My mentor provided me with the foundation and confidence I needed to develop into a well-rounded clinician, ready to face the diversity of life as a paramedic.
The Paramedic Science programme at Surrey is ranked second in the Complete University Guide 2018 and top ten in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017.
With an emphasis on Professional Training placements, our Paramedic Science programme will give you the opportunity to explore which areas of paramedic science ignite your passion.
This exciting and stimulating programme provides you with the opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills required to work as an articulate and confident paramedic who is able to make professional judgements and deliver evidence-based care to clients/patients.
The three-year degree is divided equally between academic study and practical experience in a range of practice areas, and has been jointly developed by the University of Surrey, the University of Brighton and the South East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust.
You will acquire the knowledge and skills to respond to the diverse needs of patients, families and carers within a variety of settings.
You will also develop and display the values required in modern healthcare and stated within the NHS Constitution.
The structure of our programmes follows clear educational aims that are tailored to each programme. These are all outlined in the programme specification documents which include further details such as the learning outcomes. Please be aware that these specifications are applicable to the current academic year.
Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that modules may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
In accordance with the Health and Care Professions Council requirements the students must undertake an appropriate number, duration and range of practice placements to enable them to achieve the learning outcomes.
A number of modules are across 2 semesters and outside of semester in order to accommodate the practice requirements.
Successful completion of the BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science programme will make you eligible to apply for professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
We have nationally recognised teachers and researchers, and all our teaching staff are committed to ensuring that you have the best possible experience, enabling you to emerge as a confident, competent professional. The paramedic teaching team consists of paramedic medical and nursing educators.
The programme is academically demanding and includes practice placements which present new and sometimes challenging experiences. We will provide you with strong personal and academic support to help you succeed.
You will be allocated a personal tutor to oversee your progress and they will be available for one-to-one appointments. You will also be a member of a personal tutor group, brought together for discussions, information sharing and advice.
In the University setting, teaching methods include:
Within the practice environment, teaching methods include:
Modules are assessed individually and credits are awarded for the successful completion of each one. Assessment takes place through a combination of examination and/or coursework, practical examinations and reports.
You will be assessed at various points during the programme via written work, student presentations, examinations and case study work. You are required to build a portfolio of your experiences during practice placements, demonstrating how you have met your learning agreement and the particular learning outcomes for the module.
You are also required to show an understanding of, and development towards, the professional behaviour expected of a registered paramedic.
Contact hours can vary across our modules. Full details of the contact hours for each module are available from the University of Surrey's Module Catalogue. See the programme structure section for more information.
The programme will run over 40 weeks each year.
You are allocated a personal tutor to guide you through the programme and advise on your option choices and future career, helping you to get the most out of your time at Surrey.
Time spent in the safe environment of our Simulation Suite and other areas in the pre-hospital environment will prepare you for your professional training. You will only go out to practice areas when you have satisfactorily completed instruction in fundamental clinical skills.
Our placement localities have practice learning teachers and link tutors who will be able to advise you about their particular practice areas. Once in your placement, you will work under the supervision of a mentor/practice educator and a team of co-mentors.
They assess your practice and developing skills and advise you on the progress of your portfolio of experience and your professional development.
As you progress through the programme and your skills and confidence develop, you will be encouraged to perform increasingly complex activities in practice, until you are considered by your mentors and teachers to be competent for registration at the end of Year 3.
Read about the exciting training exercises students take part in here.
Your practice placements will be undertaken within the South East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust and other healthcare settings across a wide geographical area, allowing you to gain a range of experiences.
Placements will feature practical supervised experience in, for example, ambulance stations and ambulance vehicles, operating theatres, intensive care units, accident and emergency departments, maternity, mental health and children’s units, and specialist ambulance services.
You will work alongside qualified health, social care and emergency care staff. Your placements will give you the opportunity to put your skills into practice early in the programme. You will have opportunities to participate in interprofessional learning in your practice settings, working alongside fully qualified paramedics and other clinicians.
The Paramedic Science programme consists of 50 per cent theory and 50 per cent practice. The practice component is gained within ‘placements’. The University of Surrey is very fortunate to have a broad range of excellent placements within Surrey.
This geographical area is divided up to enable students to be allocated to one distinct area, enabling the student to become a member of that community of healthcare practitioners. These geographical divisions are called ‘localities’.
There are four geographical localities serving paramedic science programmes at the University of Surrey. Each locality has ambulance station placements provided by South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, and district general hospital placements.
It is in these placements that paramedic students gain their practical experiences.
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) is part of the National Health Service, responding to 999 calls from the public, urgent calls from healthcare professionals and providing NHS 111 services across the region.
It also provides non-emergency patient transport services (pre-booked patient journeys to and from healthcare facilities) in Surrey and Sussex.
