB Points: 29

BTEC: DMM

Contextual offer

What is a contextual offer?

UCAS Tariff Points: 88

A Level: CCD

IB Points: 27

BTEC: MMM

International qualifications and equivalences

How to apply

Application process


Full time Home (UK) applicants
Apply through UCAS


Part time Home (UK) applicants
Apply direct to the University


International applicants
Apply direct to the University

Full time international applicants can also apply through UCAS

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
£9,250
Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module
International full time
£16,700
Home (UK) full time
£9,250*
Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module*
International full time
£16,900

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Tuition fees

2024 / 25
Home (UK) full time
£9,250
Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module
International full time
£16,700
2025 / 26
Home (UK) full time
£9,250*
Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module*
International full time
£16,900

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 534400

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

* Following the government’s announcement of 4 November 2024, we expect to increase our undergraduate tuition fees for UK students to £9,535 from the start of the 2025/26 academic year. Please visit The Education Hub for more information about the changes. We will confirm our fees for 2025/26 as soon as possible.

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.

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. 

How and when to pay

Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.

  • For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
  • For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page

Financial support and scholarships

All eligible nursing students on courses from September 2020 (new and continuing) will receive a payment of at least £5,000 a year which they will not need to pay back. For more information please visit NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF)

For general sources of financial support, see our Fees and funding pages.

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Extra costs

Costs that are NOT included in tuition fees are as follows:

  • Books
  • Binding dissertations
  • Exchanges and elective modules
  • Library loans and fines
  • Living accommodation at university
  • Graduation
  • Photocopying
  • Travel

This list is not exhaustive and other course-specific costs may be incurred.

For the most up-to-date information on additional costs, please keep checking the website as we will update this as further information becomes available.

Information from Discover Uni

Full-time study

Part-time study

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.