Overview
Ulster University is the sole provider for Return to Practice Nursing in Northern Ireland.
Summary
If you have ever considered returning to nursing, now is the time to do it. Our return to practice programme is designed for nurses from all fields of practice (adult, mental health, learning disabilities and children’s nursing) whose NMC registration has lapsed, who have practiced for fewer than 750 hours in the previous five years, or 450 hours in the three years before their application for readmission to the register.
The focus of the course is on enabling you to regain your confidence in knowledge and practice and to update your clinical skills, knowledge, numeracy, literacy, digital and technological literacy in a safe and effective way, to meet the NMC standards of proficiency for registered nurses.
A variety of approaches support learning and assessment, considering your intended area of practice, personal circumstances and prior learning and experience.
You are normally expected to undertake between 150 and 400 hours of supernumerary clinical practice to achieve the practice-based requirements for the programme. The exact number of hours will be determined following an assessment process that considers your prior learning and experience and the length of time since you last practised.
This programme enables you to:
- meet the standards of proficiency to be readmitted to the NMC register,
- regain confident knowledge, and update your skills and knowledge (including numeracy, literacy, digital and technological) to enable you to provide safe, effective, person-centred nursing care.
Application process
Application is made using our online application system. Assessment of your application will follow with an invitation to attend for interview.
Interview in June 2025 for September 2025 intake.
Interview in June 2026 for September 2026 intake
What to expect at interview:
Interviews will take place virtually.
In preparation for the interview, we recommend that you think about the reason why you want to come back to nursing and consider some of the changes that have happened in nursing since you left. Take some time to look at some websites – we would recommend the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the Northern Ireland Practice Education Council (NIPEC).
Develop an awareness of issues related to the health service and your field of practice that are reported in the media. It is also a good idea to identify how you plan to manage the demands of returning to study and practice and to identify some strategies you might want to put in place to ensure you maintain good work and life balance.
How to Apply
If you are interested in applying for the Return to Practice Programme, please click on the link below to access our Online Applications process.
Once you have set up your username, please choose Postgraduate Part Time as your application type to ensure your application is processed correctly.
When prompted for your programme choice, please scroll down to Nursing, Return to Practice - Part Time, Belfast.
2025/26 Fees
Postgraduate fees are subject to annual review, 2025/26 fees will be announced in due course.
See our tuition fees page for the current fees for 2024/25 entry.
Additional Mandatory Costs
Access NI check, uniform, vaccinations if required, cost of travel to and from placement, study days (including care parking charges).
We’d love to hear from you!
We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.
Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:
- Course specific information
- Fees and Finance
- Admissions
For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.
For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.
We look forward to hearing from you.
About this course
Assessment
Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be via one method or a combination e.g. examination and coursework . Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes.
This module is assessed through completion of a 2000 word annotated bibliography and through completion of an electronic Practice Assessment Document. You can expect to receive timely feedback on coursework assessment.
The precise assessment will depend on the module and may be subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.
Details of assessment methods will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification and the assessment timetable. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.
Attendance
As part of your course induction, you will be provided with details of the organisation and management of the course, including attendance and assessment requirements - usually in the form of a timetable.
Start dates
Teaching, Learning and Assessment
The content for each course is summarised on the relevant course page, along with an overview of the module that make up the course. Each course is approved by the University and meets the expectations of:
- the relevant generic national Qualification Descriptor
- the applicable Subject Benchmark Statement
- the requirements of any professional, regulatory, statutory and accrediting bodies.
Academic profile
The University employs over 1,000 suitably qualified and experienced academic staff - 60% have PhDs in their subject field and many have professional body recognition.
Courses are taught by staff who are Professors (19%), Readers, Senior Lecturers (22%) or Lecturers (57%).
We require most academic staff to be qualified to teach in higher education: 82% hold either Postgraduate Certificates in Higher Education Practice or higher. Most academic and learning support staff (85%) are recognised as fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) by Advance HE - the university sector professional body for teaching and learning. Many academic and technical staff hold other professional body designations related to their subject or scholarly practice.
The profiles of many academic staff can be found on the University’s departmental websites and give a detailed insight into the range of staffing and expertise. The precise staffing for a course will depend on the department(s) involved and the availability and management of staff. This is subject to change annually and is confirmed in the timetable issued at the start of the course.
Occasionally, teaching may be supplemented by suitably qualified part-time staff (usually qualified researchers) and specialist guest lecturers. In these cases, all staff are inducted, mostly through our staff development programme ‘First Steps to Teaching’. In some cases, usually for provision in one of our out-centres, Recognised University Teachers are involved, supported by the University in suitable professional development for teaching.
