Children and Young People's Nursing (pre-registration) MSc

Postgraduate

Two nurses putting a breathing mask on a doll lying on a hospital bed

This MSc course offers graduates from a range of backgrounds the opportunity to enter the Children and Young People’s nursing profession in two years.

Year of entry

2024-25 2025-26

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time

Duration

2 years full-time

Course code

HLST263

Start date

January 2025

How to apply

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Course overview

Fully accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), this course provides eligibility for registration as a nurse on successful completion of the two-year course (additional costs may apply).

It is designed to equip those with a previous degree and care experience with the hands-on clinical and care skills to prepare you to provide autonomous, compassionate and family-centred care. Through building therapeutic relationships, you’ll aim to become a caring practitioner, well-prepared to meet the needs of children, young people and their families.

This course aims to prepare you to analyse the needs of, and develop and deliver effective care for, children from birth to young adulthood.
You will consider their physiological needs, mental health and wellbeing in the provision of care and understand the importance of evidence-informed practice, care and compassion.
It is designed to challenge you to develop high standards of person-centred care, skills in coordinating complex care, clinical, legal and ethical decision-making, leadership and mentoring.
Study in the Alison Gingell building which features hospital wards, operating theatre, critical care settings, community housing and other real-life nursing environments relevant to practice⁴.
All eligible students on this course can apply for a minimum payment from the Government of £5,000 per year, with additional payments for students incurring childcare costs⁶.

5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings

Ranked 11th Modern University in UK by the Times

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025

Ranked 8th for Overall Satisfaction in PTES

Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2024

Why you should study this course

The Children and Young People's Nursing (pre-registration) MSc is a two-year postgraduate course which can lead to registration as a Children and Young People's Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (additional costs may apply). On successful completion of the course, you will be able to demonstrate the professional values, attitudes and behaviours required to deliver safe and effective, holistic child and family-centred care. This will allow you to play a vital role in the journey of children and their families, during very challenging and difficult times.

The course is aimed at individuals with a prior undergraduate degree and evidence of experience in health and social care (please see entry requirements for full details). Previous undergraduate degrees may include (but are not limited to) health-related disciplines, psychology, criminology or sociology degrees. Those with non-health-related degrees must demonstrate extensive experience in the clinical health and social care sector. It is also suitable for existing nurses looking for dual qualification.
This course responds to the current challenges in healthcare, related to the complex care issues around mental, physical, cognitive and behavioural impairment. The inherent specialised content will enable graduates to analyse, enhance and deliver care to children and their families. The individual needs of those children and young people - experiencing either acute episodes or chronicity of illness and injury - will be examined, ensuring you will adopt enhanced nursing skills and knowledge. A focus upon physiological, mental health and wellbeing is a traditional approach, and you will develop skills to care for a range of ages, including neonates, infants, children and adolescents. This is complemented by research and evidence-informed practice and independent project work which is focused on and promotes service improvement.
Practice placement² learning is integral and accounts for 50% of the course – this is organised by the university. The clinical practice experience exposes you to caring for the needs of children, young people and their families across a range of health services. This means an eclectic range of placements may be accessed including special care, Accident and Emergency, children's wards, adolescent care, high dependency care, specialised surgery, neonatal intensive care and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Hospice and respite care, community children's services and safeguarding involvement facilitates the preparation of a highly skilled graduate and knowledgeable nurse registrant.
Upon successful completion, in addition to eligibility for NMC registration, you will also graduate with a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) accredited¹ qualification in Leading and Creating Organisational Health and Wellbeing and have the opportunity to apply to become a member of the CMI (see accreditation section for more details).
You will study in the multi-million pound state-of-the-art Alison Gingell Building, which provides facilities⁴ for teaching and research, featuring hospital wards, critical care settings, an operating theatre, community housing and other real-life nursing environments relevant to practice.

