The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) are required to make sure nurses have the skills, knowledge, health, and character to be able to care for people safely. This is assessed in line with the standards of health and character set out in The Code.

The information below provides further information on the additional entry requirements for the course and how health and character are assessed.

All places are offered subject to satisfactory occupational health screening. This will involve completing an occupational health questionnaire and attendance if required at a medical appointment.  Occupational health screening and assessment will consider your health and wellbeing as well as your fitness to study and practice. Progress on the course is dependent on your continued fitness.  All offers of places are made subject to satisfactory health clearance and an agreement to undergo appropriate blood tests and immunisations.

The health screening comprises the completion of a detailed health questionnaire by the applicant, failure to return this form before the start of the course may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.

Our focus is on whether you have a health condition and/or disability which may affect your practice. This is because we need to be able to assess whether it puts the safety of people in your care at risk. When considering disclosure, it is important that you consider the impact of your health condition for both academic and placement settings.

We expect applicants to complete the occupational health questionnaire honestly. When we ask you to declare whether you have a health condition that could affect your fitness to practice, we are trusting you as a potential autonomous professional to make an informed and reasoned judgement about yourself in relation to others. If you do not fully disclose a relevant health issue that could affect your fitness to practice, this could impact your place on the course.

It is important to know that making a declaration to us about any health condition is a positive action which shows you have an awareness of the possible effect of your health on your ability to practice safely and effectively. Any recommendations that arise from the occupational health screening will be referred to the Fitness to Practice panel to determine if reasonable adjustments can be made. All referrals are treated on a case-by-case basis. Only members of the Fitness to Practice Panel will have access to the details of an applicant’s Occupational Health Screening.

A potential student with a health or disability-related problem may be concerned as to their ability to fulfil the Proficiency and Professional standards of the programme. Any such applicants are encouraged to contact admissions at an early stage in order to explore the situation in depth and consider the feasibility of making reasonable adjustments. Hopefully, the process will prove helpful to the student in deciding whether to pursue an application. Admissions will then put applicants in touch with the academic department.

For more information, please view the University's Occupational Health Policy.

Leeds Trinity University welcomes disabled students. If you have a disability, please tell us about it so that we can put in place reasonable adjustments and arrange support for you.

Applicants are encouraged to disclose any disabilities they may have at their earliest opportunity. When considering disclosure, it is important that you consider the impact of your disability for both academic and placement settings. Seeking disclosure advice and support regarding a disability, particularly in preparation for placement learning, is seen as safe practice and is thus an essential part of professional development.

A potential student with a health or disability-related problem may be concerned as to their ability to fulfil the Proficiency and Professional standards of the programme. Any such applicants are encouraged to contact admissions at an early stage in order to explore the situation in depth and consider the feasibility of making reasonable adjustments. Hopefully, the process will prove helpful to the student in deciding whether to pursue an application. Admissions will then put applicants in touch with the academic department.

If you have a disability, visit our students with disabilities page to find out more about how Leeds Trinity can support you with your studies.

Applicants who are offered a place and accept it will be contacted regarding the DBS application, which will be completed via an external company. This is because you may be required to work with children or vulnerable adults on your clinical placements. Leeds Trinity University will pay the DBS fee for all Nursing applicants who have accepted their offer. Students on nursing programmes will be asked to make an annual declaration of continued good character. 

As DBS checks can only cover time spent in the UK, applicants who have spent time outside the UK may need to obtain an overseas police check of some kind from the country/countries in which they are now living or have lived. This means a police or criminal records background check from outside the UK; these will be called something different according to the country.

If you have lived or are living outside the UK, this condition applies regardless of your nationality or fee status. Broadly speaking, applicants included are:

  • Non-UK applicants (including residents of the Republic of Ireland and other EU countries, as well as overseas applicants). This applies even if you are not currently resident in your country of origin but have lived there recently.
  • UK applicants living abroad now or who have lived abroad recently. This requirement is in addition to your UK DBS check, not an alternative to it.

Applicants must disclose all cautions, convictions or conditional charges. Any disclosure or conviction received will be dealt with promptly, fairly, and lawfully. Depending on the offence and the decision of the panel, the case could be further referred to the Fitness to Practice Panel for a final decision in line with NMC guidelines.

Visit our DBS Processing Procedure to find out more information.

All applications should be supported by a second reference in addition to that supplied on your UCAS form.

We require a second reference for courses that lead to eligibility for professional registration; this is because they are academically challenging and involve working with the public. It is therefore our responsibility to ensure that applicants are suitable for professional registration on graduation. As such, recruitment to these courses requires two good, recent references as part of the entry requirements. One of these references will be your UCAS reference provided on application. The second reference will be requested after acceptance of a place and will attest to your suitability to commence nurse training, character, behaviour, and general ethics.