SECAmb deals with a geographical area of 3,600 square miles (Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent, Surrey, and North East Hampshire), which includes densely-populated urban areas, sparsely populated rural areas and some of the busiest stretches of motorway in the country.
Staff in SECAmb work across 110 sites spread around Kent, Surrey and Sussex, including ambulance stations, community-response posts and emergency dispatch centres. The University of Surrey placements are restricted to the Surrey localities listed in this brochure.
SECAmb staff care for patients either face-to-face, or provide clinical advice and support over the phone at one of their three emergency dispatch centres.
Patients range from the critically ill and injured who need specialist treatment, to those with minor healthcare needs who can be treated at home or in the community.
Locality one is in the eastern areas of Surrey and serves the surrounding, towns and villages.
It consists of a strong community of healthcare practitioners, working together to provide a high standard of care to the people it serves and students soon become ‘one of the team’, with most deciding to stay and work there upon qualification.
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) includes Redhill Ambulance Station, Godstone Ambulance Station, Caterham Ambulance Station (based in Townhill Medical Centre), Dorking Ambulance Station, Leatherhead Ambulance Station and Epsom Ambulance Station.
These ambulance stations provide 24/7 emergency cover.
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH) includes the East Surrey Hospital, which is around 28 miles from Guildford and (near Redhill) and is the major acute hospital for East Surrey and North West Sussex. It provides 24/7 emergency services.
Locality two is located in the northern area of Surrey and serves Ashford and Chertsey and other towns and villages around that area. It provides a warm welcome to its students and they soon become one of the community and feel well supported.
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) including Chertsey Ambulance Station, Walton Ambulance Station, Esher Ambulance Station (based in Esher Fire Station), Staines Ambulance Station (based in Staines Fire Station) and Woking Ambulance Station (based in Woking Community Hospital).
These ambulance stations provide 24/7 emergency cover.
Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust, with Ashford Hospital located near Heathrow Airport and St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, around 12 miles from Guildford. Both these hospitals provide a wide range of services for their local populations, including a new dedicated Diabetes Resource Centre at St Peter's.
Surrey Community Health (Surrey Primary Care Trust) provides community based nursing for the local population, including GP surgeries, community nursing teams, Health Visitors, and inpatient services within small community hospitals.
Locality three is located in the north-western area of Surrey and Hampshire and serves the Frimley area as well as surrounding towns and villages. It prides itself in having a friendly atmosphere and welcoming staff who have a positive ‘can do’ attitude.
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) provides emergency cover to North East Hampshire and Surrey.
The ambulance stations covering this area include Farnborough Ambulance Station, Knaphill Ambulance Station and Tongham Ambulance Station providing emergency cover points in Aldershot (Aldershot Centre for Health) and Fleet (Fleet Fire station).
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust Hospital is a fully NHS Hospital, 16 miles from Guildford, with 724 beds, specialising in:
Surrey Community Health provides community based nursing for the local population, including GP surgeries, community nursing teams, Health Visitors, and inpatient services within small community hospitals.
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust provides many primary care services through hard-working teams in the community throughout Hampshire. Students gain a range of experiences and are well supported by mentors in practice.
Locality four is located in central and southern Surrey and serves Guildford and the towns and villages surrounding the University.
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SECAmb) including Guildford Ambulance Station, Godalming Ambulance Station, Cranleigh Ambulance Station and Haslemere Ambulance Station (based in Haslemere Community Hospital).
The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has 527 beds and provides the local population with both elective and emergency surgery, and services for those with urgent, acute and long term medical conditions. It has 14 operating theatres, has specialist maxillo-facial services, as well as providing a tertiary centre for cancer services.
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust provides community based nursing for the local population, including GP surgeries, community nursing teams, Health Visitors, and inpatient services within local hospitals.
Further information about localities and accommodation opportunities within each of the localities is provided to the students’ at the start of the programme and within local induction to the practice environments.
The accommodation provision varies between the localities and usually comprises students organising privately rented flat-sharing or house-sharing via local agents.
All students can be accommodated within University campus accommodation for the commencement of their programme but it is expected that students will move into their geographical locality when their placements start, approximately six months after the start of the programme.
This enables the student to travel to and from placements with ease and minimum cost, and better enables students to get to placements for the start times of shifts (can be as early as 6am) and back home when they finish (can be after midnight and 2am), and attend for night duty which is a requirement of the programme.
The theory component of the programme is taught within the University campus in Guildford for all students, irrespective of locality, for the duration of the programme.
There are limited placements within each locality and so each new cohort of students must be divided up between localities to ensure a high quality practice experience for all.
A priority system exists when allocating students to Localities, to ensure the needs of those students with specific geographical requirements are met, as much as is possible within the limited capacity in each location.
The priority system identifies the following:
It must be noted that placements within the locality may still be some distance from the student’s home address and travelling to placements within the full geographical area of the allocated locality will be required in order to meet the practice component of the paramedic science programme.