Accreditation and professional recognition

This course is accredited¹ by the following professional bodies:

Nursing & Midwifery Council

The course is currently fully accredited by the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for the 2023/24 intake and, providing you also meet the NMC requirements, on successful completion you will be eligible to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (additional costs may apply).

Chartered Management Institute (CMI)

As part of this course, you will undertake a professional development module which is currently accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) for the 2024-25 intake. Upon successful completion of the module, you will gain the CMI Level 7 Certificate in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice at no additional cost. Further details can be found under the module section and on the Professional Development module homepage.

Nursing at Coventry University

We have an excellent reputation for the quality of the education provided to trainee and qualified nurses.

Why study with us

We have an excellent reputation for the quality of the education provided to trainee and qualified nurses.

What you'll study

The delivery of theory components is through a range of theory modules which focus on extending your knowledge and cognitive skills, providing you with a sound critical, analytical and reflective approach to person-centred care delivery.

The practice component considers the knowledge base that underpins person-centred care delivery/management, and the range of skills required to care for individuals with specific psychosocial and children and young people’s (CYP) health-related problems.

Modules

Year 1: Theory

Research & Evidence-Informed Nursing Practice - 20 credits

The development of evidence-informed and evidence-based care from a solid research base is essential to the science of nursing care. The module content is organised to demonstrate the use of evidence within nursing and healthcare practice - for example, in governance policy/guidelines, and how they affect everyday nursing practice. The background understanding of how research is used to develop the evidence base for contemporary nursing practice will be examined by applying research principles to a clinically relevant action research project.

Health Assessment - 10 credits

The module aims to enable you to develop skills in identifying and assessing existing conditions, as well as screening for factors predisposing persons to ill health. On successful completion of this module you will be able to critically apply healthcare assessment skills used in nursing across the lifespan to formulate a person-centred plan of care.

Clinical Decision-making in CYP Nursing - 10 credits

Clinical decision-making in nursing requires an evaluation of many complex factors. In conjunction with a barrage of health-related information, the nurse needs to have the cognitive skills to appropriate this information to make decisions about the person’s care. This model aims to assist you in developing strategies for clinical decision-making in the context of person-centred care. The module content will be organised around a variety of subjects to include the professional, legal and ethical responsibility and other subject-theory domains that influence clinical decision-making.

Therapeutic Interventions in CYP Nursing - 10 credits

In health and social care environments, practitioners meet people living with multiple and complex physical, psychosocial and other co-morbidities across the lifespan. Complex care necessitates treatment from multi-professional services and service user involvement in care management and care delivery. The module aim is to facilitate you in developing the necessary knowledge and proficiency to coordinate and manage patient-centred care in the multidimensional healthcare setting. The module content will include a critical review of the current policy and legislative documents that drive, influence and enhance the coordination of complex care.

Compulsory

Year 1: Practice

You contribute to the health of the local community throughout the course during practice placements⁵ where you work 40 hours a week. You will provide a range of nursing care in a variety of care settings.

Understanding Nursing Practice: Practice 1 - 20 credits

This module introduces you to the foundations of nursing practice in the workplace. The experience will provide you (under supervision) with learning opportunities which will begin to develop the professional values, attitudes and behaviours required to deliver safe and effective holistic person- and family-centred care.

Assessment, Delivery and Evaluation: Practice 2 - 10 credits

This module provides further opportunity for you to review and deliver nursing practice in the workplace. This experience will enable you to demonstrate and promote professional values, attitudes and behaviours required to provide safe and effective holistic person-centred care. The module is underpinned by the NMC Future Nurse Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (2018); and Realising Professionalism: Standards for Professionalism and Education (2018) for nursing and midwifery. The content and assessment will be developed and applied to the different fields of nursing and will provide you with learning opportunities in the workplace to practise nursing.

Compulsory

This final year of the programme consolidates the skills essential to safe and proficient care in practice. You should develop confidence in working within a multidisciplinary, interprofessional arena, in leadership and evidence-informed change management to promote service improvement. This should enable you to be effective in your clinical work and as future professional nurses.

