Nursing with Pre-Registration (Adult) MN(T)

Year 1

Compulsory courses include:

• Life sciences and nursing care
• Mental health and nursing care
• Designing research in nursing, health and social care
• Becoming a critically reflective practitioner

One optional course is taken in Semester 2.

Year 2

Compulsory courses include:

• Leading and managing for health and social care
• Managing complex needs
• Pathophysiology and Nursing Care in the acute setting
• Dissertation

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Across both years of the programme you will undertake learning through engagement in the practice learning setting and clinical skills simulation sessions. This practice learning will take place in a range of settings including hospital, community and care home. For parts of the year, you will balance academic work and practice learning while over the summer, you will undertake full-time practice placement learning.

While in the practice setting, you will be supervised and assessed by suitably trained practitioners. Practice learning is linked to all academic courses and, in Year 1, includes a 4-week elective placement where you can choose to gain clinical experience in an international setting.

Assessment of proficiency is documented in the Practice Assessment Document by the Practice Assessor.

The key aim of the programme is to produce a graduate Adult nurse with masters level knowledge and understanding, enabling you to achieve the proficiencies required for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). You will achieve this through:

• Practising as an accountable professional in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) code of conduct and other ethical and regulatory frameworks.
• Placing the person at the centre of the provision of safe and effective nursing care.
• Demonstrating leadership and team working skills that enable you to work effectively with families, carers and other members of the health and social care team.
• Embracing health promotion and public health as key parts of the nurse’s role in supporting health improvement for individuals and communities.
• Demonstrating a critical understanding of the person as a biological, psychological, emotional, spiritual and social being.
• Developing competence in a range of clinical skills appropriate for the care of the person across the lifespan and in a range of health and social care settings.
• Recognising the complexity of nursing, health and social care needs of people across a range of organisations and applying this knowledge to the assessment of need, planning and implementation of evidence-based, person-centred nursing care.
• Engaging with the development and application of research as the evidence base for nursing practice, and with the application of quality improvement approaches as means of improving the safety and quality of patient care in clinical settings.

The career opportunities are excellent for our graduates who will be entering a large workforce which recruits regularly.

Those who graduate with a masters instead of undergraduate level education, have excellent prospects of career progression into higher levels of clinical and managerial practice in the NHS after consolidating their nursing practice.

Nursing graduates are also able to work in:

• the third sector
• care homes
• other contexts that draw on their skills and knowledge

The route to PhD will also be open to you.

Before applying for this programme, please make sure to read all of the information in this section.

Reference

You must submit one reference with your application.

You will need to assign your referee and provide their email address as part of the online application. Your referee will then receive an email request to submit the reference on your behalf.

Required documents

As part of the online application, you must submit the following supporting documents:

• your official degree transcript / interim transcript and official certificate
• a personal statement
• completed RPE forms, required as evidence that you meet the programme's Recognition of Prior Practice Experience (RPE) requirements

You will need to download and complete the following RPE forms:

• Download RPE1 form
• Download RPE2 form
• Download RPE3 form
• Download RPE4 form
• Download RPE5 form

To submit your RPE forms, you can do either of the following:

• access your application online and upload the completed form documents

• attach the completed form documents to an email and send it to this address: CAHSS.ApplicantAdmin@ed.ac.uk

If you need to send your completed forms via email, the body of the email should also include your:

• UUN (university username)
• your full name
• the name of the programme you are applying for

Please check the status of your application regularly and make sure to provide all of the requested documentation.

After you apply

Applicants who meet the academic criteria and submit strong evidence of RPE experience may be invited for an interview. The interview will include a discussion of your practice experience. 

Following the interview, you may receive an unconditional offer if all of the following requirements have been met:

• you have been successful in the interview
• you meet the academic criteria
• you have completed the RPE requirements

You may receive a conditional offer if you have not yet submitted evidence of either or both:

• meeting the programme's language requirements
• completed RPE requirements

If you receive a conditional offer because you have not yet completed the RPE requirements, you will need to complete and submit the RPE2 and RPE5 forms within 12 weeks of the interview.

Additionally, entrance is conditional on you gaining entry to the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme. All students must receive hepatitis B immunisation, TB status and occupational health check before starting the degree. Students will also need to meet any NHS Scotland vaccination requirements.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent.

National 5 Mathematics at grade C or above or GCSE Mathematics grade C/4 or above, or its international equivalent.

Personal statement documenting clearly your motivation and understanding of the role of the nurse.

We may be able to consider applicants with a lower degree classification alongside extensive relevant experience and a strong personal statement. We are only able to consider these applicants after all qualified applicants have been fully considered.

Whilst we consider applications from international applicants, please be aware that we have only a small number of places available and therefore we operate a competitive selection process.

Recognition of Prior Learning of Theory and Practice Hours

You are required to demonstrate that you meet the RPL requirements of 479 practice hours and 140 notional theory hours in order to achieve the NMC requirement of 2300 hours in both theory and practice.

RPL of practice hours

You are required to demonstrate that you have achieved a total of 479 hours of relevant practice experience prior to entry to the programme. At least 150 of these hours must be achieved at the point of application.

Relevant experience is defined as:

• Experience gained in a paid or unpaid role in a health and social care setting where you have been in a role supporting people which enables you to demonstrate the development of skills, attributes and values commensurate with the 7 NMC platforms as identified in form RPE1.

• Relevant experience for RPL should have been gained within the 5 years prior to application and the hours must be verified on form RPE2 by someone who worked with you such as your line manager or a senior member of staff.

RPL of theory hours

You are required to demonstrate theoretical learning equivalent to 140 hours of notional effort.

A claim for RPL of theoretical learning hours is made using form RPE3.

You must identify your learning in relation to 5 aspects of the programme. Evidence supporting the claim for RPL of theoretical hours may take the form of module/course titles and learning outcomes, or a list of relevant work-related courses attended, reading or other academic activity with accompanying reflection on learning in relation to the topics and evidenced on form RPE4.

To download the RPE forms highlighted above, please check the 'How to apply' section.

Selection criteria

You must meet academic entry requirements and also the professional regulating body requirement.

You must pass the selection process focused on interpersonal skills, teamwork, attitude towards those with protected characteristics, and ability to formulate and express argument/opinions. The selection process also includes a discussion of the learning identified on RPE1.

Additionally, entrance is conditional on you gaining entry to the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme and all students must undergo hepatitis B immunisation, TB status and occupational health check before starting the degree. Students will also need to meet any NHS Scotland vaccination requirements.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 7.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 25 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 185 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 73 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 8 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Additional costs

If you are eligible for a SAAS bursary, you should be able to reclaim travel expenses incurred during clinical placements. Students who are ineligible will personally bear the cost of travel and accommodation related to clinical placement.

Check if you are eligible for a SAAS bursary

In Year 1, you will also undertake an elective clinical placement, either abroad or elsewhere in the UK. Students associated with this placement are responsible for:

• visa costs
• immunisation
• travel costs
• living costs

Students from the rest of the UK and overseas, whose fees are not paid by the Scottish Government, will be liable for the cost of the following mandatory items:

• uniforms
• occupational health appointments
• membership fee for the PVG scheme

Tuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money

  • taking out a loan

  • family support

• personal savings

• income from work

• employer sponsorship

• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

If you are resident in Scotland, you may qualify for the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary and should check the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) website for information about eligibility and levels of award.

Check if you are eligible for a SAAS bursary

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding