Nursing Foundation Year - Foundation
Currently viewing course to start in 2024/25 Entry.
If you apply for entry onto one of the following degree courses and your actual or predicted grades fall below the minimum UCAS entry tariff set for entry onto the first year of that degree, we may choose to consider you for a place on the Foundation Year stage instead: BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing BSc (Hons) Child Nursing BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing BSc (Hons) Learning Disability Nursing The ...
- Level Foundation
- Study mode Full Time
- Location City South
- Award Foundation
- Start date September 2024, January 2025
- Fees View course fees
- School School of Nursing and Midwifery
- Faculty Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
If you apply for entry onto one of the following degree courses and your actual or predicted grades fall below the minimum UCAS entry tariff set for entry onto the first year of that degree, we may choose to consider you for a place on the Foundation Year stage instead:
- BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
- BSc (Hons) Child Nursing
- BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing
- BSc (Hons) Learning Disability Nursing
The Foundation Year option gives you extra time and support to help you build your knowledge, skills and confidence before starting a full degree. It is designed to prepare you for a range of Nursing courses, not one particular BSc degree, so you will study a broad range of subjects to prepare you to progress to successful BSc level study. You'll develop a range of practical and analytical skills that will prepare you for a challenging and rewarding career in Nursing.
Why study a Foundation Year course?
On the Foundation Year in Nursing, you will study broad subject areas which then open up opportunities for you to specialise further in your next year – which would be the first year of a full degree programme.
You will study alongside people who are preparing to progress on to BSc courses in Nursing and Allied Health Professions.
Please note:
Upon completion of your Foundation Year, if your chosen course is regulated by a professional body such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council, you will be required to successfully complete the University’s selection process for your course which will include an interview in order to proceed onto year one of the full degree programme. Entry onto year one of the degree programme will also be subject to a satisfactory DBS and Occupational Health Assessment.
Why Choose Us?
- You will have extra time and support to help you build your knowledge, skills and confidence before starting a full degree.
- Birmingham is one of the UK’s most diverse cities outside of London, which will provide you with a wide variety of experience that will be valuable to take forward into your future career.
- Our staff come from the professions they teach, maintaining their links to ensure you get the most up-to-date learning during your course.
- We have invested £41 million into our City South campus in Edgbaston to provide specialist learning facilities for all Health, Education and Life Science courses.
Open Days
Join us for an on-campus Open Day where you'll be able to meet us in person. Booking for the next event isn’t open yet. Register your interest below and we’ll email you as soon as booking goes live.
Next Open Day: 29 June 2024
Entry Requirements
These entry requirements apply for entry in 2024/25.
All required qualifications/grades must have been achieved and evidenced at the earliest opportunity after accepting an offer to help confirm admission and allow for on-time enrolment. This can also include other requirements, like a fee status form and relevant documents. Applicants can track their application and outstanding information requests through their BCU mySRS account.
Essential requirements
Details of the entry requirements can be found on the course page for the specific BSc degree you wish to apply for:
- BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
- BSc (Hons) Child Nursing
- BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing
- BSc (Hons) Learning Disability Nursing
Please note: If your Level 3 qualifications do not meet the UCAS tariff we require for entry onto our BSc courses in Nursing, you may be considered for a place on our Nursing Foundation Year instead, which offers an alternative pathway onto our Nursing courses. This is a decision made by us once your degree application has been assessed.
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: Foundation
Starting: Sep 2024
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year foundation followed by 3 year degree
- £9,250 in 2024/25
Award: Foundation
Starting: Jan 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year foundation followed by 3 year degree
- £9,250 in 2024/25
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: Foundation
Starting: Sep 2024
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year foundation followed by 3 year degree
- £16,085 in 2024/25
Award: Foundation
Starting: Jan 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year foundation followed by 3 year degree
- £16,085 in 2024/25
The University reserves the right to increase fees in line with inflation based on the Retail Prices Index or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament up to a maximum of five per cent.
You should apply specifically for your chosen degree course, rather than a Foundation Year. You do not need to submit a separate application for a Nursing Foundation Year but may automatically be considered for this if your predicted grades fall below the UCAS entry tariff.
