Nursing entry requirement - how to meet it?

[NotAnApricot]

Hi
My Dd is having a year off and wants to do nursing at university. She is desperate to go to UWE (Bristol) but doesn’t have the necessary A levels subjects (she has 112 UCAS points but in performing arts and humanities due to a change of career plan).

She has relevant experience in domiciliary care and is applying for jobs in hospitals. She knows she could probably get in elsewhere but is set on Bristol.

Can anyone advise me on whether she could do an OU course or something else online to meet this requirement:
Access: 15 Level 3 credits at Merit in a Science or Social Science subject.

She doesn’t want to do another A level in her year off so we are trying to think out of the box.

They do offer a foundation year at UWE but I think they quite rightly prioritise disadvantaged students.

Any ideas?

TIA :)

I am a qualified nurse but I had A levels etc however lots of colleagues did not but did a years access course at college prior to applying. Hope this helps

Why doesn't she contact the UWE admissions team directly and then they can help advise? I'm an admissions manager at a London university and much prefer prospects to come to us directly for qualification support rather than take a course which won't actually allow them entry to the programme. We don't bite! :)

How old is she? You've said "taking a year out" so presumably she's 18/19 so might be too young to do an access course as most are for mature learners who are usually defined as 21+ or sometimes 25+ rather than school leavers but it will depend on the college.

Would she consider doing the a level at night school? Just an evening a week?

Speak to your local FE college

Can she pick up an A level in a science or social science at a local college to boost her ucas points?

@NotAnApricot the list of A levels is quite wide - has a few humanities in it. Does she have any of these ?

It’s also about being able to cope with the course and I think she’ll struggle without a scientific qualification. I’m not sure what the 15 credits equates to? The flexibility in requirements is usually for mature students, I’d encourage her to do an extra a level (biology?) I think it will really help her in the degree

@brainstories568 she does intend to, thank you but wanted to do some research first so that we can say ‘would this be acceptable?’
rather than being passive and asking ‘what should I do?)

@Nix32 she wants to travel and doesn’t want that level of commitment! I think she would also rather not do another full year if anything first so I suppose I’m asking if there are online courses that could be a bit of a top up.

@mumsneedwine no, she did philosophy.
But @BungleandGeorge why would she struggle more than someone who had A level DT, food tech or geography? All on their list!!

Oh and the have said they are very unlikely to accept philosophy (we did ring them months ago but now want to improve her chances).

Oh and forgot to say- just turned 18, in reply to a PP

@NotAnApricot mmm. If Bristol is her dream she may have to sit one of those A levels this year. Could study while travelling (loads of online teaching) and sit exam in June.

I'm a RMN and I had to attended college to do Access to Nursing for 1year to meet the entry requirements.

Access to higher education in health science would give her the credits she needs and provide the background knowledge she will need to start a nursing degree. My collage offered this park time (1.5 days a week or 3 evenings a week)

I'm applying for adult nursing (I think) for next September and I am currently completing the level 4 health and social care certificate. It's available to anyone over 18 I believe. It's two half days "at uni" although all can be done online. This is the equivalent to the old access course and can be used to access a number of different course

Ok, but I still think you're better off asking the uni directly what would be acceptable then researching those options rather than coming up with a lot of different options for them to say sorry, none of those are equivalent. I'm just speaking from my experiences over a decade of being on the receiving end of these sort of questions and dealing with students (and parents) who get it into their heads that we will change our mind and let them do X qualification instead of doing Y.

From an admissions perspective I'd also be wary of admitting someone who isn't "committed" enough to do the ground work to get into a very stressful, intense degree programme, so I'd be careful with how you/she words the query. Does she HAVE to apply this year or can she get the travelling out of the way (perfectly understandable and valuable!) and do some volunteering then settle down in a year or two to do studying in order to access the course?

Most nursing programs will expect a student to have done the Access to Nursing or a Healthcare course now. Having experience in care or hospital environment didn't enough now I'm afraid. If she's truly passionate about becoming a nurse, then attending the one year course that can enable this, rather than going travelling, would be a better idea.

She could also look for a Trainee Nursing Associate position, which is on the job training for a foundation degree which can then be topped up to a full nursing degree later. She would only need a level 2 qualification to apply for this.

@brainstories568 so good to have the admissions perspective. Many thanks.

She’s just bitten the bullet completed an application to a local access course that she partially completely a couple of months ago! I persuaded her (easily) that she might regret it if she let’s that ship sail. Yes, she only wants one year off.

I’m just crossing fingers that they might admit her aged 18 (self funded) and one week after the course started. Feeling hopefully though, as the online applications were still open.

Thanks so much everyone. Will also contact UWE again after the weekend.

@Mabelstearooms that is the plan B but she really wants the undergrad experience (but realises that nursing is not like other degrees in terms of intensity!)

Fingers crossed!

It will also depend on whether they are only funded for X places etc, particularly if they do work placements during the access course and their agreements with providers. But even if she doesn't get in this time they might give her a deferred place for their next intake, which may be as soon as January and if she is really "on it" (and they offer it) she might be able to do an accelerated one, or alternatively look for Jan degree start as that's become much more common in recent years. If she's outright rejected then she should ask for feedback for things to improve on so that she can get onto the course.

Just don't let them encourage her to start something which is a level 2 equivalent (GCSE level) as then she will need to do further study to get into the degree course, or potentially a foundation year unless she doesn't have the required grades already in any essential subjects like English, Maths and potentially science. Then once she is on the course she will need to ensure that she takes level 3 in all of the required modules AND achieves the needed results, in addition to getting a place. I've no idea how competitive nursing degrees are since they changed the rules to mean everyone needs a degree level qualification, but a decade or so ago the standard degree programmes were very competitive at some universities.

DD started uni last year on a business course and then decided in November she wanted to do nursing! She didn't do A levels but had a level 3 Btec in sports (cricket!) She applied anyway as she had enough ucas points and was offered 5 interviews! So no health care course but she had done some physiology and psychology stuff at college. She had however worked for the NHS in various roles in her year off, all admin. She has just started a LJMU