About the course
Reasons to study
- This course has been designed and written by qualified paramedics and you’ll be taught by an experienced team of senior lecturers and practitioners who are currently working in practice.
- Through practice placements with the local Ambulance Trust and healthcare providers, you’ll gain real-world experience.
- Our future-proof modules provide the opportunity for you to receive the most contemporary paramedic skills and concepts.
Keen to make a difference to people’s lives? If you’re caring, an effective communicator, and you thrive in challenging environments where no two days are the same, our Paramedic Science BSc(Hons) course is for you.
Paramedics are Allied Health Professionals who assess, treat, manage, refer, and discharge patients who require acute, chronic or specialist services across urgent and emergency care environments.
Our three-year course, which was designed and written by qualified paramedics, provides theoretical, practical and placement learning opportunities across a range of practice environments.
You’ll be taught by an experienced team of paramedic lecturers and practitioners who are currently working in practice. You’ll also hear from guest speakers, including a multidisciplinary network of healthcare professionals in other services, such as midwifery, mental health, and paediatric nursing. This approach will provide you with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to respond to a diverse range of patients across a variety of settings.
This course is regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and accredited by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS). Upon successful completion, you'll be eligible to apply for registration with the HCPC and practice as a Newly Qualified Paramedic (NQP).
Why study Paramedic Science BSc(Hons)
The course will be responsive to local, regional, and national changes to emergency services and healthcare, to provide you with the most comprehensive skills and knowledge. It is designed to equip you with the skills and expertise to become a paramedic and provide care, on the frontline, to those who need it most.
During your studies, you’ll discover a range of paramedic skills and concepts, and make the most of our established, strong relationship with the local Ambulance Trust, via career-enhancing practice placements.
The University’s new Daphne Steele Building is now open on the site of the National Health Innovation campus, enabling our Paramedic Science BSc(Hons) students to benefit from specialist clinical teaching facilities and world-leading research facilities.
Students on 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.
Not quite ready to start Paramedic Science BSc(Hons)? Successful completion of our Health Foundation Pathway leading to a BSc(Hons) Degree will equip you with the foundation knowledge to study Paramedic Science.
Course detail
Core modules:
Introduction to Patient Assessment and Management
This module introduces systematic patient assessment and provides the opportunity for you to develop the knowledge and skills required to manage patients within paramedic practice. It will assist you in gaining an understanding of medical conditions and traumatic presentations, as well as apply appropriate assessment and management. You’ll also have the chance to develop an understanding of normal and altered physiological measurements and changing dynamic decision making, as well as scope of practice in patient management.
Law, Policy and Ethics for Paramedics
Non-technical Skills for Paramedics
Paramedic Care across the Lifespan
Paramedic Skills 1
Core modules:
Anatomy, Physiology and Pathophysiology
This module provides a systematic approach to anatomy and physiology of acute and critical illness. It will assist you to gain an understanding of human development across the age spectrum (conception to death). You’ll explore altered pathology and its relation to acute and critical illness and diseases, as well as be introduced to pharmacological principles and their application to therapeutic regimes.
Emergency Care
Paramedic Skills 2 (Paramedic Science only)
Patient Assessment and Management
Research and Evidence Based Practice
Core modules:
Evidence Based Practice and Improvement
This module provides you with the opportunity to refine the research skills you have previously gained, enabling you to complete a systematic literature review. You’ll evidence learning through the application of improvement theories, and continue to demonstrate your understanding of research processes and how they apply to professional practice. The module enables you to align topical and contemporary professional issues to recognise and act on opportunities for improvement.
Integrated Urgent Care
Minor Injury and Illness Care in the Community
Paramedic Skills 3
Transition to Paramedic Practice
An average of 10% of study time on this course is spent with your tutors (either face to face or online) in lectures, seminars, tutorials etc and 33% is spent on placement.
Teaching and learning on this course is delivered through lectures, seminars, group work, practical experience, simulation, role play and computer based learning including quizzes, voting boards and forums. It is also delivered through work-based learning where you’ll undertake practice placements both within the ambulance service and other health or social care environments.
Teaching is delivered on campus and also through our University's Virtual Learning Environment. Service user and carer engagement is embedded into the course and some of the interactive classroom sessions will include input from patients/clients and individuals from the community. Anonymised patient stories in a variety of formats will also be incorporated into teaching and learning, enabling diversity, inclusion and a broader spectrum of patients, presentations and cultures.
Assessment involves a combination of coursework, practice/competency based learning and examination including case-studies, reflections, presentations, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) and practical scenarios. The nature of the assessment varies from module to module and mirrors the modes of communication expected of graduates in this field report writing, critique, case presentation and oral presentation of clinical findings. Assessment is based upon work- based situations through case studies to facilitate reflection and testing skills of critical analysis.