Figures from the academic year 2022-2023.
Standard entry conditions
We recognise a range of qualifications for admission to our courses. In addition to the specific entry conditions for this course you must also meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements.
Entry Requirements
In accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards for return to practice programmes (NMC, 2019), on entry to the programme you must:
- have confirmation of previous registration with the NMC as a nurse
- demonstrate (at interview) the values and capability to behave in accordance with the Code
- have capability in literacy, digital and technological literacy and capability to update numeracy skills to meet the programme outcomes
- have sufficient health and character to enable safe and effective practice, through satisfactory occupational health assessment and criminal record checks
- have a pass at GCSE Mathematics at level C or above (or equivalent qualification, or have a grade 04 at Ordinary Level of H6 at Higher level in Irish Leaving Cert Mathematics
- meet the NMC English as a second language requirements, where appropriate (IELTS level 7 in everything except written English at 6.5).
Practice learning experiences are organised using a regional approach between the university and our practice learning partners in the five Trusts in Northern Ireland.
Intakes are in September (Semester 1) each year.
Fitness for Practice Learning
The assessment of fitness for practice learning is a requirement for students who have opted to study courses to prepare them for regulated professions in healthcare and social work. The purpose of assessment is two-fold. Firstly, it helps us determine if you have any health problems, disabilities or learning differences which may affect your capability to fulfil the core competency standards and clinical practice placements required for your chosen course. Secondly, screening and immunisation checks are carried out to protect patients who may be affected by your placement activities. Once this process is completed satisfactorily then a Health Clearance Certificate (HCC) will be issued by the University’s Student Occupational Health (OH) Service.
If you are able to provide the necessary evidence of screening and/or immunisations then we may not need to call you to clinic. However, if you cannot provide the necessary evidence then you will be provided with an appointment to attend an OH clinic.
You will not be able to complete the Health Clearance Certification process until we are certain that you have the necessary vaccinations, blood tests and satisfactory immunity to enable you to undertake clinical placements. As a healthcare student, you must comply with Department of Health guidelines, necessary to protect you and your patients during the course of your studies.
You may need to be vaccinated for some infectious diseases if you do not already have immunity to them. While we cannot force you to have a vaccination it is unlikely that the University will allow you to undertake clinical placement without appropriate vaccinations and this may jeopardise your ability to meet the clinical practice requirements of your chosen course.
The health clearance process is based upon guidance from the Department of Health, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the association for Higher Education Occupational Practitioners (HEOPS). The relevant regulatory bodies for Medicine, Nursing, Allied Health Professionals, and Social Work all contain a requirement to ensure patient safety. Compliance with the immunisation and screening requirements not only help to protect patients from infectious diseases but also students.
Careers & opportunities
Career options
Calculation of the Final Award
Following successful completion of the course you will be eligible to rejoin the NMC Register. You will also receive 40 academic credits.
Fees and funding
Tuition Fee Loans Available
Students domiciled in Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and UK students can apply to Student Finance NI for a Tuition Fee loan of up to £6,500 (subject to eligibility).
Important Notice: Annual Fees Increase
Annual Fees Increase Disclaimer
Fees illustrated are based on academic year 25/26 entry and are subject to an annual increase.
If your study continues into future academic years your fees are subject to an annual increase. Please take this into consideration when you estimate your total fees for a degree.
Additional mandatory costs are highlighted where they are known in advance. There are other costs associated with university study.
Visit our Fees pages for full details of fees.
Correct at the time of publishing. Terms and conditions apply.
Additional mandatory costs
It is important to remember that costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges) and normal living will need to be covered in addition to tuition fees.
Where a course has additional mandatory expenses (in addition to tuition fees) we make every effort to highlight them above. We aim to provide students with the learning materials needed to support their studies. Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. Computer suites and free Wi-Fi are also available on each of the campuses.
There are additional fees for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
Students choosing a period of paid work placement or study abroad as a part of their course should be aware that there may be additional travel and living costs, as well as tuition fees.
See the tuition fees on our student guide for most up to date costs.
Terms and Conditions
1. We prepare our prospectus and online information about our courses with care and every effort is made to ensure that the information is accurate. The printed version of the prospectus is, however, published at least a year before the courses begin. Information included in the prospectus may, therefore, change. This includes, but is not limited to changes to the terms, content, delivery, location, method of assessments or lengths of the courses described. Not all circumstances are foreseeable, but changes will normally be made for one of the following reasons:
- to meet external, professional, or accredited body requirements;
- to provide for exceptional circumstances due to reasons beyond our reasonable control;
- to improve or enhance your experience, or to adopt changes recommended in student feedback, with the aim of improving the student experience and/or student outcomes; and/or
- to ensure appropriate academic standards are met, for example in response to external examiners’ feedback.