Please select the course you wish to apply for:
Guidance for UK students
UK students applying for most undergraduate degree courses in the UK will need to apply through UCAS.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is a UK organisation responsible for managing applications to university and college.
Applying through UCAS
- Register with UCAS
- Login to UCAS and complete your details
- Select your course and write a personal statement
- Get a reference
- Pay your application fee and submit your application
Course in Depth
Foundation Year
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits).
This module is designed to support you in your transition to studying in a Higher Education environment at Birmingham City University. Through a range of class-based group and individual activities, discussions, debates, personal reflection and wider reading and research, you will have opportunities to consider academic conventions, which include: effective use of literature; sourcing and reviewing information; various forms of academic writing; developing reflective capacity. You will also receive guidance on study skills and strategies, which will enhance previously acquired skills.
These professional skills are transferable and will be valuable not only in the immediate context but throughout your continued education and employment. By engaging with this module, we have set out clearly what we expect of you at foundation and undergraduate level, and will equip you with the confidence, competence and capacity to utilise resources to be able to meet expectations in this environment.
An essential element of this module will be your ability to analyse and reflect on your own learning and the way in which you have applied your knowledge, skill and understanding to any academic context in which you have engaged to date. Communicating effectively through a variety of academic conventions is a key skill for any student and this will be a feature of this module.
This module is designed to help you gain awareness and understanding of current challenges around Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity and how this impacts upon the Health, Education and Social Sciences sector, preparing you for your future education and journey into practice.
Introducing the Equality Act 2010 as the overarching legislation that focuses on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity, the module is based on themes that are covered by this Act. The nine protected characteristics, upon which a person can be discriminated, as laid down in the Equality Act, will be discussed throughout and you will be introduced to case studies relevant to your chosen pathways.
The module will give you the opportunity to discuss debate and reflect upon how challenges around Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity may present themselves. Using problem and inquiry based learning you will have the opportunity to explore and discuss ways of working which can help to minimise discrimination in your own practice. The module will be made up of lead lectures, taught sessions, group work and individual study.
An essential element of this module will be your ability to analyse and reflect on your own experiences and perceptions, whilst gaining an awareness and appreciating the differences of others.
This module is designed to support you in your transition to studying in a Higher Education environment at Birmingham City University, allowing you the opportunity to negotiate learning of a bespoke subject. Under the guidance of tutors, you will be able to direct your learning and identify relevant learning opportunities that you feel enable you to learning more about a specific field of study.
The subject area within this module is student-led, with guidance and facilitation from designated academic and practice support. You will identify an area of study that you would like to review and evaluate, and which relates to your foundation year pathway and indicate programme.
A significant proportion of the module is based around negotiation with academic facilitators to identify extended areas of study and opportunities that are possible to enhance your towards completion of the study.
The module is not reliant on traditional taught subject sessions, although you will be expected to attend classes where you will work in peer learning groups exploring and developing your negotiated study. This approach to studying is closely allied to learning within the workplace.
This module will focus on enabling you to gain a deeper understanding of the interpersonal skills and behaviours required to work in your chosen area. Through a range of class based and student focused activities you will explore the different concepts of effective interpersonal and professional behaviours essential to your own personal development and progression. By engaging in this module you will reflect on your own and others values, beliefs and behaviours identifying how this can impact on the way in which you will be viewed by others. You will also address the importance of effective communication and how this can lead you to have a more professional approach in your chose area of work.
An appreciation of the principles of Human Biology plays a central role in the understanding of the workings of the human body. This module is organised into three distinct phases from fundamental principles, to physiological processes, and then disruption of the interplay of such systems in human disorders. This understanding provides a solid foundation for the subsequent study in a range of disciplines from healthcare, allied healthcare, and other disciplines requiring an understanding of human biology. The topics covered will also be underpinned by practical activities. Pre- and post-session activities will help to develop your key transferable skills such as being able to reflect and ask probing questions as well as being able to think independently. Development of these skills will ensure a growth in maturity and boost your confidence which will lead to unlocking your learning potential.