Feedback (usually written) is normally provided on all coursework submissions within three term time weeks – unless the submission was made towards the end of the session in which case feedback would be available on request after the formal publication of results. Feedback on exam performance/final coursework is available on request after the publication of results.
Throughout the course you’ll also have access to a Personal Development Plan, where you can identify your strengths and weaknesses, construct a record of achievement documenting the acquisition of knowledge, skills and competencies, as well as reflect and act upon your personal, professional, academic and long-term career goals.
Further information
Once you’ve submitted your application form to UCAS you may be invited to attend an assessment day.
The teaching year normally starts in September with breaks at Christmas and Easter, finishing with a main examination/assessment period around May/June. Timetables are normally available one month before registration. This is a full-time course, so you may have to attend every day of the week.
Your course is made up of modules and each module is worth a number of credits. Each year you study core modules to the value of 120 credits, adding up to 360 credits in total for a bachelor’s qualification.
If you achieve 120 credits for the current stage you are at, you may progress to the next stage of your course, subject to any professional, statutory or regulatory body guidelines.
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The University of Huddersfield has been rated Gold in all three aspects of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023. We were the only university in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West to achieve Gold ratings in all three aspects of the TEF among those announced in September 2023. In fact only 13 Universities, out of the 96 that were announced in September 2023, were Gold in all three ratings.
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Further proof of teaching excellence: our staff rank in the top three in England for the proportion who hold doctorates, who have higher degrees, and hold teaching qualifications (HESA 2024). So, you’ll learn from some of the best, helping you to be the best.
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We are joint first in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education, winning a total of 23 since 2008 (2024 data).
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We won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognising the University’s commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers (Higher Education Academy, 2017).
Read more about academic staff at the University of Huddersfield
At Huddersfield, you'll study the Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your degree* so that you gain valuable qualities and experiences that could help you to get the career you want, no matter what your field of study is. On completion of the Award, you'll receive a GPA certificate from the University of Huddersfield, alongside the specialist subject skills and knowledge you gain as part of your degree, which may help to set you apart from other graduates.
Giving students access to the Global Professional Award is one of the reasons the University won ‘Best University Employability Strategy’ award at the National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2021. Find out more on the Global Professional Award webpage.
*full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees.
Entry requirements
ABBat A Level including a relevant science subject (Biology, Human Biology, Applied Science or Physical Education), excluding General Studies and AS levels. If you are studying Science A Level, the endorsement for practical work is essential and a requirement for entry to our degree course. |
128 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications including at least 40 points in a relevant science subject, (A Level Biology, Human Biology, Applied Science or Physical Education, BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate/Diploma in Health and Social Care, Applied Science or Sport and Exercise Science), excluding General Studies and AS levels. If you are studying Science A Level, the endorsement for practical work is essential and a requirement for entry to our degree course. |
Distinction at T Level in Health or Healthcare Science. |
DDM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Applied Science (must contain at least 40% externally examined assessment) or DDM in BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science (must contain at least 40% externally examined assessment) or BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care (must contain at least 40% externally examined assessment). |
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In addition you must have GCSE English Language or Literature and Maths at grade 4 or above, or grade C or above if awarded under the previous GCSE grading scheme, or equivalent Ofqual regulated qualification.
If you do not have the appropriate qualifications for direct entry to this degree you may be able to apply to our Health Foundation Pathway leading to a BSc(Hons) Degree.
You must have evidence of Health and/or Social Care experience. This may include employment or work experience where you have dealt with service users, their carers and significant others.
Offers will be subject to an interview and references. You also need satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and occupational health clearances prior to registration. We arrange these as part of the application process. You’ll be required to sign a self-declaration at the start of each year. 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.
Please note all the information provided in support of your application may be checked and must be verifiable as a true record. Every person who applies for this course and meets the minimum entry requirement will be given the same opportunity in the selection process. In addition to completing an application form, all applicants will be interviewed using values-based recruitment to ensure that the course is suitable for that particular student.
You need to be able to meet the physical demands of a variety of placement settings. As per Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) (2023) ‘Standards of Proficiency’, you must be able to ‘understand and be able to apply appropriate moving and handling techniques’. Having a disability should not be seen as a barrier to becoming a health and care professional. As such the University will consider reasonable adjustments, in line with any disclosed application. Further guidance relating to becoming a health and care professional is found in the HCPC (2015) ‘Health, disability and becoming a health and care professional’ guidance.
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. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.
Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.
Please note places are limited and attainment of the minimum entry requirements does not guarantee an interview or offer. You must include details of any previous study.
Facilities
Student support
At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.
Important information
Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons
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