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Our innovative Nursing (Learning Disabilities) degree will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills needed for this rewarding career where you can enable each person you care and treat to reach their full potential, flourish and live their best lives in the communities where they learn, work, play, age and love.
A key aspect of the work learning disabilities nurses do is advocacy, to ensure the people they care for have choice, control and independence in all aspects of their daily lives.
Learning disabilities nurses work in a diverse range of settings, such as people's homes, education, residential and community centres, hospitals and with specialist Autism services, breaking down barriers to reduce health inequalities and close the health gap between people with a learning disability and the general population.
On this course, you'll develop the knowledge and skills to work with multi-professional teams to deliver person-centred, compassionate and culturally informed practice that positively impacts the health and wellbeing outcomes of the people you care for.
Throughout your studies, you’ll actively engage with contemporary research and learn how to assess, lead, co-ordinate and deliver care to people and their families at home, in the community or in hospital.
You’ll build your knowledge and skills of therapeutic interventions and the pharmacological management of disease, including the safe administration of medication.
You’ll learn and practise your clinical skills in a safe and controlled environment through teaching sessions in dedicated facilities, including clinical suites and replicated community settings, supported by digital health technologies.
Through shared learning opportunities and collaboration with students from related disciplines, you’ll develop your ability to appreciate the contribution other healthcare professionals make to people’s care and health outcomes. Service users and carers will also contribute to your learning through their lived experience of health and social care services.
In each year of the programme, you will spend 50% of the time on campus studying theory and clinical skills in the safe environment of our simulation suites and 50% in real-world practice, on placement in healthcare settings with local NHS trusts or in private or voluntary organisations.
Practice placement blocks are 37.5 hours per week and there are two 11-week blocks in each year of the programme. During this time, you’ll be supported by experienced practice supervisors and assessors who will provide tailored feedback, and you’ll complete an online portfolio to monitor your progress and achievements while on placement.
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This course is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
On successful completion of the course graduates are eligible to apply to register with the NMC.
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Course Structure
About your nursing placement
Our nursing facilities
You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Our Nursing curriculum incorporates six key themes, which you will study with increasing complexity over the three years of your degree.
During your first year, you'll study five core modules.
You’ll be introduced to the fundamental knowledge, skills and principles of the nursing profession and yourself as a student of nursing, to prepare you for your initial experiences in practice.
You’ll be introduced to nursing practice within contemporary health care settings, including simulated practice.
Apply the knowledge and skills you’ve learnt so far in planned, supervised and assessed placements with guided participation in care to increase your confidence and competence.
You’ll engage in supported reflective conversations throughout your practical experiences and have placement inductions which will cover policies and protocols relevant to the practice area and work within ethical and legal frameworks.
You’ll be given a foundation of psychosocial theories and concepts enabling you to explore the complex interactions, how they influence health and wellbeing outcomes of individuals, communities and populations across the lifespan.
Develop knowledge of the social determinants of health and factors that influence this such as age, gender, disability, culture, education, sexual orientation, poverty and employment.
Explore causes and effects of inequalities on health and social care for diverse groups such as minority ethnic communities, vulnerable children and adults and ageing populations, which will help you to understand the role of the nurse as an advocate and political agent for equality, diversity and inclusion.
You’ll understand how psychological theories and factors can influence the way people perceive health and wellbeing and adjust to, cope with, and recover from illness, including lifespan development, cognitive processes and lifestyle behaviour.
You’ll apply psychological concepts to health promotion and education as well as prevention and treatment of disease and illness to support self-management, recovery and end of life care.
Develop the fundamental communication and relationship skills required to deliver safe, effective and non-discriminatory person-centred and holistic care to people across the lifespan, carers, and families within a range of different healthcare environments.
Deepen your knowledge of the principles, policies and models of person-centred and holistic care that support collaborative working with reference to promoting informed choice, shared decision-making, patient participation and autonomy.
Understand the communication and relationship skills required to engage children, young people and adults from diverse backgrounds in person-centred and holistic care assessment, planning and evaluation.
You’ll explore theories and models of communication and therapeutic relationships, enabling you to develop your interpersonal and interprofessional communication skills through self-reflection and awareness of emotional resilience, self-care needs and your own unconscious bias.
