Convert your undergraduate degree into a career in care with an accelerated pre-registration route into mental health nursing.
Year of entry: 2025 (January)
Nursing is a complex profession; you'll need scientific knowledge, deep ethical understanding and a strong moral compass.
This Masters course draws on our world-leading research to create a unique mental health curriculum. You'll learn in an environment which values scholarship, social awareness and research.
Through theoretical study, practical experience and reflective discussion, you will develop your skills in mental health nursing. We will encourage and help you to develop an intellectual curiosity that will support your development throughout your career.
You'll learn how to develop a therapeutic relationship with your clients and gain the skills you need to help people with mental health problems. You'll work with social workers, psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, other nurses and doctors and have opportunities to engage with third sector and service user organisations.
You'll graduate ready to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a highly-skilled mental health nurse, able to provide outstanding care to patients. Learning together with adult nursing students means that you will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to enable you to provide holistic care to your patients and their families. You will develop a wide range of skills including communication, leadership, research, and clinical practice - all of which will be underpinned by core values including compassion and care.
After completing this degree you'll be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the professional regulatory body for nurses and midwives in the UK.
Develop your skills in our Clinical Simulation Unit with access to simulated patient settings, simulated patients and 'live' actors to enhance the practical components of our course.
Expert speakers are a great feature of the course. We use them to bring in specialist knowledge to enhance your knowledge base and understanding.
The course runs over two years and consists of eight modules, totalling 200 credits.
In your first year, you'll get your first taste of practice, as well as studying modules covering different health-related disciplines as they apply to nursing.
In your second year, you'll continue to practice, alongside taught classes which will help you to approach patient care with collaboration, consideration and compassion. Your main focus of the year will be an independent research project.
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
In your second year, a key focus will be on independent exploration of research and approaches to its implementation in nursing practice. It's a chance to develop your skills in literature reviewing, research design, data analysis, critical evaluation and synthesis. Learning how to apply these skills will set you up well for a career in nursing and equip you with the knowledge and skills to continually improve practice throughout your career.
Your dissertation enables you to focus in-depth on a topic aligned with your interests, and you will have close support from a supervisor with relevant expertise.
With half of the programme being devoted to clinical experiences, you'll have the opportunity to undertake a range of placements during your first and second years. You'll be allocated placements that ensure you are exposed to a range of patient groups and ages, in a range of in-patient, primary care, and community settings. Placement providers are situated across a wide geographical area and chosen for the valuable experiences that they provide.
You'll experience a variety of settings, which may include:
These experiences will ensure that you are well-equipped to join the NMC Register upon successful completion of your programme.
Before starting a placement that forms part of your course, you are likely to be asked by the placement provider to sign a confidentiality agreement. This is to ensure that you do not disclose any information that is confidential to the placement provider.
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (2 years) This is the year 1 fee. Fees for future years are subject to confirmation. |
£9,250 | £28,800 |
Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.
For courses which are longer than one year, the tuition fees quoted are for the first year of study.
UK or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK or international student.
Uniform provision, Occupational Health Screening, and Disclosure and Barring Service checks are included in your fees.
You'll have to meet the costs of uniform replacement or missed occupational health appointments. You'll also have to pay for Professional Association Fees (Indemnity) which is covered in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) or Unison Student Membership (approximately £10 per year).
Depending on what you choose to do, you may also have to meet costs related to your placements.
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
Please ensure you have thoroughly checked the eligibility criteria for any potential sources of funding, to be sure they cover courses beginning in January.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
Nursing and midwifery students eligible for tuition fee and living cost support from the UK government can receive a payment of at least £5,000 a year (nhs.uk) to support their academic studies. This is on top of the standard government support and doesn't need to be paid back.
The Department of Health Sciences will provide eligible ‘International’ Midwifery & Nursing students with a £1,000 annual scholarship to help with associated travel costs as they are not eligible for assistance through the NHS Learning Support Fund. As this is a non-competitive scholarship (i.e. do not need to apply), eligible students will be notified during the new semester of their award.
You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.
You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.
You will be learning with and from experts in the field using a combination of lectures, seminars, skills sessions, and directed and independent study, all designed to support you in developing your clinical capability and competence. In your practice placements you will be supported to put your knowledge and skills into practice in a supportive environment.
You will benefit from our state-of-the-art , which replicates a number of areas of healthcare in which you may work.
You will be based in the Department of Health Sciences, which is on Campus West. The majority of your teaching will take place in Alcuin, or at other locations across Campus West.
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
You will be assessed in both theory and practice with formative assessments to support you in identifying areas for development. Informal feedback can be obtained from your module leads, programme lead and personal supervisor at any point during the programme.
There are so many opportunities for you upon successful completion of your programme. Most of our students start their careers as Band 5 staff nurses in the NHS. Others take up opportunities in social care or independent sector organisations. Employment opportunities extend beyond clinical practice and into research, education and policy-making, for example.
Alongside the acquisition of the essential values, practical skills and knowledge needed to be an effective nurse, you will gain a huge range of skills that will help you to succeed no matter what career path you decide to follow. These include:
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2:2 or equivalent in a relevant subject. |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Minimum requirement | |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 7.0, minimum of 7.0 in all components |
| GCSE/IGCSE/O level English Language (as a first or second language) | Grade C |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current IELTS scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
We offer a range of campus accommodation to suit you and your budget, from economy to premium.
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