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Nursing (Child)

Course details
  • BN (Hons)
  • 3 Years
  • Full-time
  • 28/09/2026
  • Undergraduate
Course location
Main Site - Cardiff
Awarded by:
Cardiff University (Prifysgol Caerdydd)

Course summary

Join us and study at Cardiff University that is ranked 1st in England and Wales and 3rd in the UK for Nursing in The Complete University Guide 2021.

Child nursing is an exciting, challenging and rewarding career with family and children at its heart. Validated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) our programme provides you with the skills and knowledge to become a registered nurse within 3 years.

Children’s nurses provide support and deliver multi-disciplinary care to children, adolescents and their families. The role can involve everything from nursing a sick new-born baby to caring for a young person following a road traffic accident. A children’s nurse needs to interpret children’s behaviour and reactions and be able to spot when a child's health deteriorates, which can often happen rapidly. Children have very specific health needs and children’s nurses employ a family and person-centred care approach, where children, young people and their carers are actively supported to become involved in care decisions.

By fully engaging with this programme you will develop skills in family centred-patient care, effective health promotion, learn about the effects and management of acute and long-term childhood illnesses, assess pain and psychological responses to ill health and learn play and distraction techniques as well as many other techniques.

You will be allocated both a personal tutor who will offer you pastoral support and an academic assessor who will support your professional development during the programme.

We have highly equipped skills laboratories in our Clinical Simulation Suite which enable you to learn in a realistic ward, community and emergency simulations. Lifelike simulations using a variety of technology mean you can safely practice and develop essential skills in a supportive learning environment before going out on to placement.

You will spend 50% of the programme undertaking practice learning with varied service providers in Wales, both in hospitals and in the community. You will benefit from placements supported by experienced practice staff to help support you in becoming the best children’s nurse you can be.

Successful completion of this degree will lead to eligibility to register with the NMC as a Children’s Nurse. On qualification, you can work in a range of healthcare settings, both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Above all else, we strive to ensure that our graduates are ready for the next step in their career and the many opportunities that await them. That’s why 100%* of our nursing students are in employment or further study after 6 months of graduating (*DHLE and HECSU).

As part of a large School based at the largest University Hospital in Wales, we’ll help you to enjoy an academically rich and fulfilling experience throughout your time at Cardiff University.

Key features:

  • Fully funded place - you’ll have the option to choose a fully funded place on the programme. A full NHS bursary, including tuition fees and a non-repayable bursary for living costs, is available for this programme providing you agree to work in Wales for two years after qualifying (subject to change).

  • Specialist experiences - you’ll experience a multitude of complex and specialist care decisions on placement and may have practice learning opportunities in a Health Board that hosts the Children’s Hospital.

  • Clinical specialists - you will be taught by a staff group that possess a wide range of clinical experiences at senior and specialist levels having worked in some of the most demanding clinical settings.

  • Innovative use of the latest technology - we use augmented reality which will be utilised to teach anatomy and physiology, enabling you to view the internal mechanics of the human body.

  • Opportunity for international experience - during Year Two, there is an opportunity for you to undertake a placement in an environment of your choice, either within the UK or overseas.

Professional bodies

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

  • Nursing and Midwifery Council

How to apply

Apply by
14 January

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
B732
Institution code:
C15
Campus name:
Main Site - Cardiff
Campus Code:
-

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

International applicants

An NHS placement is a required part of this course. The NHS only makes placements available to students who are eligible to pay UK fees. Therefore, this course is not available for international students.

Open days

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

UCAS Tariff - Not accepted

A level - BBB - BCC

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

in any subject.

Access to HE Diploma

Welsh domiciled students studying/having successfully completed certain Access to Higher Education Diplomas related to Healthcare may be eligible for a guaranteed interview on application. Please contact the Healthcare admissions team for specific details: HCAREadmissions@cardiff.ac.uk

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 31 - 29 points

31-29 overall or 665-655 in 3 HL subjects.

WJEC Level 3 Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales

The Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales will be accepted in lieu of one A level at the A level grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements.

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (last awarded Summer 2024)

The Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in lieu of one A Level at the A Level grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements.

Extended Project - A

For applicants taking the EPQ qualification, an A in the EPQ can be recognised to lower the entry requirements by a single grade. For example an AAB offer would be “AAB from 3 A levels or ABB from 3 A levels and a grade A in the EPQ”. Please note that any subject specific requirements must be met.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

You must have or be working towards: - English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade B/6 or an equivalent (such as A-levels). If you require a Student visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements. - four GCSEs at grade C/4 including Maths, and one science (from Biology, Chemistry, and Physics), or equivalent qualifications (subject and grade). You must also meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) good health and character, and fitness to practice requirements. To do this, you will need to provide a statement of character, as well as a UCAS reference.