Build upon your experience of nursing practice within contemporary health care settings including simulated practice.
Apply the knowledge and skills you’ve learnt so far in planned, supervised and assessed placements with guided participation in care to increase your confidence and competence.
You’ll engage in supported reflective conversations throughout your practical experiences and have placement inductions which will cover policies and protocols relevant to the practice area and work within ethical and legal frameworks.
During your second year, you'll study five core modules.
During your final year, you'll study five core modules.
Our Nursing team are on hand to answer your questions, whether you want to know about the modules you'll be studying, where you can complete your professional placement or the types of assessments you'll do, they are here to help.
A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.
For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk
Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.
Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:
Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.
At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.
Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:
We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.
We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:
To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.
We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:
Tuition fees cost £9,535 a year for this course in 2025/2026. Students who enrolled in 2024/2025 will also be charged £9,535 for academic year 2025/2026.
Tuition fees for part-time study are charged a pro-rata amount of the full-time equivalent.
Depending on government policy, tuition fees may change in future years.
Tuition fees for 2026/2027 entry will be set in summer 2025.
Living costs, e.g. accommodation, travel, food, will also need to be taken into consideration.
Leeds Trinity offers a range of bursaries and scholarships to help support students while you study.
Visit our webpage for international students.
Part-time study is not available for international students on a Student Route Visa.
A non-repayable training grant of £5,000 and extra payments worth up to £3,000 are available to eligible home students for each year of study. Read more about the NHS Learning Support Fund on the NHS Business Services Authority website.
Students must ensure they meet all the eligibility criteria, including residency, as set out in the NHS Learning Support Fund guidance. You can find this on the NHS website.
We advise students that there may be additional course costs in addition to annual tuition fees:
For full-time undergraduate courses, you apply through UCAS. That's the University and Colleges Admissions Service.
On your application form, you'll need to know our institution code - it's L24 - and the course code. If you click through to the UCAS website using the button below, it'll take you to the right place with all the information you need.
As part of your application, you'll need to write a personal statement - we've put together a guide to help you.
Applications are open for 2025/2026 academic year entry, to start your course in January 2026. You have until 30 June 2025 to apply. After this date, you can apply through Clearing.
If you’ve already used all five choices on your application, and you’re not holding any offers, you may be able to apply through UCAS Extra.
Undergraduate applications for January 2027 entry will open on Tuesday 13 May. You’ll be able to submit your application from Tuesday 2 September.
Please note, this course is not accepting applications for deferred entry.
There's lots more information about the application process on the UCAS website, or you can get in touch with our Admissions team who will be happy to help:
Providing you with the opportunity to develop the professional skills and experience you need to launch your career is at the heart of everything we do at Leeds Trinity University.
On successful completion of the Nursing (Learning Disabilities) degree, you will be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to practise as a nurse (on the relevant part of the register) in the UK. The vocational nature of this degree means most graduates progress quickly into employment within their chosen field of Nursing.
The range of potential career opportunities in learning disabilities nursing are wide-ranging and you will be able to apply for roles within NHS Trusts, the local authority and private and voluntary providers and charities, prison service as well as the armed forces and working overseas. You may choose to pursue a role as a community learning disabilities nurse, epilepsy nurse, safeguarding nurse, behavioural specialist nurse, specialist nurse for people with Autism, manager of residential or supported living services or consider a career within scientific or academic research.
After you graduate, Careers and Placements will help you as you pursue your chosen career through our mentoring scheme, support with CV and interview preparation and access to graduate employability events.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
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The Leeds Health and Care Talent Hub can help you find employment, education, training and volunteering opportunities in the health and social care sector in Leeds through a holistic and person-centred approach tailored to your individual ambitions and circumstances. From entry-level jobs to experienced roles working in one of the city’s NHS Trusts, Leeds City Council, a GP practice, an independent care provider or a caring charity, the Talent Hub can connect you with the right opportunity, direct links to the relevant recruitment processes, and provide essential information and support.
Discover Uni is the official, authoritative source of information and guidance on higher education in the UK. The website allows you to search for and compare data and information on university and college programmes from across the UK.
It helps you make sense of all the information out there by linking to other quality resources and explaining what can be found where. It also allows you to search for and compare information and data for individual undergraduate courses across the UK.