School of Nursing and Midwifery

BSc (Hons) Critical Care (Intercalated)

UCAS course code 5865
Institution code NA
Duration

1 year
Course type

Full-time
Study location Plymouth

Experience nine months working in critical care and gain a degree at the same time. Develop your clinical skills and specialist competencies with placements in intensive and high dependency care and receive mentorship and support from experienced clinicians. Where possible, placement provision is negotiated to assist with additional living costs and support the development of relationships and networks that add value as you complete your medical degree and begin your early years as a doctor.

First choice for health

Delivered by professional experts, our programmes are tailored to you and your career. Together, we address today's most challenging healthcare issues, through research-informed teaching and active, real-world learning.

Nursing students may be eligible to receive an additional £5000 each year

The NHS Learning Support Fund provides additional funding for eligible healthcare students. It is supplementary financial support to the mainstream student loans system and is intended to support students whilst they train and gain professional registration. The training grant is for at least £5,000.

Key features
  • Study with the only university to offer an intercalated degree in critical care in the UK
  • Explore opportunities to set up placements within your preferred locality which helps with the cost of living and, the development of relationships and networks where you may wish to work when you complete your primary medical degree.
  • Experience a long practice placement working in challenging critical care environment that reflects the continuum of critical care provision.
  • Receive mentoring and supervision from an experienced clinician; for example, a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine.
  • Learn with and from others who represent the multi-professional team caring for the critically ill.
  • Prepare to be a follower and leader exploring and applying key concepts, professional theories and evidence to practice.
  • Develop and hone your interpersonal, professional and clinical skills aligned to reputable competency frameworks and standards; for example, from the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine.
  • Develop your ability to lead and manage quality improvement (QI) and audit and your opportunity to disseminate widely via poster and conference presentation and publication.
  • Join our growing and active ‘socially connected’ community of intercalated students and graduates/alumni engaging in mentoring, programme development, recruitment and educational activities.

Course details

  • Your Intercalated Year

  • This programme has a modular design and a flexible ‘blended learning’ approach to delivery. Successful completion of the third or fourth year of your primary medical degree normally means you are eligible to accredit prior learning up to 60 credits via Recognition of Prior Learning – please see the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) section of our website for further information on this process. The core modules (UEC607, UEC608 and UEC609) represent the 60 credits you are required to study to achieve the BSc (Hons) in Critical Care. RPL will be applied in recognition of experience and skills you have already gained as part of your medical degree for core module HEAD360P.
    Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment. The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and the modules associated with this intercalated degree (may be subject to change):

    Core modules

    UEC607
    Urgent, Emergency and Critical Care: Leadership and Innovation 20 credits

    This module will enhance the students' confidence and competence to lead and manage quality improvement and innovation in urgent, emergency and critical care.

    100% Coursework

    UEC608
    Evidencing Professional Development in Urgent, Emergency and Critical Care via (e)-Portfolio 20 credits

    This module will enable the student to develop their professional practice in the provision of urgent, emergency and critical care. Evidence supporting the students' development will be collated in an electronic portfolio (e-portfolio).

    100% Coursework

    UEC609
    Developing Professional Practice in Critical Care 20 credits

    This module will enable the student to develop their professional practice with regard to history taking, clinical examination, diagnostics, decision making and clinical management planning in critical care.

    100% Coursework

    HEAD360IC
    Understanding Evidence to Inform Clinical Decision Making 20 credits

    The module is designed to extend students' knowledge around evidence-informed decision making. This will be achieved through students identifying and evaluating a body of research-based evidence relevant to clinical practice.

    HEAE306IC
    The Fundamentals of Health Assessment and Common Illnesses

The modules shown for this course are those currently being studied by our students, or are proposed new modules. Please note that programme structures and individual modules are subject to amendment from time to time as part of the University’s curriculum enrichment programme and in line with changes in the University’s policies and requirements.

Entry requirements

Contextual offers: Typically, the contextual offer for this course is 8 points below the advertised tariff. A contextual offer is an offer to study at university that takes into account individual circumstances that are beyond your control, and that can potentially impact your learning and your exam results, or your confidence in applying to university.