Modules

Year 2: Theory

Coordinating Complex Care in CYP Nursing - 20 credits

In the healthcare environment, practitioners meet patients living with complex multiple physical and mental health co-morbidities across the lifespans necessitating invasive/non-invasive treatments and multi-professional services and service user involvement in the care management and care delivery. The module aim is to facilitate you in developing the necessary knowledge and proficiency to coordinate and manage patient-centred care in the multidimensional healthcare setting. The module content will include a critical review of the current policy and legislative documents that drive, influence and enhance the coordination of complex care.

Leading and Creating Organisational Health and Wellbeing (CMI module) -10 credits

This module aims to provide you with a framework of knowledge and understanding of how to effectively lead and develop people in organisations for better health and wellbeing using a range of approaches whatever the master’s degree of specialisation you elect to follow. You will explore, for example, the influence and impact of leadership theories, culture and the impact of health and wellbeing on organisational performance in different types of organisational scenarios. You will appraise contemporary approaches for the creation of healthy work systems with emphasis placed upon modern-day methods and the role and skills of leaders in coaching and mentoring.

Ethical, Legal Decision-making in Nursing - 10 credits

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of the interrelationship between law and ethical healthcare practise, related to the British legal system. You will explore the areas of contention which may include but not limited to disagreement with caregivers, treating patients with impaired decision-making, dignity in care, assisted suicide, end-of-life/Advanced directives, controversial interventions or other. You will be equipped to recognise and manage the ethical challenges relating to your practices, as well as individuals legal and ethical rights in the context of healthcare and wellbeing across a range of care settings.

Independent Project – Service Improvement - 30 credits

The module is the culmination of the programme and enables you to bring together your learning into one independent, self-directed workplace project. The aim is to produce a project that will, explore service redesign, current practice-based problem/issues, policy implementation, initiatives or innovations which will impact upon or transform patient care. The project is a service improvement plan or business proposal which addresses an aspect of workplace practice. Individual student supervision is provided to offer guidance on the right choice of project and advice on all stages of the project.

Compulsory

Year 2: Practice

At the end of year two, at the final progression point, you should be deemed to be proficient in practice when you have successfully achieved the NMC (2018) practice competencies, signed off by an assessor. You will work 40 hours a week, and the cumulative evidence must demonstrate that you are safe and effective in practice at the end of the course.

Complex Care Planning Across the Lifespan: Practice 3 - 10 credits

This module provides you with further opportunities in the workplace to enable you to work more independently with less direct supervision in an increasingly proficient and confident manner in your delivery of quality holistic person- and family-centred care. It will provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate through your practice your potential to become an autonomous practitioner. The NMC Future Nurse Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (2018); and Realising Professionalism: Standards for Professionalism and Education (2018) for nursing and midwifery, reinforce this module. The content and assessment are applied in the context of the different fields of nursing, providing you with field-specific learning opportunities in the workplace to practice nursing.

Coordinating Care and Becoming the Autonomous Practitioner: Practice 4 - 20 credits

This module aims to provide you with opportunities to practice the proficiencies identified for registration as a nurse which are stipulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2018). Including demonstrating capability to lead the delivery of patient care autonomously and role model what constitutes best practice to others, positively impacting on the culture of care environments. The module is underpinned by the NMC Future Nurse Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (2018); and Realising Professionalism: Standards for Professionalism and Education (2018) for nursing and midwifery. The module content and assessment will be developed and applied contextually to the different fields of nursing.

Compulsory

How you'll learn

A range of teaching and learning methods are employed in the Children and Young People's Nursing MSc including lectures, clinical simulation, seminars, workshops, tutorials, practical clinical work in a practice setting and work-based learning. The teaching and learning activities are intended to engage you with the relevant theory and facilitate understanding of the module content, to question and formulate ideas and perspectives on the subject material, in preparation for assessment.

