Nursing Associate, Foundation Degree (Higher Apprenticeship)

I would like to wish you a warm welcome to The School of Nursing within the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Social Care at Canterbury Christ Church University. The School brings together the Nursing (Adult, Child, Mental Health, and Nursing Associate) staff into one vibrant community to deliver this pathway leading to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Registered Nursing Associate.
Steph Storer
Course Director

Key dates

Academic Calendar: 12-week Trimesters (equal break)

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2025-26 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.

Welcome

The Nursing Associate is an evolving profession which sits within the nursing workforce. Your course provides a variety of practical and University-based learning experiences to prepare you to work across the four fields of nursing and a variety of health and social care settings.

The course runs over 2 years and has been designed in partnership with local employers and current trainees in consideration of the knowledge, skills and attributes required for the future nursing associate workforce as detailed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

You will engage in series of theoretical and practice modules throughout the course and there is an equal split between classroom based learning and practice learning designed to enable you to acquire the appropriate knowledge and skills to practise in a person-centred way. We will utilise a blended approach to your learning and so will use online, classroom, directed individual and group activities to meet the course outcomes. You will study nursing skills and knowledge, communication skills, professional issues, anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, health and health promotion. Your modules use a problem-based learning approach. Your learning will support your understanding by the integration of theory and practice.

You will have opportunity to learn within our simulation suites where you will be able to develop, enhance and embed practical application to be able to develop confidence and competence in a safe environment. Your concluding module focuses on you becoming a registered professional through the consideration of leadership and the development of others within the unregistered workforce.

The course is assessed by a variety of methods. These methods include written assignments, group presentations and written reflections. In practice you will be assessed by a Practice Assessor appointed within a health and social care setting. An assessment tool designed to assess both your professional behaviour and the acquisition of clinical skills will be used. Throughout the course, you will receive support with your assignments from your module tutors and your personal academic tutor. Should you be unsuccessful with any of your assessments re assessment opportunities are available.

On behalf of the whole team may I take this opportunity to wish you a successful and enjoyable time on the course.

Getting started

Please ensure that you engage with occupational health clearance and DBS processes required by the Admissions Team. Failure to complete this by the time you register on the course may result in you not being able to proceed with your studies. Please also ensure you engage with the Placement Planning Form FoMHSC 2024/2025.

There are also a number of assessment forms as part of your apprenticeship which will be required to be completed in partnership with your local line manager or practice supervisor.

Welcome and Induction, Uniform and Occupational Health

If you are a Canterbury student, click the button below labelled Canterbury, and if you are a Medway student click the button labelled Medway, for information that is specific to your particular campus.

Welcome and Induction

Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and student life at CCCU, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

It is important to check your Welcome Schedule for all the activities you are required to attend during the week. Please note, you should not attend activities marked 'DIRECT'.

If any of your welcome activities are in groups, your course team will contact you before your arrival to let you know which group you will be in.

Your teaching timetable 

UniTimetables provides an overview of all teaching activities on a course. Your individual timetable will be available via MyTimetable and is personalised to show you what modules and groups you are expected to attend.

Your individual student timetable can only be produced once you have engaged with online registration and created your computing account. It is essential you complete these tasks when invited, so that your course team can assign you to your teaching activities and publish your individual timetable.

Find out more about all aspects of timetabling for new students including user guides.

Please note that timings given in your Welcome Schedule for uniform measure and issue events and occupational health vaccinations are indicative timings only. Please check below for the exact time of your appointment, which will be dependent on your surname (A-Z).

Visit us in the Health Hub to get your questions answered and have a soft drink and biscuit on us!

In addition to your course welcome activities, you can also join us at our Health Hub, timings below, where we can help you with any questions you may have or direct you to the most appropriate services.

You are now on your own exciting journey, but you are also part of our community where we support each other to grow and flourish at university and beyond. Drop in and stay connected, meet new friends and your peers. Meet and chat to our placements team, academic course administration team and existing students.

Drop in on the 2nd floor of the Verena Holmes building in VH 2.60 during any of the times below:

Monday 16 September, 12:30pm to 5pm
Tuesday 17 September, 9am to 5pm
Wednesday 18 September, 9am to 5pm

Occupational Health Clearance & Uniform

As part of starting your studies here at Canterbury Christ Church University, you will need to attend an occupational health vaccination appointment and a uniform measure & issue appointment during Welcome Week.

Occupational Health Clearance

Students need to obtain occupational health clearance to ensure they are fit to practice. You will be prompted via your ‘MyRecord’ to complete a clearance check and directed to an online health questionnaire.

Once you have submitted your questionnaire, you are required to attend an occupational health vaccination appointment appropriate to your placement requirements. We use an external company called OH Works for this. Ahead of your appointment, please gather any vaccination documentation (paper or electronic) from your GP or workplace to take to your occupational health appointment.

Click here for your occupational health appointment location and time.

For enquiries about your occupational health clearance please email cccustudents@ohworks.co.uk or phone 01227 286288.

Uniform

At your measure & issue appointment, you will be welcomed by the CCCU Uniform Team and our uniform suppliers, Alexandra. Once your sizing requirements have been determined, you will be able to collect your uniform which is expected to last the duration of your course. Your uniform is provided to you free of charge.

Click here for your uniform appointment location and time.

Important information regarding your uniform can be found on the uniform policy.

Placement Badge

On placement you will be required to wear a placement badge, which will have your course title and preferred first name. This placement badge is provided to you free of charge. You will be supplied with your placement badge once you have started your course. Please note, this is not your student ID card. 

You will receive an email from the Uniform Team regarding important tasks that you will need to action prior to your Welcome Week. If you have any questions about your uniform or placement badge, please email health.uniform@canterbury.ac.uk.

Pre-course reading

We would encourage you to review the course structure and module options via your course page before you arrive.

Preparing yourself to study nursing associate is not always easy; it is not a traditional academic discipline and has no clear boundaries. There are a few general interest websites available that you could review:

Unfortunately, there is no single textbook covering the whole of nursing associate education. Texts are very specific and you will consult numerous books, journals and websites during your course.

Our students come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds and so it is advisable to start reading, at a fundamental level, the subjects with which you are least familiar. For example, look out for the GCSE combined science textbooks or anything on anatomy and physiology. Read to gain a grasp of the broad concepts and don’t be too concerned about the detail.

You may wish to wait until you start and enjoy the student discount available at the University bookshop.

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

CourseSupport-health@canterbury.ac.uk