T Level - M

M in T Level Health, Healthcare Science, or Science.

You must also supply a personal statement that is relevant to the profession. If you are applying to more than one professional programme, you should email a bespoke personal statement for each programme to admissions@cardiff.ac.uk at the same time as submitting your application via UCAS. In your personal statement, you should demonstrate that you understand the profession, have an insight into the course itself, and describe any relevant work experience. Only one personal statement may be submitted for each programme.

You must meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) good health and character, and fitness to practice requirements.

We do not accept Critical Thinking, General Studies, Citizenship Studies, or other similar equivalent subjects.

We will accept a combination of BTEC subjects, A-levels, and other qualifications, subject to the course specific grade and subject requirements.

ENROLMENT CONDITIONS
Before starting your course, you will also need to complete an occupational health questionnaire, attend any subsequent appointments and receive all of the necessary vaccinations to undertake clinical placements safely. You must have a validated negative sample for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. This is arranged by the Occupational Health Department following commencement of the programme.

We won’t make an offer without an interview and no offers will be made until all interviews have taken place.

All applicants must meet the minimum requirements at Level 2 (typically GCSE) and Level 3 (typically A-level) in order to be eligible for consideration for interview. If you meet the minimum entry requirements your application will be give a numerical score based on your personal statement. Eligible applicants will be ranked according to this score and the top ranking applicants will be invited to interview.

Our interview process
We use the multiple mini interview (MMI) format, which is a series of short, carefully timed interview stations that you will rotate around in turn. The MMIs help us to determine if you:

  • can think on your feet
  • have thought about some of the issues that are important to the profession
  • can critically appraise information
  • can communicate ideas effectively.
    They also focus on exploring the personal qualities and attributes that are important to your future career development. These interviews allow us to meet you in person and assess information that isn’t always readily forthcoming in the application process—they aren’t intended to test the amount of prior knowledge you have about the subject or the profession.

Additional entry requirements

Criminal records declaration (DBS/Disclosure Scotland)
Health checks
Interview

English language requirements

All applicants are expected to have demonstrable English language skills. Most courses ask for GCSE English grade C/4 or equivalent, but some courses ask for GCSE English grade B/6 or equivalent.

To find out more, please go to: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/international/english-language-requirements/undergraduate

Contextual admissions

Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.

At Cardiff we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, as part of this our contextual admissions policy aims to widen participation and improve access to Higher Education (HE).

For more information on Cardiff University contextual admissions, including how applications are scored and how we use that score, please see our website.

Learn more on the Cardiff University website

Historical entry grades data BETA

This section shows the range of grades students (with UK A-Levels or Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diplomas) who received offers were previously accepted with (learn more). It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place. Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.

Data from:
This course and 7 other nursing and midwifery courses
Date range:
2022-2024

Offer rate for UK school & college leavers

29% Students aged 17/18 who applied to this course were offered a place.

How do you compare?

See how students with your grades have been accepted onto this course in the past.

Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students

86 Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)

94 Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

LocationFeeYear
Republic of Ireland£9790Year 1
England£9790Year 1
Northern Ireland£9790Year 1
Scotland£9790Year 1
Wales£9790Year 1
Channel Islands£9790Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.

Additional fee information

Students from the UK and Islands:

A full NHS bursary, including tuition fees and a non-repayable bursary for living costs, is available to applicants from the UK. Full details, including information for applicants from the Channel Islands and the EU, are available on our NHS funding pages: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/funding-your-healthcare-course

Fees stated are for the 2026/27 academic year. The University reserves the right to increase tuition fees in the second and subsequent years of a course as permitted by law or Welsh Government policy. Where applicable we will notify you of any change in tuition fee by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which the fee will increase.

Fees for entry in subsequent years are subject to increase and will be confirmed by the end of October in the year preceding your start date of your programme, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Tuition fees cover all reasonable costs required for you to complete to the degree programme stated. Please note that you may choose to participate in study trips, associated placements or purchase equipment while studying on your degree programme which will be at your own cost. Tuition fees do not include living costs such as accommodation, subsistence or travel.

Students from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland:

If you are an EU/EEA/Swiss national, unless you qualify for UK fee status, tuition fees for 2026/27 will be in line with the fees charged for international students. You can check whether you are eligible for UK (Home) fee status on the UKCISA website: https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student-advice/fees/full-list-of-categories-for-he-in-wales/

Students from the rest of the world (international):

An NHS placement is a required part of this course. The NHS only makes placements available to students who are eligible to pay UK fees. Therefore, this course is not available for international students.

Sponsorship information

Cardiff University has many scholarships on offer to our prospective students. Please see our website at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/scholarships for further information.

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