You will have support in preparation for the assessments from a variety of sources. These could include your module leaders or a subject specialist in the library resources on the course-web platforms. Furthermore, you will also have support from practice educators in the clinical placement areas which are an integral part of this programme of study.

In addition to the teaching and learning methods, a key learning feature of this master’s course is independent study. This means you will take the initiative and responsibility for working through the learning material and make decisions on how to collate, manage and present the information for your assessment.

Teaching contact hours

This is a full-time course, and you are expected to attend theory for a minimum of two and a half days each week during term time and work 40 hours per week while on practice placement modules.

Additionally, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study of approximately 6.5 hours each week, depending on the demands of individual modules. 

There are four practice modules throughout the two-year course. These modules are mandatory, and attendance is a necessity to meet the practice hours requirement for NMC registration.

You must successfully pass all modules to meet the eligibility requirement for professional registration with the NMC.

The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the University may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the University may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

Since COVID-19, we have delivered our courses in a variety of forms, in line with public authority guidance, decisions, or orders and we will continue to adapt our delivery as appropriate. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.

Assessment

All assessment methods are aligned to the Children and Young People's Nursing MSc programme objectives, and the learning outcomes of each module reflect the programme objective.

Assessment methods include:

critical appraisal essays
presentations
viva voce
reports
Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)
practice assessment
dissertation.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.

As a mature student, being able to obtain a master's degree and my nursing registration at an accelerated rate is beneficial in being able to start my professional career sooner. The course content is interesting, varied and engaging and being able to consolidate learning while out in practice in a variety of placement areas is invaluable. The course staff are extremely knowledgeable in their field and go above and beyond in the support they provide to students academically, practically and pastorally.
Alexandra Matthews, Children and Young People's Nursing MSc current student, 2023

outside the Alison Gingell Buidling on clear day

Entry requirements

Typical offer for 2024/25 entry.

Applicants should ideally hold an honours degree of 2:2 or above in a health-related subject however, applications with other degrees and relevant care experience will also be considered on an individual basis. Non-UK degrees may be accepted if healthcare-related and accompanied by a 'Certificate of Comparability' which you can obtain from www.enic.org.uk.
As it is a two-year course, there is a requirement to demonstrate completion of 460 practice hours in relevant health/care settings through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process to meet the NMC standard of nursing education of 2300 practice hours. The RPL process will credit students for 460 hours to meet the stated NMC criteria. Applicants will be supported in the RPL process.*
Satisfactory health clearance and criminal records/DBS disclosure is also required⁵.
GCSE equivalent in English and Maths 4/C or above

*Care is defined as activities that include washing, dressing, feeding or toileting of an individual, as well as nursing intervention procedures. Care encompasses meeting the physiological and psycho-social needs of the physically ill, mentally ill, and disabled people of all ages, in all healthcare and other community settings. This can be undertaken in a formal workplace environment, or informally as voluntary work. Care hours cannot be attributed to family members. Please contact us if you are unsure whether your experience meets the requirements above.

We recognise a breadth of qualifications, speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

Fees and funding

2024/25 tuition fees.

Student	Full-time	Part-time
UK	£9,250 per year	Not available

All eligible home students on this course can apply for a minimum payment from the Government of £5,000 per year, with additional payments for students incurring childcare costs*.

For advice and guidance on tuition feesand student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page and see The University’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.

The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:

Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.

How do you know if you need to pay UK or international tuition fees?

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Your fee status determines your tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available to you. The rules about who pays UK (home) or international (overseas) fees for higher education courses in England are set by the Department for Education. The regulations identify all the different categories of student who can insist on paying the home rate. The regulations can be difficult to understand, so the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) has provided fee status guidance to help you identify whether you are eligible to pay the home or overseas rate.

If you meet all the criteria required by any one category, including any residence requirements, your institution must charge you the home rate. You only need to find one category that you fit into.

