Student nurses outside Jean Mcfarlane Building University

What to expect on a regulated health or social care professions course

What you need to know about professional and competency standards and requirements.

Thank you for considering applying for a health or social care professions course at The University of Manchester. As these courses prepare you to join a skilled and trusted health and social care workforce, you’ll be expected to maintain high standards of professionalism as a student at Manchester.

You're required to follow the code of conduct and professional standards for your chosen profession, as well as those set out by the University.

On this page:

Professional standards
Professionalism on our courses
Competency standards
Requirements and important information
Contact us

Professional standards

The standards you'll need to meet in your chosen profession.

Qualified health and social care professionals are required to abide by the relevant codes and standards for their profession.

Audiology - Standards, rules and guidance (Academy for Healthcare Science)
Audiology - Hearing aid dispensers (Health & Care Professions Council)
Nursing and Midwifery - The Code (Nursing and Midwifery Council)
Optometry - Standards of practice for optometrists and dispensing opticians (General Optical Council)
Pharmacy - Standards for pharmacy professionals (General Pharmaceutical Council)
Social Work - Professional standards (Social Work England)
Speech and Language Therapy and Audiology - Standards (Health & Care Professions Council)

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Professionalism on our courses

How you'll prepare to become a professional in your field.

Health or social care professionals are highly skilled critical thinkers who:

have advanced communication skills
are adept at teamwork
are competent.

If you become a student at Manchester, we will support you to work towards gaining the knowledge, skills, values and attributes of your chosen profession.

To develop these skills and fully prepare you for professional health or social care practice, you'll be expected to communicate and work together, as well as with other professionals. This will involve communicating both verbally and non-verbally, including presenting information in small and large groups.

You will also be expected to attend practice placements to enhance your skills and learning. You should expect to experience the full 24 hours of health or social care, which will involve shift work (up to 13 hours) and unsocial hours (nights and weekends). Placement blocks are 37.5 hours per week.

What does it mean to be a professional?

Watch our video to find out what we mean by professionalism in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at Manchester.

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Competency standards

Have any questions? Get in touch.

The safety of our students and the public is of the utmost importance. To ensure that we fulfil our duty, you must meet competency standards to ensure your fitness to train in your chosen health or social care profession.

Standards for fitness to train are specific to the health or social care profession you're applying to. Standards may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Mobility
Upper limb function
Vision
Hearing
Speech
Literacy and numeracy
Skin function
Interruption of consciousness
Concentration, awareness, memory, and ability to learn and understand

Profession-specific competency standards

Discussing competency for your course

As a prospective student, you may be concerned that your health or disability may affect your ability to fulfil the competency standards of your chosen course.

We encourage applicants to contact the Occupational Health Service and/or the Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) at an early stage to explore your circumstances in depth and consider the feasibility of making reasonable adjustments. This process can help you decide whether to pursue an application.

To discuss individual circumstances, please contact: