Application Advice BSc (Hons) Nursing at York 2015
How do I apply? You can make an application for our nursing programme through UCAS. The main application period is between September and January. During this time, you can apply to UCAS and may make up to five choices of institutions and programmes. Visit www.ucas.com. Applications received after the January deadline are unlikely to be considered unless we still have vacancies. You should try and get your application in on time. When completing your UCAS application on-line, please read the guidance notes and proofread your application carefully. It is possible for you to apply for different programmes at the same time, but you must make sure you have the correct entry qualifications for the programme you are applying for. Be careful with this, as each programme will want to see a student committed to that particular field of practice. Completing the form Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to complete your UCAS form. Check that it is accurate and fully completed before you submit it you don t want to delay your application because you forgot to check it over. Ask someone else to check it through with you. What happens to my application form? You submit your application through UCAS UCAS send your application through to the University s central admissions team The central admissions team process your form and send it to the Department of Health Sciences YoYou are then notified by UCAS that your application has been received by the Department Your application goes to academic staff in the Department to go through the shortlisting process Think carefully about the referees you choose. We like referees that can really tell us something about you. An academic reference is essential if you are at, or have recently left, school or college. Your second reference might be someone who can tell us about you as a person, perhaps a team leader from your work experience or a group or team you are a member of. They need to know you well enough to make a judgement about how suitable they think you would be for a nursing course. Don t leave it to the last minute and risk missing the deadline. Check all of the dates you need to know about your UCAS application and write them in a diary so you won t forget. Visit www.ucas.com/apply/key-dates for key dates. If you are not shortlisted for interview, your application will be rejected on the UCAS system If you are unsuccessful at interview you will be notified through UCAS If you are shortlisted for interview, you will receive a letter from the University offering you an interview date If you are succssful at interview you will be offered a place by letter from the University and also via UCAS
Personal statement Your personal statement is a very important part of your application. It is a way for us to highlight the most committed and suitable candidates for our programme. It shows us what you might be able to offer us as a student nurse at the University of York. There is always high competition for places on nursing programmes and so you have to be prepared to put in the work required on your personal statement. This will ensure you stand out and grab our attention when we read your application form. You may want to use attention grabbing opening sentences in your personal statements. It may be a statement about nursing as a profession or about yourself. You may even use jokes. Be careful, this can backfire if your statement isn t accurate or doesn t flow well with the rest of the content. You don t want to appear flippant about your application. If you re not sure what sort of thing to include or you feel uncomfortable with making a snappy opening statement, then this probably isn t the right way for you to write your personal statement. Just be natural and write your personal statement in a style you re comfortable with. If you try and use language that doesn t normally sound like you or try to be too witty, then it will show through and if you are invited to interview these differences will be clear. Yes you have to write it in a clear and concise manner and you need to show us you are capable of articulating thoughts and opinions. We also want to know who you are as a person and that s what makes your statement unique to you. And remember anything you put in your personal statement may be points that are picked up on at your interview so be honest about what you write don t exaggerate or invent things about yourself or you may be caught out. What should your personal statement include? The main aim of your personal statement is to tell us why you want to study nursing and why you are the right person for the course. If you can get this across to us then you ve done a great job. The things you need to consider and include are: Why you want to be a nurse? Think carefully about this. Tell us why nursing appeals to you and show us what you understand about nursing. It s not all like the TV dramas and we need you to show us you have done some research around what the nursing profession is about and that you understand the role. We don t expect you to be an expert but we do expect you to show a level of understanding. Why you are suitable to be a nurse? What s your experience of healthcare? Tell us about the qualities you have that will make you a good nurse. Tell us about your current or previous studies do these relate to nursing and, if they do, describe how you feel they will help you follow a path into the nursing profession. What skills and achievements do you have? This is a chance to brag a little about the things you have done that you re proud of. It s a chance to show us your motivation and commitment to things and demonstrate how you are the sort of person who would be dedicated to our programme. Work experience here you should talk about any voluntary or paid work you have done that you think has helped prepare you or shape you into someone ready to take on a career in nursing. It s a chance to look at what transferrable skills you have (don t panic this will be explained!) You will certainly find that if you can get some experience within a healthcare setting (not necessarily hospitals) that you
will find it easier to demonstrate your understanding of the role and have a greater insight in to the realities of nursing and caring for people. Hobbies and interests again you may well have been involved in groups or teams that have provided you with useful experience or skills that will be of interest to us. Tell us about them here, but remember don t waste words by telling us too much about things that are not at all relevant. Future plans where do you see yourself in the future and what have you pictured as your nursing career when you qualify at the end of the programme? Show us that you have thought about the prospect of a nursing career and have looked beyond the point when you register as a nurse and have considered where you may be working or what you think that will be like. Mature students just because you re not a school leaver doesn t mean that you can t write a great personal statement. You have a wealth of life experiences and knowledge to draw upon. These are the things you need to tell us about, we want to hear about how you feel you re suited to becoming a student nurse. Transferrable skills The phrase transferrable skills is about looking at what skills and experience you have from all the other areas of your life such as work experience, hobbies and goups or teams you are a member of and also life experiences. Then you need to be able to identify these skills and show us how they can be applied to a nursing career. Communication skills Communication is one of the most important skills a nurse needs to have. This could be both verbal communication that happens face to face with others or it could be telephone communication. You may also have excellent written communication skills you want to tell us about. Interpersonal skills Being able to work well with others and interact with them on an individual basis or in groups is very important in nursing. Building relationships with others and engaging with people is so important. Organisation skills Tell us about how you manage pressures and time constraints. Do you have to juggle lots of things at once? Team work Nursing is all about team working not just with other nurses but with other professionals and also with patients, so you need to be able to show that you can work well in a team. These are just examples of some of the skills that we may look for in a nursing student. There may be many other skills that you feel you have that can be transferrable into a nursing career, and the more you find out about nursing the easier it will be for you to highlight these and tell us about them. Nursing has four fields of practice and more information on each of these can be found on our website. You will have to identify your field of practice and your personal statement should reflect this choice. What skills are we talking about then...?
Hints and Tips So some final thoughts on your personal statement. keep a copy for your reference so you don t forget what you included take your time over it make draft copies before you write your final version ask someone else to read it through research nursing a little make sure its checked carefully for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors don t rely on spell checker don t try and be someone else by using fancy language don t exaggerate be honest complete it in a timely manner - don t leave it until the last minute give it time and attention don t waste words on irrelevant information finally sell yourself to us!. Shortlisting Your application form will be shortlisted by academic members of the Department. These will be lecturers on the nursing programme who have a great deal of experience in looking at these forms and being able to spot the applicants with potential. The process is done fairly and uses a range of criteria to score students against so that there is a consistent approach to how we assess the applications and ensure that equity of time and consideration is given to each application. Every application that meets the academic entry criteria is read in full. Come prepared for your interview, make sure you can remember what was in your personal statement and that you have researched a career in nursing. It is your chance to really make an impression on us and to tell us all the things you could not get in your personal statement so really sell yourself. Come armed with questions for us, if you want more information about the course and about nursing this will be your chance to ask. Don t worry that your question may be silly the only silly question is the one that you don t ask. You may also get an opportunity to talk to some of our current students and ask them their views on the courses and the University. All offers will be conditional upon a successful check by the Disclosure and Barring Service, a health assessment and, where appropriate, you gaining the required qualification or grades. If you are unsuccessful in your application, you can apply to us again but you will have to wait until the next application period (September - January). We are able to give limited feedback to unsuccessful candidates. Finally good luck!. Interview day Your interview will take the form of: A group discussion or exercise An individual interview with a member of academic staff, a service representative and in some cases a service user
For more information about our nursing course visit www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences/nursing Department of Health Sciences June 2014