Nursing Careers UK

Route comparison

How to train as an adult nurse: which route?

There are 3 routes to registration as an adult nurse: undergraduate degree, pre-registration master’s and degree apprenticeship. 3 approved courses in total — 3 BSc. All of them end in the same place: band 5, from £32,073. What each one costs, how long each takes and which fits your situation.

BScMSc pre-regApprenticeship
3 Routes to registration BSc, MSc pre-reg and Apprenticeship
3 Approved courses Across England
£32,073 Band 5 starting salary England, 2026/27 — identical whichever route you take
£5,000 Non-repayable grant Learning Support Fund training grant, per year, England

What you are actually choosing between

Every route on this page leads to the same place — the register held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and the same first post. What differs is how long you study, what you have to have before you start, and who pays. A newly qualified adult nurse in England starts on band 5, at £32,073, rising to £39,043 at the top of the band. That figure does not change according to how you qualified.

The undergraduate degree is the route with the most places and the fewest preconditions: no previous degree, an application through UCAS, and placements built in from the first year. The regulated placement requirement of around 2,300 hours has to be met whichever route you take, which is why none of them is much shorter than it looks. You borrow the tuition and the living costs, and in England a non-repayable grant takes some of the edge off.

The pre-registration master’s exists because many people reach this decision holding a degree in something adjacent — psychology, sport and exercise science, a biomedical subject. It is the same regulated content delivered faster, not less of it, so expect a heavier week and shorter holidays. The funding is where people lose money: the award on the certificate does not decide which student finance system pays for it, and this dataset does not record the designation for this profession, so confirm it with Student Finance England before you treat it as an ordinary master’s.

The apprenticeship inverts the economics. You are an employee, you are paid, and you contribute nothing towards the training. The catch is supply, not eligibility: an employer has to create and fund the post before you can apply for it, so the number of places is small and most go to people already working in the service as support workers or assistants. If you are in one of those posts already, this is the strongest route on the page. If you are not, treat it as a possibility to watch for rather than a plan.

Route by route

BSc

Undergraduate degree

A full-time undergraduate degree with supervised practice placements built into every year. You register at the end of it with nothing further to complete.

Who it suits
School and college leavers, Access to Higher Education students, and career changers without a degree.
You apply to
The university, through UCAS.
Typical length
3 years
Course lengths published
3 years (3)
Approved courses
3
Universities
3
Nations
England

From the profession record.

See the 3 BSc courses

MSc pre-reg No course listed

Pre-registration master’s

The same regulated curriculum and the same placement requirement as the degree, compressed for people who already hold one. Intense rather than easier, and shorter.

Who it suits
Graduates, usually in a related subject, who want the shortest route to registration.
You apply to
The university directly, or through UCAS, depending on the provider.
Typical length
2 years

From the profession record.

See every approved course

Apprenticeship No course listed

Degree apprenticeship

A job with a degree attached. An employer recruits and pays you, and releases you to study; the training cost comes out of the apprenticeship levy rather than out of you.

Who it suits
People already working in health or care, and anyone who cannot stop earning for the length of a degree.
You apply to
An employer with a funded vacancy — not the university.
Typical length
4 years
Apprenticeship standard
Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship (level 6)

Typical duration in the Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship standard.

See every approved course

What you pay, and what you get paid

Amounts are those published in the funding schemes that name this profession. Where a scheme sets no fixed figure, the mechanism is described instead of a number being invented.

Cost of each route into adult nurse training
  Undergraduate degreePre-registration master’sDegree apprenticeship
Typical length 3 years2 years4 years
Approved courses here 3 None listed None listed
Tuition Borrowed. A tuition fee loan is paid direct to the university and repaid out of earnings once you are working; the maximum for the coming year is not in this dataset.Borrowed. A tuition fee loan is paid direct to the university and repaid out of earnings once you are working; the maximum for the coming year is not in this dataset.None. Training and assessment are paid for by the employer and government, not by you.
Living costs A partly means-tested maintenance loan at the ordinary undergraduate rates. The current maxima are not in this dataset.A partly means-tested maintenance loan at the ordinary undergraduate rates. The current maxima are not in this dataset.A wage. You are an employee from day one, with holiday pay and a pension, and you take on no student debt for the apprenticeship itself.
Money you keep NHS Learning Support Fund training grant of £5,000 a year, not repayable. England only; the other nations run their own schemes.NHS Learning Support Fund training grant of £5,000 a year, not repayable. England only; the other nations run their own schemes.No NHS Learning Support Fund — its rules exclude anyone paid a wage or salary by an employer during the course. You are earning instead.
Schemes that name this route NHS Learning Support Fund (England), Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB) (Scotland), NHS Wales Bursary Scheme (Wales) and Department of Health (NI) Nursing Bursary (Northern Ireland) NHS Learning Support Fund (England) No scheme in this dataset lists this route
Where it leads Registration with NMC, and a first post on band 5 — £32,073 in England.Registration with NMC, and a first post on band 5 — £32,073 in England.Registration with NMC, and a first post on band 5 — £32,073 in England.