Facilities

Our multi-million-pound Alison Gingell Building provides facilities⁴ for teaching and research, featuring hospital wards, critical care settings, operating theatre, community housing and other real life nursing environments relevant to practice.

Alison Gingell Building

The Alison Gingell Building features mock hospital wards, an operating theatre, critical care settings and other real-life environments.

Students and a tutor with a manikin in the hospital ward

Mock Hospital Wards

Our mock hospital wards and critical care settings give you the chance to experience patient scenarios in a real-world environment.

Community Houses

Our two full-size community homes can be used for sessions simulating working with patients outside of a hospital setting.

Careers and opportunities

Those who successfully complete this course will be eligible to apply for registration as a Children and Young People's Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to practice as a registered professional in nursing. Registration may be subject to additional costs.

The course is an indication to current and potential employees that you have both the ability and the academic characteristics required for working in a variety of CYP health settings. The programme is developed with the aim to position you for an accelerated career pathway to become a future nursing leader, clinical expert, educator or researcher within the profession.

For nursing provision, employability is very high and employment is possible in a variety of clinical/specialist areas in a range of public and private healthcare settings. It may be possible to use your qualification to work overseas.

Where our graduates work

Recent students have secured jobs in a range of settings, such as a general medical children’s ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

The current Children and Young People’s Nursing team at Coventry have a range of clinical experience from health visiting to intensive care, theatres to clinical research, A&E to diabetes nurse specialist and neonatal intensive care. It is this variety which makes us well positioned to teach, prepare and inspire you in your learning and future career. We are able to draw on our varied experience and work very closely with practice colleagues to ensure those clinical professionals with current and most appropriate knowledge teach you. We are a small team who have all left clinical practice within the last 6 years, which means we are well-equipped to prepare you for becoming qualified. We really get to know our students, so are well-placed to support and guide you into become the best Children and Young People’s Nurses of the future.
Jo Durham, Assistant Professor, Children and Young People's Nursing MSc, 2023

How to apply

UK students

To apply to study for a postgraduate course at Coventry University, you can apply online.

Full-time applications

Part-time applications

For further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.

+44 (0)24 7765 2222

ukadmissions@coventry.ac.uk

Complete our contact form.

Disclaimers

Coventry University together with Coventry University London, Coventry University Wrocław, CU Coventry, CU London, CU Scarborough, and Coventry University Online come together to form part of the Coventry University Group (the University) with all degrees awarded by Coventry University.

¹Accreditations

The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.

²UK and international opportunities

Please note that we are unable to guarantee any UK or international opportunities (whether required or optional) such as internships, work experience, field trips, conferences, placements or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be unpaid and/or subject to additional costs (which could include, but is not limited to, equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable travel, public authority guidance, decisions or orders and visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand any visa requirements, please contact the International Office.

³Tuition fees

The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated in the above table for the first Academic Year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK (home) students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation.

For international students, we may increase fees each year, but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation. If you defer your course start date or have to extend your studies beyond the normal duration of the course (e.g. to repeat a year or resit examinations) the University reserves the right to charge you fees at a higher rate and/or in accordance with any legislative changes during the additional period of study.

⁴Facilities

Facilities are subject to availability. Access to some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) may vary from those advertised and/or may have reduced availability or restrictions where the university is following public authority guidance, decisions or orders.

⁵Placements

Satisfactory health clearance and enhanced criminal record disclosure is also required. As part of the health clearance checks, you will be required to provide information about your immunity and vaccination status. The information you provide will be used to determine your eligibility to go on placement(s). Placements are provided at the placement provider’s discretion. The university is, therefore, unable to guarantee the provision of placements or the location and type of placement offered.

⁶NHS payment

The rules may be subject to review by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in the future and as a result may change. Please, therefore, check the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) website for up-to-date information before applying.

Student Contract

By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the current 2023/2024 contract is available on the website for information purposes however the 2024/25 Contract is currently being updated so please revisit this page before submitting your application. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.