Check your eligibility for a contextual offer

Given the nature of the placement element in a critical care environment, and the point of academic entry into the programme, we only consider medical students who have successfully completed (or anticipate successful completion) of the third or fourth year of their primary medical degree.
All applicants will be required to provide written permission to intercalate from their medical school and evidence (via transcript) confirming completion of relevant clinical skills and research, to the level normally expected of a fourth year undergraduate medical student. We appreciate some of this evidence may not be available when a student initially applies; however, it will be required to secure a provisional offer if successful through the recruitment process.
Please refer to our person specification .
If you want to find out more about the opportunity to pursue an Intercalated BSc (Hons) in Critical Care with Plymouth, please email the Professional Development Unit at pduadmissions@plymouth.ac.uk.
Extended entry requirements

Fees, costs and funding
2024-2025 2025-2026 *
Home £9,250 £9,535
International £18,100 £18,650
Part time (Home) N/A N/A
Full time fees shown are per annum. Part time fees shown are per a number of credits. Please note that fees are reviewed on an annual basis. Fees and the conditions that apply to them shown in the prospectus are correct at the time of going to print. Fees shown on the web are the most up to date but are still subject to change in exceptional circumstances. More information about fees and funding.

*UK Government announcement on tuition fees

Following an announcement in November, the government has confirmed its intention to increase undergraduate tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year.

Subject to final Parliamentary approval (expected in early March 2025), the tuition fee for UK students is increasing to a maximum of £9,535 from 1 August 2025. This change applies to current and new students at the University of Plymouth. The Student Loans Company (SLC) has confirmed loans for tuition fees will be increased accordingly.

Please contact the Professional Development Unit for further information.

Additional costs

This course is delivered by the Faculty of Health and more details of any additional costs associated with the faculty's courses are listed on the following page: Faculty of Health additional costs .

How to apply
Applications for September 2025 are now closed.

Placement information

In 2024, we expect to offer a range of student placements across the UK, including some of the biggest and most dynamic NHS Trusts.
Explore opportunities to set up placements within your locality helping you with the cost of living and development of important relationships in settings where you may like to work in the future.
Experience working in genuinely challenging clinical environments; real-life experiences mean meaningful education.
Candidates are given the opportunity to select their placement preferences following interview.
ical - map
Please note that available placements may change, and the map is for illustrative purposes only.

Modules

You will be required to undertake the following core modules as part of the intercalated programme:

Leadership and Innovation (Level 6)
Evidencing professional development in urgent and emergency care (via e-portfolio) (Level 6)
Developing professional practice in critical care hero image
To make up the remaining 60 credits of the course, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) will be applied in recognition of experience and skills you have already gained as part of your medical degree. Please contact the Professional Development Unit for further information.

Are you a registered healthcare professional working in a critical care setting? You can study this programme on a full or part-time basis.

 

Lead mentor

Dr Nikitas Nikitas
Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine
Honorary Clinical Lecturer
“The Intensive Care Unit is the main pillar of the modern acute hospital services. By combining clinical treatments with invasive organ support, Intensive Care Medicine has one of the most rapidly developing research portfolios. Critical Care intercalation programme provides the opportunity to undergraduate students, to become members of a dynamic clinical and academic multidisciplinary team and experience the daily clinical practice of intensive care medicine.”
Dr Nikitas Nikitas

University of Plymouth intercalation

“It’s a unique course – there’s isn't anything like it anywhere else in the UK. You’re in the clinical environment most of the time, normally five days a week.”
Watch students talk about why they decided to intercalate at Plymouth.
Joshua Masheder – BSc (Hons) Critical Care (Intercalated) graduate

Student insight

“Emergency care and critical care are both fields which can be the difference between life and death, but as students we have little exposure whilst at medical school. The opportunity this course and the BSc (Hons) Critical Care (Intercalated) course gives you to become integrated alongside some of the best medical teams in some of the busiest hospitals in the UK provides opportunities you will not gain elsewhere. Alongside the clinical placements I have been able to work in my field of interest, explore pre-hospital care and be involved in cutting edge research to mould out future NHS. Plymouth and its intercalation courses offer a unique starting block for anyone interested in emergency care, pre-hospital care and anaesthetics, not forgetting paediatrics and psychiatry all of which stand you above colleagues in experience, knowledge and exposure.”
Joshua Masheder – BSc (Hons) Urgent and Emergency Care (Intercalated) graduate
 
Plymouth Business School graduates on Plymouth Hoe.

Tuition fee discount for University of Plymouth graduates

If you studied your undergraduate degree at Plymouth, you may be eligible for a fee discount if you complete your postgraduate studies here as well.
  • 10% or 20% discount on tuition fees for home students
  • For 2024/2025 entry, a 20% discount on tuition fees for international students (International alumni who have applied to the University through an agent are not eligible to receive the discount)