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Qualifications to Become a Nurse

Nursing is often referred to as the caring profession because nurses are often considered the caring, hands-on, public-facing role within the National Health Service. But nurses do so much more than just care: they are also highly educated and highly qualified individuals about to make high-level clinical decisions about the care and well-being of their patients. With that in mind, you will need a high level of education to become a registered nurse. But will you need to go to university? What GCSEs and A-levels will you need? And why should you become a nurse in the first place?

Here’s everything you need to know about the qualifications needed to become a nurse:

Why Become a Nurse?

Nursing is a highly rewarding and people-focused profession. Entering nursing is considered to be a vocation because the individuals choosing this path are driven by a desire to help others when they are in need, and to play an active role in their healthcare and recovery. Nursing is a hands-on profession in which you will be providing frontline treatment for your patients, improving their quality of life and caring for their general well-being. You are also personally responsible for their comfort during the time that they are in your care. If this sounds appealing, and you are looking for a rewarding profession in which what you do will really matter to others then nursing may be the right path for you. But there are other great reasons to consider nursing. These include:

  • Nursing is a profession with high levels of job security. Because the NHS is chronically understaffed, you will never struggle to find a job as a qualified nurse in the UK, and nursing has been revealed to be one of the most employable degrees in the country. This is because 94% of nursing graduates find a job within six months of leaving university.
  • Nursing is a degree with minimal financial burden. Undergraduate level education can be incredibly expensive with the average student in the UK leaving university with £45,060 of student loan debt. However new nursing students are now eligible for a £5,000 nursing grant during the first year of their degree, which will go some way towards helping to ease the financial burden of their studies.
  • Nursing degrees are transferrable across many countries, as you will learn a huge number of transferrable skills that are desirable, and in high demand globally. This means that if you’ve always wanted to work abroad then a nursing degree could be a great route to doing so.

What Do You Need to Become a Nurse?

If you wish to become a nurse then you will need to be caring and empathetic, have good listening and communication skills, be patient and able to remain calm in difficult or stressful situations and be able to provide care to individuals from all walks of life without judgement. Nursing is a vocation: a profession individuals enter not for prestige or financial gain, but due to a genuine desire to help people and make a difference in the world. Nurses have an incredibly high level of integrity and put maintaining human dignity above all else. If you recognise yourself in this list of qualities, then you already have so much of what you need to become a nurse.

In educational terms, the qualifications you will need to pursue a career in nursing will depend on whether you wish to attend university and complete a standard three-year nursing degree, or whether you wish to study a nursing degree apprenticeship and achieve your goals slightly slower whilst earning as you learn. The qualifications needed for a standard nursing degree are a minimum of five GCSEs at grade 4/C or above. Most universities will also that two of these GCSEs are in English language or literature and a science subject. You will also need two A-levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications for an undergraduate degree. Some universities may ask for three A-levels or equivalent, depending on their unique requirements as these are set by each university, meaning there is no single set of entry requirements for a nursing degree. To enter nursing via the apprenticeship route you will need at least two A-levels (or equivalent BTEC, International Baccalaureate or Scottish Highers awards), with one being in a science or health-related field, and a minimum of GCSEs in English and maths at grade C or above.

Student Nurses

Do You Have to Go to University?

There are four routes into nursing within the UK, and not all of these routes will require that you go to university and complete a conventional undergraduate degree. These routes are:

  • Undergraduate Nursing degree
  • Nursing Degree Apprenticeship
  • Nursing Associate Training
  • Postgraduate Nursing courses

Whilst going to university and completing an undergraduate nursing degree is the most popular route to becoming a nurse, it is not the only route, so if you are reluctant to, or unable to, attend university then there are other ways that you can reach your goal of becoming a registered nurse.

Best A-Levels if you Want to Become a Nurse

If you wish to pursue a career in nursing, then the most important A-level you should study is Biology. An understanding of Biology and the way in which the human body works is integral to nursing and, as a result, this is one of the first subjects that university admissions officers will look for. Other subjects that will help your university application include another science subject (such as Chemistry), or a social science subject (such as Psychology or Sociology). However, it is important to note that not all nursing schools will have strict entry requirements and the subjects that you will need to study are not as prescriptive a list as it is for other professions, particularly Medicine, where universities will have a firm list of the subjects that students must study. Many universities will take nursing students who show an aptitude and passion for care, even if they don’t have a relevant academic record.

For this reason, obtaining relevant work experience (such as helping in a clinical setting, care home, or working with children in an organisation such as scouting or guiding) will be just as important to your application as the A-levels you study and the grades you achieve: showing you already care about the people you wish to support throughout your nursing career will go a long way to getting you the place on the course you want.