The funding schemes that apply to adult nurses

The four UK nations fund these courses in genuinely different ways, and the difference is large enough to change where it is worth applying.

England

NHS Learning Support Fund

The NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) is the main NHS-funded grant scheme for eligible pre-registration nursing students in England, paid on top of the standard Student Finance England tuition fee and maintenance loans. All four fields of nursing (adult, mental health, learning disability and children's) qualify for the non-repayable £5,000-a-year Training Grant, while mental health and learning disability nursing students also qualify for an additional £1,000-a-year Specialist Subject Payment restricted to a fixed list of courses

England2026/27BSc and MSc pre-reg
Scotland

Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB)

The Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB) is Scotland's dedicated financial support scheme for students on NHS-commissioned pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes, administered by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). It pays a non-means-tested bursary of £10,000 a year for years 1 to 3 of the course, reducing to £7,500 in a fourth (honours) year, plus a one-off £60 Initial Expenses Allowance.

Scotland2025/26BSc
Wales

NHS Wales Bursary Scheme

The NHS Wales Bursary Scheme supports students on NHS-commissioned healthcare courses in Wales, including pre-registration nursing, and is jointly administered by NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) Student Awards Services and Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW). It combines a flat £1,000 non-means-tested NHS grant with a means-tested bursary of up to £4,491 a year (2025/26 rates), and recipients commit to working in Wales for two years after qualifying

Wales2025/26BSc
Northern Ireland

Department of Health (NI) Nursing Bursary

Northern Ireland's Department of Health (DoH) fully funds nursing and midwifery degree places at Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University, covering adult, children's/young people's, mental health and learning disability nursing. DoH pays tuition fees in full and provides a non-means-tested bursary, paid monthly, to help with living costs

Northern Ireland2024/25BSc

How the apprenticeship route really works

The apprentice is an employee. The employer pays a wage and meets the cost of training from levy funds, and the apprentice contributes nothing.

Approved apprenticeship standards for adult nurses
Standard Level Typical duration Funding band maximum
Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship ST0781 Level 6 4 years £26,000

The funding band maximum is what the employer’s levy account can pay the training provider. It is not a cost to the apprentice and not a salary.

Which route fits you

You do not have a degree yet

The undergraduate degree is the route to plan around. You apply through UCAS, you need no previous degree, and it is the route with the most places — 3 approved courses here.

See the undergraduate degree courses

You already have a relevant degree

The pre-registration master’s covers the same regulated curriculum in 2 years. How it is funded is the part to check first — see the funding section on this page.

See the pre-registration master’s courses

You need to keep earning while you train

The apprenticeship pays you a wage from the first day and charges you nothing for the training. The standard is Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship at level 6, typically 4 years. You apply to an employer, not to a university, which is why the places are scarce.

Read the apprenticeship standard

You cannot move to study

Approved courses are listed in England. Placements are allocated around the university, so where you study largely decides where you spend your placement weeks. In England, travel and dual accommodation costs for placements are reimbursed through the Learning Support Fund.

Find courses by nation and region

Common questions

How long does each route to becoming an adult nurse take?

Undergraduate degree, 3 years, pre-registration master’s, 2 years and degree apprenticeship, 4 years. Each route leads to the same registration, so the difference is how long you are studying and how you are paying for it, not what you can do at the end.

Is a pre-registration master’s in adult nurse funded by the Master’s Loan?

In England, designated pre-registration postgraduate healthcare courses are funded through the undergraduate student finance system rather than the postgraduate Master’s Loan. This dataset does not yet record the position for adult nurses specifically, so confirm it with Student Finance England before you apply.

Do the routes lead to different jobs?

Yes. the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) approves the programme, not the route, so every course on this page meets the same standards and leads to the same entry on the register. Newly qualified adult nurses in England usually start on band 5, from £32,073 in 2026/27, whichever route they took. Employers recruit on registration and on your placement experience, not on the letters after your name.

What does it cost to train as an adult nurse?

On the degree and master’s routes you borrow the tuition and repay it out of earnings once you are working, in England you also get the £5,000 a year Learning Support Fund training grant, which you keep and on the apprenticeship you pay nothing at all and are paid a wage while you train. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland fund these courses differently again — the schemes that apply to this profession are listed on this page.

Is there an adult nurse apprenticeship?

Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship (level 6) is an approved standard leading to registration, with a funding band maximum of £26,000 paid to the training provider by the employer’s levy account, not by you. You apply to an employer that has a funded vacancy, which is the hard part: the standard existing does not mean a post exists near you.

More on becoming an adult nurse

Route comparisons for related professions

Where this page’s data comes from

Course counts and durations are taken from the approved-programme records; every amount comes from the published funding scheme for the year it states. Funding rules change annually — confirm with the scheme before you apply.