Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Nursing (Mental Health)

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B-B,B,C

112-120 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, with 32 points from a Science or Social Science subject.

112-122 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma (Science, Health & Social Care or Nursing), to include a minimum of 15 level 3 credits in Science subjects at merit or above.

Cambridge Pre-U score of 46-50, to include a Principal Subject in a Science or Social Science subject at M3.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English and Mathematics at grade C or above, or equivalent/GCSE English and Mathematics at grade 4 or above, or equivalent.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

25

25 points from the IB Diploma, with 5 points from a Higher Level Science or Social Science.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H3,H3,H3,H3,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H3


To include a Higher Level Science or Social Science subject at H3.

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DDM-DMM

Must include 6 units in a Science subject at Merit or above.

112-120 Tariff points, to include a Science or Social Science subject at grade D.

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

T Level

M

Acceptable T Level Subjects: T Level in Health (Acceptable Occupational Specialisms: Supporting the adult nursing team, Supporting the mental health team), T Level in Healthcare Science (Acceptable Occupational Specialisms: Assisting with healthcare science), T Level in Science (Acceptable Occupational Specialisms: Laboratory sciences, Metrology sciences)

UCAS Tariff

112-120

112-120 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent, with 32 points from a Science or Social Science subject.

112-120 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 1 A level, with 32 points from a Science or Social Science subject, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.

You may also need to…

Attend an interview

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Mental health nursing

**Overview**
Empathy, compassion, commitment – become a Mental Health Nurse with our BN (Hons) Nursing (Mental Health) degree and make a positive difference to people’s lives every day.

On this course developed and delivered with local NHS partners, you’ll benefit from extensive time spent working with patients in real healthcare settings, building key skills in mental health assessment and care.

- Explore mental health nursing scenarios in our Centre for Simulation in Health and Care, one of the country’s leading teaching healthcare environments

- Observe, assess and engage with patients in professional and local community environments

- Study a course approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and be eligible to register with the NMC as a mental health nurse on graduation

**NHS Learning Support Fund – at least £5,000 a year**
Students on this course may be eligible for additional funding through the NHS Learning Support Fund bursary of at least £5,000 a year.

**Approved by:**
This course has been approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), meaning the course meets the standards of education, training, conduct and performance required for nurses in the UK.

For pre-registration nursing, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2018, Part 1: Standards Framework for nursing and midwifery education, 5.12, page 12) state that there is no compensation between theory and practice learning.

This course will prepare graduates to be eligible to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). It is your responsibility to seek registration with the NMC, on completion of your course. This registration must be sought within 5 years of successful completion of your course.

**Careers and opportunities**
On this Mental Health Nursing degree, you'll develop the skills, confidence and understanding to support people in need, learning how to make difficult decisions based on evidence and building the fundamental skills needed for personal nursing care.

When you graduate, you'll be eligible to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which allows you to work as a Registered Nurse in the UK.

You’ll be ready to start a challenging yet hugely rewarding career as a mental health nurse, and you can choose to work with people from certain age and vulnerability groups, such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), or Older People’s Mental Health (OPMH). With experience, you could work in GP liaison, nurse education, or leadership and management.

As an NHS nurse in 2021, you could expect a starting salary of £25,655 moving up to £31,534 (Band 5).

With more experience as a senior mental health nurse, you could earn from £32,306 to £39,027 (Band 6) and with a role in management or consultancy, you could make up to £90,387 (Band 8d).

**What jobs can you do with a Nursing (Mental Health) degree?**

Once you graduate, you'll be ready to take on a mental health nurse role within a variety of settings, including:

- Adult Mental Health (AMH)

- Older People's Mental Health (OPMH)

- Community Mental Health

- Crisis Mental Health

- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

- Assessment and Recovery

**Clinical placements**
You'll spend a large amount of time on this course in clinical practice placements. These give you practical experience in caring for people with acute and long-term physical and mental health conditions of all kinds, in many settings. Together with our partner trusts, we'll develop you into a confident, independent, adaptable and professional Mental Health Nurse.

Our placement partners include Solent NHS Trust, Southern Health, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Inclusion (Sub-Misuse), and Liaison and Diversion (Custody).

Modules

Year 1

Core modules in this year include:

Foundation of Evidence Based Practice – 20 credits
Foundations of Nursing Professional Practice – 40 credits
Personalising Nursing Care – 20 credits
Science Informing Practice – 40 credits

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 2

Core modules in this year include:

Applied Nursing Professional Practice – 40 credits
Engaging With Service Improvement – 20 credits
Essentials of Mental Health Assessment – 20 credits
Evidence Based Decision Making – 20 credits
Person Centred Recovery – 20 credits

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 3

Core modules in this year include:

Collaboration for Mental Health – 20 credits
Enhancing Professional Nursing Practice – 60 credits
Leading Safe and Effective Care – 20 credits
Service Improvement Project – 20 credits

There are no optional modules in this year.

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

Assessment methods

You’ll be assessed through academic work including essays, reports, case studies and reflective accounts; performance-based clinical practice assessments including objective structured clinical examinations and activity in simulation; in-class tests and examinations; presentations and scientific posters; work-based projects; and online learning activities
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.
The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£9,250
per year
International
£17,900
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Portsmouth

Department:

Faculty of Science and Health

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

54%
Mental health nursing

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Mental health nursing

Teaching and learning

71%
Staff make the subject interesting
71%
Staff are good at explaining things
75%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
83%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

71%
Library resources
88%
IT resources
83%
Course specific equipment and facilities
21%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

100%
UK students
0%
International students
16%
Male students
84%
Female students
81%
2:1 or above
10%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
D

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Mental health nursing

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£21,000
low
Average annual salary
100%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

74%
Health associate professionals
26%
Health professionals

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Mental health nursing

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£27k

£27k

£32k

£32k

£29k

£29k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Share this page

This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here