Best GCSEs if you Want to Become a Nurse

If you wish to pursue a career in nursing then almost all nursing degrees and nursing apprenticeships will ask that you have a passing grade in both GCSE maths and English (either English language or English literature, though many students will choose to study both). These are considered core subjects, and you cannot continue in your studies without them. Other GCSE subjects that are highly desirable for prospective nurses are the science subjects of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Many nursing courses will ask that you have at least one science GCSE, but the more you are able to demonstrate the better, as this will help your application stand out from the crowd. Beyond this, you will have the freedom to choose the GCSE subjects that interest you most, although you may also wish to study at least one essay subject (such as History or Economics). Whilst this will not directly aid you in your pursuit of a nursing career, it will provide you with vital essay-writing skills, which you may find useful when you are asked to write essays as part of your course at degree level.

Adult Nursing

Studying Nursing at University

Studying nursing at university and gaining an undergraduate nursing degree is the most common route into nursing, and one taken by thousands of students every year. There are thousands of different nursing degrees available, so you will have to decide if you would like to take a qualification in general nursing or if you would like to narrow down your specialisation to something more specific. Examples of specialist nursing degrees include:

  • Adult Nursing
  • Paediatric Nursing
  • Nursing For Individuals With Learning Disabilities
  • Mental Health Nursing
  • Midwifery

There are 80 universities offering nursing degrees in the UK, meaning that if you wish to study nursing at university then you’ll be spoilt for choice. Some prospective students look for the university closest to their home in order to maintain a study/family life balance: this is a particularly common route for mature students with established home lives. Others will seek to attend the best and most highly regarded universities for their profession.  If you fall into this category then the top ten universities according to the Complete University Guide’s 2022 Nursing league tables, are: The University of Edinburgh, Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, Cardiff University, University of Manchester, University of Surrey and University of Sheffield.

There should be no pressure to use these rankings when choosing the right university for you though. Other factors that students should take into account when choosing their university and home for the next three years include the facilities offered by their university, local activities and the quality of local life, as well as the level of support offered to students.

In order to apply for a nursing degree you will need to undertake the same UCAS application process as you would for any other university degree: this means choosing up to five universities you wish to apply for and submitting an application which will include your grades and the subjects you are studying, alongside a comprehensive personal statement. Unique to nursing and a few other degree subjects (including Medicine) is the fact that you will also be required to attend an interview before you can be accepted into many nursing schools. Attending an interview for anything can be daunting, particularly when the outcome will determine if you are able to pursue your chosen profession. You can alleviate your nerves by ensuring that you have done plenty of research, and are clear about why you wish to be  nurse and any decisions you have made to support your choice to pursue that route.

If you do wish to enter nursing via a degree, then you will need to achieve A-levels or A-level equivalent qualifications. Each university will have its own entry requirements in terms of the A-level subjects you should study and the grades you should expect to achieve. But you are advised to focus on science subjects where possible, as these will form a firm foundation for the physiology that you will study as part of your degree. The UCAS points needed for a Nursing degree range from 96 points to 144 points, but if you already have a chosen university in mind then you are advised to visit their website for a better idea of the grades that you will need. Use this to inform your A-level options and to give you a goal to work towards.

On-the-Job Nurse Training

Another route to becoming a trained and registered nurse is to undertake a nursing apprenticeship, where you will learn the skills you need through a combination of on-the-job training and classroom learning. The normal ratio of this is that you will work full time as a nurse within a clinical setting, but you will spend one day away from your clinic or hospital attending classes within your local university. Some of the advantages of on-the-job nurse training in this way include:

  • You can earn as you learn because you will be working alongside completing your studies.
  • Your employer (usually the NHS) will pay for your degree, meaning that you won’t need to find additional funding to pay for the day that you are studying at university each week.
  • You will immediately gain hands-on experience and have a first-hand insight into what it really means to be a nurse, which can take a little longer for students sitting traditional nursing degrees to achieve.

However, whilst there are many benefits of pursuing a nursing career via this route, you do need to be aware that you cannot become a fully qualified and registered nurse without a degree level of education, and because you will only be attending university for one day a week, your degree will take longer to achieve. Usually, you can expect to take four years to become qualified instead of the normal three it would take as a standard undergraduate.  This time will be slightly shorter if you already have a nursing associate qualification.

You will not need to complete a UCAS application to apply for a nursing degree apprenticeship, instead applying for the role in the same way that you would any other job. This means completing an application, attaching a copy of your CV, and attending a formal job interview. If you’re interested in pursuing a nursing career via this route, then you can find the latest opportunities on the NHS Jobs website. The recruiters for this apprenticeship scheme will have their own criteria of what they’re looking for from successful applicants, but you will need at least two A-levels (or equivalent BTEC, International Baccalaureate or Scottish Highers awards), with one being in a science or health-related field, and a minimum of GCSEs in English and Mathematics (or other equivalent Level 2 qualifications), with a grade C or higher in order to be successful, If you don’t already have these qualifications then don’t worry: They can be achieved later in life, as there are no age limits on studying either GCSEs or A-levels. That means you can either resit any subject you didn’t get high enough grades in, or take a whole new subject you didn’t study from scratch. It’s never too late to enter education, and gain the qualifications you need to follow your dream career path.

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