We accept academic and employer references, but we understand that an employer reference may be difficult to supply if you are not in employment - suggested alternatives may include:

  • personal tutors
  • mentors
  • volunteer coordinators
  • someone you have supported or cared for in a voluntary capacity
  • a faith or religious leaders
  • club or group leaders i.e. sports or recreational groups you participate in

You will be asked to supply this second reference as a condition of your offer. Once you have accepted your offer, you will then be asked to provide the details of your second referee, who will be sent the Second Reference Request Form. This form must be completed in full and returned to the Admissions Team in a timely manner so as not to delay any progress with the status of your application. Full details on how to complete and send the form will be sent once you have accepted your offer.

For more information, please view the University's Reference Policy.

Interview

If you've applied to study one of our BSc (Hons) Nursing programmes and have met the entry criteria, you will be invited to attend an interview. All our Nursing applicants are required to attend a values-based interview before being offered a place on their chosen programme of study.

We are currently conducting all our Nursing interviews via Microsoft Teams. Once you have completed your interview, we will be able to make a decision about your application.

The interview process enables us to assess your commitment to your chosen programme and ensure you will uphold the values, beliefs and behaviours expected by the nursing profession as set out in The NHS Constitution for England (2021), The Code (NMC, 2018) and the 6 C’s in the Compassion in Practice Strategy (DoH, NHS, 2012).

The interview is your opportunity to meet with us and allow us to get to know the person behind the personal statement. It’s also your opportunity to decide if we are the right fit for you and you can see yourself studying Nursing at Leeds Trinity University.

Once we’ve checked and confirmed your eligibility for the programme, we will send you an email inviting you to book an online interview. There will be several dates and times available for you to choose from. If you’re not able to attend any of the interview dates available, or have booked but need to reschedule, you can contact our Admissions Team at healthadmissions@leedstrinity.ac.uk who will help find a suitable date for you.

While our aim is to inform applicants of our decision as soon as possible after the interview, there will be a number of cases when our decision will be delayed, and we will need to wait until all interviews have been completed before we are able to update UCAS Track with our decision. In this situation, we will offer applicants the choice to be added to a reserve list, informing them of the potential delay and the timeline of when we expect to be able to confirm our decision. Please see our Admissions Policy for our policy on Interview Feedback.

Preparing for your interview

Remember, this is your opportunity to think about the role of the nurse and the qualities needed, and how your talents, skills, and relatable experience match what we’re looking for in a future nurse.

  • What do you think a nurse does?
  • Have you spoken up on someone’s behalf especially if they had concerns?
  • How does it make you feel when you hear of people being mistreated?
  • What are your motivations for entering the profession?
  • Why do you want to become a registered nurse?
  • What inspired you to consider this profession?
  • Why do you think you are well-suited to become a future nurse?
  • What is your understanding of the programme and its academic and practice demands?
  • What parts of the programme do you think you will find most challenging and how will you manage this?
  • What are you looking forward to most about the programme?
  • What is your awareness of professional responsibilities and values?
  • What qualities do you need to be professional?
  • What do you do that demonstrates professional behaviour?
  • How do your values align with those of the NHS and the NMC, how do you demonstrate those values?

On the day

You will be interviewed by a member of the nursing academic team, a service user or carer and one of our practice learning partners. The interview will be an opportunity for us to assess your ability to think on your feet, critically appraise information, communicate ideas, and demonstrate your thoughts and ideas about some of the contemporary issues that are important to the nursing profession. There will also be an opportunity for you to ask questions at the end of the interview.

It is important that you are on time for your online appointment. The interview session can take up to 30 minutes. The offer of a place will be based on your performance during the interview, and the assessment of your interviewers. If you have a disability that you think will affect your ability to participate in this interview process, please tell us about this when you confirm your intention to attend the interview.

One week prior to the interview, we will email you two different clinical scenarios. You will need to select one and be prepared to discuss with the interview panel your thoughts about the situation, the care offered, and how this aligns to the values, qualities, and behaviours expected of the nursing profession.

The panel will be assessing your answers against five key themes. Ensuring you’ve clearly covered and addressed these when preparing for your interview will strengthen your answers:

  • Commitment and motivation to study nursing at Leeds Trinity University (relevant to the field applied for)
  • Knowledge and understanding of the nursing profession
  • Skills and personal qualities
  • Demonstrates professional values, beliefs, and behaviours in accordance with The Code (NMC, 2018), and The NHS Constitution (NHS, 2021), Compassion in Practice Strategy (DoH & NHS, 2012).
  • Demonstrates appropriate communication and relationship skills

Top Tips from our Nursing Team

  • Familiarise yourself with your application form and personal statement beforehand.
  • Read UCAS’s guidance on How to prepare for nursing interviews | Undergraduate | UCAS
  • Review the sample interview questions and practise how you might answer them, your school or college may have a careers team that can help with this.
  • Prepare some examples that allow you to reflect on relevant experience or skills.
  • Rehearse your answers so you’re clear on what you’d like to tell us at the interview.
  • First impressions count, be on time and dress appropriately.
  • Be confident, be calm and be yourself. Good luck!
Course title Award Year of entry Link to view course
Nursing (Adult) BSc (Hons) Year of entry: 2024, 2025 View course
Nursing (Learning Disabilities) BSc (Hons) Year of entry: 2024, 2025 View course
Nursing (Mental Health) BSc (Hons) Year of entry: 2024, 2025 View course
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