Nursing (Pre-Registration) Mental Health | University of Huddersfield

Course summary

This course provides the opportunity for those who have studied an undergraduate degree to undertake a two-year full-time Master's course and upon successful completion receive eligibility for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The course helps you to develop the skills required, in order to become a confident, competent, caring and compassionate mental health nurse. Using a person-centred approach you will learn how to facilitate recovery of service users in various settings, including those who are acutely ill, those in rehabilitation services and those experiencing long-term conditions across the lifespan. You will also have opportunities to learn about partnership approaches to caring for service users, carers and families.

The course will assist you to develop both practical and theoretical skills, in order to achieve your full potential as a child nurse and meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards. These include professional values, communication and interpersonal skills, nursing practice and decision making, and leadership, management and team working.
This challenging and intensive course comprises 50% theory and 50% practice, where you will undertake placements in a range of settings. The course consists of two years, each comprising of a number of compulsory modules, where you will have the opportunity to study alongside students from the other fields of nursing.
You will be taught by Lecturers who are committed and passionate, as well as practice supervisors and assessors who are research active and have extensive and varied experience in mental health nursing.
Teaching takes place in innovative and contemporary teaching and learning environments, including a fully equipped simulated ward.
Student support will be given from personal tutors and year leaders, as well as academic learning support and experienced practice supervisors and assessors.

Being a mental health nurse requires patience, empathy and listening skills. You will have the opportunity to develop intellectual, personal and professional skills required for practice.

Students studying this course may be eligible to receive a non-repayable grant of at least £5,000 each year. Further information is available on the NHS Learning Support Fund Website.

Reasons to study Nursing (Pre-Registration) Mental Health:

For those who have studied a suitable undergraduate degree this course fast tracks you to become a registered nurse in two years rather than three.
You will practise and develop your skills through allocated clinical placements in a range of statutory, private, voluntary and student led services, preparing you for your mental health nursing career.
You will hear first-hand experiences and viewpoints from service users and carers, who are part of the Public Partnership Group to enhance your learning.

Modules

Course Modules

In the first year of study, modules include:
• Becoming a professional - Mental Health Nursing
• Introduction to Mental Health Nursing
• Developing research knowledge and evidence for Mental Health Nursing practice
• Developing critical knowledge and skills in Mental Health Nursing
• Nursing Practice 1
• Understanding knowledge and evidence for nursing

To see the full range of modules and descriptions please visit our website. The module information is in the ‘Course details’ section of our course page.

https://courses.hud.ac.uk/2027-28/postgraduate/nursing-pre-registration-mental-health-msc

Assessment method

All our courses give you an overview of:
• contact time with your tutor
• time spent on independent study
• how you will be taught, assessed, and receive feedback

Take a look at the Teaching and Assessment information on our course page.

Professional bodies

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

Nursing and Midwifery Council

Open days

University of Huddersfield - Undergraduate Open Day
20 Jun 2026, 08:30
Huddersfield
University of Huddersfield - Postgraduate Open Day
20 Jun 2026, 14:00
Huddersfield

Entry requirements

You must have the following:

An Honours degree (2:2 or above) and work experience relevant to the programme to be followed. Applicants with an Honours degree and considerable relevant experience may also be considered if they can demonstrate their ability to study at Masters level.
If successful at interview, applicants are required to successfully demonstrate that they have completed 550 hours of theory through studying/reading and a minimum of 700 hours of practice before they start the course using a Pre-Entry Portfolio. Students will have 700 hours of practice verified in the Pre-Entry Portfolio. A broad range of experience can be used for this including observations and reading. Your experience and learning may have occurred outside a typical 'practice' area but may still be applicable, for example you may have worked in a public-facing professional role in which you have demonstrated values relating to the professional standards that registered nurses must uphold (Nursing & Midwifery Council 2018).

If you hold any other qualifications which are not listed, please contact us before applying for this course.

Offers will be subject to an interview, an Occupational Health assessment and references. Please note all the information provided in support of your application may be checked and must be verifiable as a true record.

You also need satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), occupational health clearances and RPL (NMC) evidence prior to registration on the course. We arrange these as part of the application process. You will be required to sign a self-declaration at the start of each year and at the end of the course. All police contact during the course must be reported to the course leader as a matter of urgency and may lead to suspension or termination. We will request an Overseas Police Check if you have lived in a country outside of the UK for 6 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years before applying to us and whilst aged 18 or over.

Placement providers for this course may require you to have received a number of vaccinations, unless medically exempt, and provide evidence of these. As a student on a course with a clinical or healthcare placement, we strongly recommend that you complete any courses of vaccinations required under current guidelines for your future profession. Failure to do so may result in your inability to undertake a placement in certain clinical settings, therefore impacting upon your academic progression, and may result in academic failure of your course.

In addition to the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) required for entry to the course, you may also be eligible to gain recognition for your prior learning towards the academic credit on this course. Please note that the course you are applying for is regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) which allows a maximum of 50% of credits for the award to be conferred through recognition of prior learning.

Please note: there are a limited number of places on the course and the demand is generally high, therefore we may not interview all applicants who meet the required entry criteria due to this competitive process. https://www.hud.ac.uk/undergraduate/how-to-apply/entry-requirements/

Additional entry requirements

Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) / Disclosure Scotland Check
Health Checks
Interview
Portfolio

English language requirements

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.5 overall with no element lower than 6.0, or equivalent.https://www.hud.ac.uk/international/courses-and-entry-requirements/international-entry-requirements/

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.

Our offer-making is transparent, consistent, and equitable.
Whilst we do not use contextual data as part of our decision making, an offer below the publicised entry criteria may be made in exceptional circumstances. This might be where there is evidence supplied by the applicant and/or referee that the applicant’s grades may have been affected by individual extenuating circumstances or in relation to performance at an interview.

Learn more on the University of Huddersfield website

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

Per year tuition fees

Location	Fee	Year
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands & Republic of Ireland	£10050*
EU & International	£19800*

* This is a provisional fee and subject to change.

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

This is the tuition fee for 2026/27 entry. Tuition fees for 2027/28 will be published once the information becomes available.

This information is for students applying to study at the University of Huddersfield in the academic year 2026/27.

Please note that tuition fees for subsequent years may rise in line with inflation (RPI-X) and/or Government policy.

For detailed information please visit our website.

Sponsorship information

Scholarships and bursaries - Postgraduate NHS Funding

Please see our website for further information.

NHS Funding
Students studying this course may be eligible to receive additional funding. Further information is available on the NHS Learning Support Fund Website.

https://www.hud.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding-studies/
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund