Overview
Mental Health Nursing is a challenging yet rewarding profession where you can make a real difference to people’s lives.
Our innovative BSc Mental Health Nursing course will prepare you to meet the needs of a modern profession and provide the best possible care. You will leave us as a confident and capable practitioner, fully equipped to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and join a health care team upon graduation.
Our course curriculum is informed by the latest research and encourages you to take an evidence-based approach to nursing care. We believe that mental health and wellbeing services must always respect the intrinsic value of people and their individuality.
In practice, this means that teaching and learning activities are informed either directly or indirectly by people who have lived experience of mental ill health. This inclusive, values based approach will support your development as a reflective, resilient and socially aware mental health nurse with the capacity to engage in a diverse range of health and social care settings.
You will be allocated a personal tutor who will be a source of guidance information and support during your studies. Whilst undertaking practice learning experiences, you will also be allocated a Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisor who will support your practice-based learning.
We work with our course partner, NHS Forth Valley, to ensure that our course remains clinically excellent and our students get the best possible experience while they’re studying. We will inspire and challenge you, so that you leave as a confident and capable practitioner- ready to join a health and social care team upon graduation.
Nursing is global: international opportunities
Global health themes are integrated throughout our nursing degree. Our nursing students are actively engaged in the global health community. For example, our students are active participants in the Nightingale initiative for Global Health.
There are opportunities for students to study abroad and gain valuable experience. You can also meet, collaborate and learn with visiting students, and in virtual classrooms. Find out more about international opportunities.
BSc (Hons) and BSc Mental Health Nursing courses
BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing students follow the same course structure as BSc Mental Health Nursing for Years 1-3. After that point, Honours students carry out an additional placement module with the opportunity to study overseas.
In their final year, Honours students complete additional modules, including a dissertation and achieve registration and their Honours degree at the end of Year 4.
This BSc Mental Health Nursing degree is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Each year, the course meets the NMC requirement of 50% theory and 50% practice. Following successful completion of the course, including the NMC required final placement in Year 3, students are eligible to achieve professional registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Students can be nominated for The Student Nursing Times Awards. These awards celebrate the very best in student nurses and nurse education, recognising educational establishments and honouring those who are committed to developing new nursing talent. The University of Stirling has won Student Nursing Times Awards in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021. Catherine Watson was awarded Student Nurse of the Year 2022.
Entry requirements
SQA Highers
BBC
GCE A-levels
CCC
IB Diploma
28
BTEC
MMM
Widening access students
Widening access students may be eligible for an adjusted offer of entry. To find out if this applies to you go to our widening access pages.
Care-experienced applicants will be guaranteed an offer of a place if they meet the minimum entry requirements and successfully pass an interview.
Scottish HNC/HND
Year one minimum entry - Bs in graded units.
Access courses
If you don’t currently have the relevant qualifications to apply to either university or an HNC, you may want to consider applying for an access course. The University of Stirling runs an Access to Nursing Studies course.
Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP)
You can also complete a SWAP Access to Nursing course to gain entry to our BSc Adult and Mental Health nursing degrees.
Email our Admissions Team for advice about other access courses.
Foundation Apprenticeships
Considered to be equivalent to 1 Higher at Grade B
Preferred subjects
One of Higher/A-level in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics is preferred.
Preference will be given to those with a Science or Health Care background.
English, Welsh and Northern Irish HNC/HND
Merits and Distinctions
English access course
Access to Higher Education Diploma - 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3. Email our Admissions Team for advice about other access courses.
Preferred subjects
Preference will be given to those with a Science or Health Care background.
Advanced entry may be possible depending on your qualifications. We can only consider advanced entry applications for Year 2 and not Year 3 entry.
What other criteria are required for BSc Mental Health Nursing?
The personal values and qualities that you’re able demonstrate in your personal statement will be considered. Explaining why you’re choosing mental health nursing should be evident. Voluntary or paid experience in a care setting would be useful. We advise you to show the links between the knowledge, values and skills gained in these experiences and how they might fit with the attributes of a Mental Health nurse. Other experience, which demonstrates your commitment and your ability to work in a team, is also valuable.
References required
References are required. Please provide an academic reference. If this is not possible we can accept an employer’s reference. Friends as referees are not accepted. If you’re applying to transfer from another institution we require a reference and a transcript from that institution.
Practical experience
You must be committed to go on practice learning experiences in conjunction with our practice partners. . These may cover an extensive geographical area and so you should be expected to be able to travel to all practice areas within NHS Forth Valley It is expected that you make your own arrangements to accessing these experiences. There is some reimbursement from SASS for travel costs.
You should also be aware that holiday periods are pre-determined within the course.
Will there be an interview?
If your application proceeds, then you will be invited to attend a compulsory interview.
Disclosure Scotland check
All applicants are subject to a Disclosure Scotland check. This will show all spent and unspent criminal convictions including (but not limited to) cautions, reprimands, final warnings, bind over orders or similar and, to the extent relevant to this course, may also show details of any minor offences, fixed penalty notices, penalty notices for disorder.
Previous criminal convictions may not exclude you from entering the course, but all convictions must be declared and some may result in your application being unsuccessful.
Fitness for taking part in practical placements
All applicants must be passed fit by our Occupational Health team. We’ll ask you to fill out a questionnaire and also to visit our team on campus.
To protect your privacy, neither of these checks will normally be carried out until an offer has been made to you.
Some applicants may have varying levels of prior certificated or experiential learning. You’ll be assessed on an individual basis, according to the current University of Stirling Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Policy. RPL is facilitated within the Faculty and this may result in a shortened programme of study for you. Please get in touch to discuss any prior learning with a member of our recruitment team. We can only consider advanced entry applications for Year 2 and not Year 3 entry.
If English is not your first language you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of your English language skills:
- IELTS Academic or UKVI 7.0 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in writing and 7.0 in speaking, listening and reading.
- Pearson Test of English (Academic) 67 overall with a minimum of 62 in writing and 67 in speaking, listening and reading.
- IBT TOEFL 94 overall with 19 in reading, 24 in writing, 20 in listening and 22 in speaking.
See our information on English language requirements for more details on the language tests we accept and options to waive these requirements.
Pre-sessional English language courses
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this course, our partner INTO University of Stirling offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for entry to this degree.
Find out more about our pre-sessional English language courses
Course details
Our BSc Mental Health Nursing course is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
You will study alongside our Adult Nursing and our BSc Paramedic Science students during Year 1 of the course to gain an understanding of how health and social care professionals work together to bring about the best in person-centred care. Our degree will develop your critical and reflective thinking and improve your self-awareness, self-confidence and personal resilience.
Each year of our degree meets the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requirement of 50% theory and 50% practice. You’ll be introduced to the fundamentals of nursing, and then progress to specialist areas such as therapeutic skills, recovery, trauma-informed and leadership skills.
Through our partnerships with a diverse range of health and social care organisations, you'll have the opportunity to put theory into practice. You may work both day and night shifts to coincide with the patterns of the clinical area and your allocated Practice Supervisor and Practice Assessor, who will facilitate and support your learning in practice.
This BSc Mental Health Nursing course is designed for you to achieve the proficiencies required for registration in the UK as a nurse. You may also have the choice to undertake a placement with a health-related organisation.
You’ll be allocated a personal tutor, who will be a source of guidance, information and support during your studies.
In the theory learning, you will be supported to demonstrate a growing knowledge and understanding of the life sciences and relational and trauma informed care approaches. You'll examine the skills and theory of leadership in practice and demonstrate these skills in your final practice learning experience. Clinical skills teaching are tailored around mental health scenarios.
In Year 2, you’ll study two mental health modules and in Year 3, one mental health specific module, and shared modules with Adult Nursing students.
Advances in knowledge require that Mental Health Nurses continually incorporate new research findings into their practice; this awareness is embedded in our course. Your ability to incorporate evidence-based, outcomes-orientated practice is part of our course philosophy.
Modules
The module information below provides an example of the types of course module you may study. The details listed are for the academic year that starts in September 2024. Modules and start dates are regularly reviewed and may be subject to change in future years.
Course details
We've been awarded five-star excellence for our teaching in the QS Stars University Ratings 2024. A wide range of approaches to learning are used on this course. We take a student-centred approach which uses small group teaching (enquiry and scenario-based learning) along with lectures, seminars, group work and clinical skills teaching.
Each semester you’ll be assessed by a range of methods including exams, essays, reports, clinical skills assessments, presentations and assessments of practice. You need to pass these before progressing to the next semester.
Our placements go beyond standard hospital placements. Find out more about how nursing placements are a key foundation of studying Nursing at Stirling.
For any course related questions, please contact +44 (0)1786 466340 or nursingrecruitment@stir.ac.uk.
Fees and funding
Scottish students
This fee is set by the Scottish Government and is subject to change.
Although you’re liable for annual tuition fees, if you are domiciled in Scotland you can apply to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) to have your tuition fees paid by the Scottish Government on your behalf.
You will be charged the annual tuition fee each year when you enrol.
If you need to take additional modules or resit modules, you will be liable for an additional fee.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Students from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland
This tuition fee may be subject to change depending on guidance provided by the UK Government.
You can apply for financial assistance, including a loan to cover the full cost of your tuition fees, from your relevant funding body. Students from the Republic of Ireland are eligible for a tuition fee loan of up to £9,535 from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).
We also offer additional funding – such as our Honours Year Scholarship – for students from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. See our funding opportunities section below for more information.
You will be charged the annual fee each year when you enrol.
If you need to take additional modules or resit modules, you will be liable for an additional fee.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy and terms and conditions.
International students (including EU)
Eligible students will automatically receive a scholarship worth between £8,000-£30,000 over the duration of your course. See our range of generous scholarships for international undergraduate students.
You will be charged the annual fee each year when you enrol. Your fees will be held at the same level throughout your course.
If you need to take additional modules or resit modules, you will be liable for an additional fee.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Additional costs
There are some instances where additional fees may apply. Depending on your chosen course, you may need to pay additional costs, for example for field trips. Learn more about additional fees.
Students domiciled in Scotland
All SAAS-eligible students are entitled to a £10,000 bursary each year for Years 1-3 of study, and an additional £7,500 if completing an Honours year. Find out more about paramedic, nursing and midwifery funding from SAAS.
Students domiciled in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland
Our Nursing Scholarship and Access to Nursing Bursary provides students from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland a £2,000 cash award per year (for Years 1-3 of study) on one of our undergraduate nursing courses. The scholarship can also be combined with our Honours Year Scholarship, which covers the full cost of tuition fees in students’ Honours year of study.
The University also covers the costs of occupational health consultations; criminal record checks; compulsory uniforms; and inoculations for undergraduate nursing students from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. These benefits represent a cost saving of around £430.
There’s no need to apply for these awards – eligible students will automatically be identified as part of the admissions process.
International (including EU) students
Eligible international students will automatically receive a scholarship worth between £8,000-£30,000 over the duration of your course. Find funding opportunities for international students.
Mature students and students with family
There is extra funding to help with the costs of childcare. SAAS provide funding for students domiciled in Scotland. This includes Dependant’s Allowance, Single Parent’s Allowance and Childcare Allowance for Parents. Full information can be found on the SAAS website.
See what funding opportunities and loans are available to help you with tuition and living costs.
If you’re domiciled in the UK, you can typically apply to your relevant funding body for help with living costs. This usually takes the form of student loans, grants or bursaries, and the amount awarded depends upon your personal circumstances and household income.
International (including EU) students won’t normally be able to claim living support through SAAS or other UK public funding bodies. You should contact the relevant authority in your country to find out if you’re eligible to receive support.
We aim to be as flexible as possible, and offer a wide range of payment methods - including the option to pay fees by instalments. Learn more about how to pay.
After you graduate
Preparing you for the world of work
This course is the beginning of a career which involves ongoing professional development. Some of our graduates focus on initially consolidating their learning by working in practice. Others progress to postgraduate studies.
Many of our Mental Health Nursing graduates find roles within the NHS, however, others have found employment in other areas of the public sector, as well as within the third sector of health and social care. As the policy of health and social care integration continues to progress, the role of the mental health nurse is expanding, providing a diverse range of opportunities following graduation and post-registration.
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