Students embarking on health related studies and careers need to have a knowledge and understanding of the factors that contribute to creating good health. Evidence shows that the majority of these factors lie outside of the healthcare and clinical remit and so it is important that students are aware of the wider social, economic, environmental and political drivers of states of health of the population, group or client group they may encounter. As health services are reoriented towards prevention of ill-health and health improvement, all health science students need to consider the ways in which they may work in future, to both understand the social determinants of health and the principles and practice of health promotion in order to improve health, prevent ill-health and reduce health inequalities.
Additional support
If you're dyslexic, or have a specific learning difference or disability, we have a Disability Tutor who can help and support you.
More on our disability tutor >>
We offer extra technical and learning support.
Employability
Employment opportunities
If you go on to a Nursing degree after your Foundation Year, qualify and register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, you can practice in the UK and many countries overseas. As a qualified nurse you could find yourself working within the NHS, the private sector, in the community, at GP surgeries, at schools, plus many more - the options are endless.
International
Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Explore some of the good reasons why you should study here.
- Find out how to improve your language skills before starting your studies.
- Find all the information relevant to applicants from your country.
- Learn where to find financial support for your studies.
Facilities & Staff
Our Facilities
Our School of Nursing and Midwifery is based at our City South campus in leafy Edgbaston.
We’ve spent £41million expanding our facilities at City South. These facilities offer hands-on practical experience, replicating the spaces you will come across in professional practice.
In a sector where new techniques are constantly being discovered, we work hard to ensure that you learn using the most up-to-date equipment available. Alongside physical spaces such as a mock operating theatre and wards, we also make use of online and virtual technology, such as our virtual ward and virtual case creator.
See more of our skills facilities at City South
Centre for Skills and Simulation
The Centre for Skills and Simulation offers a range of different spaces which replicate situations that you will encounter in practice. These include hospital wards, an operating theatre and a home environment room.
Our mock wards enable you to get a feel of what a ward is really like before you head out for your first placement. The hospital wards can be adapted from low care to high dependency care environment with the necessary monitoring equipment.
The home environment room is the perfect space for teaching communications skills and allows us to simulate a community setting for our students. It is particularly useful for mental health nurses, learning disability nurses and midwives.
Simulation Manikins
We have several Simulation men (SIM men) and simulation babies (SIM babies) which are anatomically correct manikins used for teaching specific techniques such as advanced adult and paediatric life support skills, acute and high dependency clinical skills, first aid and communication skills. The manikins contain software which replicates real symptoms, and can manipulate indicators such as blood pressure, pulse and heart rate for extra realism. SIM man can even ‘talk’ to the students as they are treating him, to add another dimension to learning.
Computer Facilities
The Seacole building has two open-access IT Suites which offer PCs, printers, photocopiers and scanners. There is also an IT Helpdesk for quick and easy help with your computing or internet issues.
Our PCs utilise the latest Intel i5 core technology, all with:
- Fast (unrestricted) internet connectivity
- Ability to save files to USB, DVD & CD
- Microsoft Office software
- Research and statistical software
- Storage space which can be accessed from any PC across the University and from home
Our PCs are also designed to support students who may have difficulties with reading and writing, featuring specialised software with zooming/magnification and screen reading capabilities, which may also be customised for individual student needs.
In addition to desktop PCs, we also offer a laptop loan facility, allowing students to borrow a laptop for up to six hours while on campus.
Our staff
Julie Davis
Foundation Year Lecturer
Julie joined the ADD (Academic Development Department) in 2018 as a Lecturer on the HELS Foundation Year programme. Prior to joining Birmingham City University, she worked at a number of local FE and HE institutions where she developed and delivered a range of Early Years and Education programmes.
More about JulieJessica Lowe
Foundation Year Lecturer
Jessica joined the ADD (Academic Development Department) in 2019 as a Lecturer on the HELS Foundation Year Programme. Her role is to lead and develop modules to support students on their journey on the Foundation Year Programme. Prior to joining BCU, she has worked in a FE and HE institution teaching students on a range of courses in Early Years...
More about Jessica