It is advisable students have their own transport when attending placement, due to the unsociable shift start and finish times where public transport will not be available.
There are sometimes opportunities to change a student’s allocated locality but this depends upon capacity at the preferred locality. The first-year leader will explain the process for this at the start of the programme.
Exciting changes are taking place in today’s NHS. Healthcare practitioners are learning new skills, working independently and taking on new responsibilities. Qualified paramedics are increasingly found at the heart of multidisciplinary teams.
Career paths in modern NHS Ambulance Trusts include specialist practice, teaching, management and research.
As a practitioner, you can also combine a number of roles and remain directly involved in client care as your career progresses.
Learn more about life as a paramedic on the NHS careers website and read about what it's like to work as a paramedic.
Our Paramedic Science students have excellent employment prospects on completing the programme.
If you are a registered practitioner looking for an undergraduate programme to further your learning, please visit our Continuing Professional Development page.
There are associated costs with this BSc (Hons) programme:
Safety equipment and/or uniform: unable to specify amount - Although a uniform (tunics and trousers) is provided, you are required to supply your own suitable footwear and any additional uniform. Students are also responsible for the costs associated with maintaining/washing their uniform
Grand total: + safety equipment and commuting/accommodation expenses
Shortlisting
Admissions staff will review the information provided within the personal statement and reference to assess applications for evidence of academic ability, insight and motivation.
Relevant experience in a care setting and/or evidence of other involvement in the community (for example school, voluntary or charity responsibilities) are normally required.
Personal statements should be comprehensive, with correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview and selection day.
Interview and selection day
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) are conducted by University academics, assisted by staff from clinical practice areas.
Admission to this programme is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) Section 4 (2) (Exemptions) Order 1975 and DHSS Circular HC(88)9 guidelines regarding police checks and child protection.
Offers are conditional upon satisfactory health for practice screening, references and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance, or equivalent.
Candidates must also meet national requirements to work with vulnerable adults and children.
Candidates should have the ability to follow a shift pattern covering 24 hours a day and seven days a week, and be able to meet early morning and late night travel requirements.
Candidates are encouraged to gain practical work experience in a care setting prior to undertaking the programme. All programmes and places are subject to commissioned numbers.
All applicants should be able to demonstrate evidence of completed academic study within the last five years. Applicants will also demonstrate the values required for health professional practice and stated within the NHS Constitution, such as honesty, integrity and compassion.
The Department of Health requires all Paramedic Science students to be tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C during the induction week. Those testing positive would be subject to Department of Health guidelines for entry to the programme.
Candidates are required to have a full UK driving licence and will need to pass the C1 driving test before the end of the first year.
IELTS Academic: 7.0 overall with 7.0 in each element.
Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.
| Qualification | Course Length | Professional Training | UCAS code | KIS code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BSc (Hons) | 3 years | B780 | View KIS data set |
View a complete listing of all ongoing fees for our undergraduate programmes.
There are additional costs associated with this programme – view the additional costs section for full details.
Programmes marked with a tick in the table above include a Professional Training placement.
A reduced fee is charged for Professional Training placements.
Fees will not have to be paid up front for those eligible students who decide to take up the Government's loan for higher education fees. The Professional Training placement is a key factor in the high employability rates achieved by students with Surrey degrees.
We're committed to making sure that we offer support for students who might need it.
Experienced staff in our International Student Office are available to help from the moment you consider studying at the University. We offer professional advice on immigration, visa issues, entry qualifications, pre-departure information, employment regulations and international student welfare.
Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that modules may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
"My overall PhD experience has been very positive. With the support of my supervision team and the other postgraduate researchers around, I soon settled in to life as a PhD student."
"I love studying at Surrey. It’s a beautiful environment to be in. My Department is very supportive and so is my supervisor."
"I decided to come to Surrey for my PhD because my project cuts across long-term conditions, maternal health and electronic health, and Surrey’s School of Health Sciences is at the fore-front of research in these areas."
"Choosing to study at Surrey was the best way for me to begin working towards my career as a Physician Associate."
"I like caring and improving people’s quality of life, therefore being a Physician Associate gives me an opportunity to fulfil that because I will work within the allied medical career."
"We are taught by experts in their fields. I enjoy learning in a collaborative environment characterised by knowledge sharing, passion for the profession and mutual respect."
It offered hands-on experience, whilst also providing the opportunity to discover another country and culture in Europe, not merely as a tourist but giving real-life experience and networking opportunities.
I benefitted from caring for a specific patient group and gained some in-depth knowledge there and I also learned a little Norwegian.
Marianna Dalkou, Psychologist, Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children, Thessaloniki, Greece
BEng (Hons) / MEng (Hons)
BSc (Hons)
BSc (Hons)
BSc (Hons)
BSc (Hons)
DipHE
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