2. If there are insufficient enrolments to make a course viable, it may be necessary for the University to withdraw a course. If you have received an offer for a course that we subsequently have to close, we will contact you as soon as possible to discuss alternative courses. If you do not wish to study any alternative courses at the University, you may withdraw your application by informing us by email to admissions@ulster.ac.uk.
3. Please note that the University’s website is the most up-to-date source of information regarding courses, campuses and facilities and we strongly recommend that you always visit the website before making any commitments.
4. We will include a durable PDF when we send you an offer letter which will highlight any changes made to our prospectus or online information about our courses. You should read this carefully and ensure you fully understand what you are agreeing to before accepting a place on one of our courses.
5. The University will always try to deliver the course as described in the durable PDF you receive with your offer letter.
6. At any point after an offer has been made, students will be notified of any course changes in writing (usually by email) as soon as reasonably practicable and we will take all reasonable steps to minimise their impact where possible. The University will, where possible and reasonably practicable, seek the express consent of the student in regard to any changes concerning material or pre-contract information.
7. The University website will be updated to reflect the changed course information as soon as reasonably practicable.
8. If, after due consideration, you decide that you no longer want to study your course or to study at the University because of the changes, you may withdraw your application or terminate your contract with the University. In order to do so, you should notify us in writing by emailing admissions@ulster.ac.uk (and update UCAS if applicable). We will, on request, recommend alternative courses that you could study with us, or suggest a suitable course at an alternative higher education provider.
9. If you do not agree that the changes are fair, you can seek redress under the Student Complaints Procedures.
10. Providing the University has complied with the requirements of all applicable consumer protection laws, the University does not accept responsibility for the consequences of any modification, relocation or cancellation of any course, or part of a course, offered by the University. The University will give due and proper consideration to the effects thereof on individual students and take the steps necessary to minimise the impact of such effects on those affected.
11. The University is not liable for disruption to its provision of educational or other services caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control providing it takes all reasonable steps to minimise the resultant disruption to such services.
12. Further information can be found in our terms and conditions.
Student Terms and Conditions
The full Student Terms and Conditions 24/25 is now available.
Sustainability at Ulster
Ulster continues to develop and support sustainability initiatives with our staff, students, and external partners across various aspects of teaching, research, professional services operations, and governance.
At Ulster every person, course, research project, and professional service area on every campus either does or can contribute in some way towards the global sustainability and climate change agenda.
We are guided by both our University Strategy People, Place and Partnerships: Delivering Sustainable Futures for All and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Our work in this area is already being recognised globally. Most recently by the 2024 Times Higher Education Impact rating where we were recognised as Joint 5th Globally for Outreach Activities and Joint Top 20 Globally for Sustainable Development Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals.
Visit our Sustainability at Ulster destination to learn more about how the University strategy and the activities of Ulster University support each of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Learning and Teaching
Our Faculty is dedicated to integrating sustainability across our curriculum, preparing students to address global environmental challenges.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) have been incorporated throughout each course within the Faculty and each module outlines how and where they meet these SDG’s.
Subject specific guidance on sustainability has been provided in the QAA benchmarks statements for Biomedical Science and Biomedical Sciences; Biosciences; Chemistry; Optometry; Psychology; Earth Sciences; Veterinary Nursing; Agriculture; Rural –Environmental Sciences; Animal Studies; Consumer Science; Forestry, Food Horticulture –and –Human Nutrition; Health Studies; Earth Sciences and Geography.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
Our Faculty has key centres of research excellence within all Schools and our interdisciplinary approach brings together researchers from diverse fields to develop impactful solutions.
By advancing knowledge in various fields within the faculty, we aim to identify sustainable approaches to:
- Health promotion
- Achieving food security improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture
- Ensuring healthy lives and promote wellbeing
- Promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all
- Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls
- Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
- Taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
- Conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
- Promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems
- Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development
- Implementation and revitalisation of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
External Partnerships
Collaboration is key to driving sustainability. Our Faculty partners with external stakeholders including professional bodies and learned societies to enhance the sustainability journey for all our students and to promote sustainable practices.
External partnerships enable us to apply research and innovation to real-world challenges. We drive meaningful change in local communities, industries, and global ecosystems, fostering a more sustainable society through impactful projects and community engagement.
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