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Nursing (Pre-Registration) Learning Disability MSc

2026-27 (also available for 2025-26)

Start date

11 January 2027

Duration

2 years full-time

Places available (subject to change)

15

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. 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.
  2. You will practice and develop your skills through a variety of clinical placements in a range of statutory, private and voluntary services, in order to prepare you to pursue your career.
  3. 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.

The 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 and compassionate learning disability nurse in a rapidly changing health and social care environment.

  • The course will assist you to develop both practical and theoretical skills, in order to achieve your full potential as a learning disability 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. Your practice learning will be field specific to meet a wide range of physical, psychological and social needs. *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.
  • The University has strong links with NHS Trusts within the West Yorkshire and wider region, as well as private organisations who offer services to people with a learning disability.
  • 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 learning disability 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 learning disability nurse, requires patience, empathy, and listening skills. You will also have the opportunity to develop a high level of professional, inter-personal, communication, clinical, and technical skills to help improve the quality of life of people with a learning disability and their ability to live as independently as possible. You will study how to work in partnership with service users, their families, carers and other professionals to promote health and wellbeing.

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.

Course detail

Becoming a professional - Learning Disability Nursing

This module involves exploring your development as a professional, examining your personal and professional attitudes and beliefs, as well as relating these to your future professional role as a learning disability nurse. You will gain an understanding about how you can develop as a learner and maintain your physical and mental health, so you are able to promote and support people with learning disabilities with their health. You will also learn how to manage the transition to university and explore ethical and professional codes underpinning learning disability nursing.

Developing critical knowledge and skills in Learning Disability Nursing
Developing research knowledge and evidence for Learning Disability Nursing practice
Introduction to Learning Disability Nursing
Understanding knowledge and evidence for nursing
Nursing Practice 1

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 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.

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.

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Postgraduate Open Days


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Placements


During the course you will undertake a number of practice learning experiences in a diverse range of health and social care settings, reflecting the diversity of services accessed by people with a learning disability. This may include community teams, nursing and residential homes, supported living services, schools, short breaks services, day opportunities or hospitals and clinics. You may also have the opportunity to work within forensic services, prisons, palliative care and youth offending services. Throughout your practical experiences you will be supported, supervised and assessed by a qualified nurse or other suitably qualified professional to ensure you receive all the expert help and advice you need.

To allow you the broadest professional experience possible, practice experiences are generally offered across West Yorkshire and beyond, covering 24-hour care including evening, weekend and occasional night-shifts.Your placement areas could be anywhere within the wider Calderdale, Kirklees, and Wakefield metropolitan districts of West Yorkshire. You need to think very carefully about how you’ll travel across this region for your placements with awareness that when in placement you’ll often be required to start a shift at 7.00am and may not finish until 8.00pm. Your placements will also incorporate night-shift and weekend working. For more information visit our placements page.

Enhance your career


Previous graduates from courses in this subject area have gone on to work in a variety of roles such as Adult nurse, Children's nurse, Health play specialist, Health visitor, High intensity therapist, Learning disability nurse, Mental health nurse, Midwife, Paramedic, Physician associate.*

*Source: Prospects
**Percentage of the University’s postgraduate students go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating. (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2021/22, UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

93.4%** Graduates employed

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.

Research excellence

Research plays an important role in informing all our teaching and learning activities. Through research our staff remain up to date with the latest developments in their field, which means they can help you to develop knowledge and skills that are current and highly relevant.

Find out more about our research staff and centres

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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