Ambulance Technician Practice - NTU in Mansfield Certificate of Higher Education
- Level(s) of Study: Professional / Undergraduate
- Typical Offer: 64 UCAS tariff points
- Start Date(s): September 2024
- Duration: One year full-time
- Study Mode(s): Full-time
- Campus: NTU in Mansfield
Introduction:
If you are looking for a rewarding vocation that involves helping others at their greatest time of need, able to keep calm under pressure, make good decisions and take control, a career as an ambulance technician could be the ideal choice. It’s a role that provides job satisfaction, excellent benefits and a wealth of opportunities to develop your skills further.
As an ambulance technician, you will act as part of the emergency team, working with emergency care assistants and paramedics, responding to emergency calls and delivering high-quality pre-hospital care. It’s a highly rewarding role, and one where you will assess, treat and manage patients at the scene of an accident or in their home, deciding if they should be transferred to hospital or other medical facility for further treatment.
Taught at NTU in Mansfield, this course provides a full-time route to achieving the Cert HE Ambulance Technician Practice (ATP). It combines all the components you’ll need to practice as an Ambulance Technician in the modern NHS.
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The course includes a placement within the ambulance service alongside your studies, giving you hands-on experience. -
On completing this programme, you will be able to apply for employment as an ambulance technician with a UK Ambulance Trust or private provider. -
On completing the course, you may be eligible to train as a paramedic by applying for Year 2 of our BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science (subject to availability). -
NTU in Mansfield is your alternative route into higher education. We've built this qualification with the local job market in mind. Each of our higher education courses is relevant, hands-on and work-focused.
What you’ll study
You are likely to work on a double-crewed ambulance with the potential to be the lead clinician or support a paramedic in clinical practice. You will attain many of the same skills as paramedics, such as being able to assess, triage and provide lifesaving treatment. You will have responsibility for the direct clinical care of patients, service users and their carers and significant others.
You will study 120 credits at level 4.
Foundations of Ambulance Care Practice (40 credits)
This is where you will learn practical skills that you will require whilst working on an ambulance. Utilising essential equipment used to help people in real life situations. Using a range of scenarios to embed learnt knowledge. Here you will do 4 practical assessments spread over the year, to include intermediate life support, paediatric intermediate life support, maternity and trauma. This module fits well with the Human health and illness module as you will learn how to treat conditions and why.
Principles of Human Health & Wellbeing (40 credits)
Within this module you will learn about the human body in depth. This looks at the anatomy and physiology of humans along with the pathophysiology of diseases. This will enable the student to relate why we treat how we do within the foundations of ambulance care module. This module is assessed via a multiple choice and short answer paper, an assignment and a spoken Viva.
Professional and Legal Issues (40 credits)
Here you look at ethical aspects of the job role. Consent and capacity are a large part of this module. Safeguarding of children and vulnerable people, mock coroners court day within Nottingham City Court room at NTU. All legal aspects of what you can and can not do within your job role. This is primarily classroom focused with assignments and a portfolio to complete.
How you’re taught
Your learning will include a blend of face to face tuition at university, alongside independent activities, such as case studies or problem-based learning scenarios. You will also spend a significant amount of time on placement, predominantly alongside your practice educator within the ambulance service.
Placement
Practice placement is a compulsory component of the course and enables you to link the theory to practice and develop the necessary competences needed to become an ambulance technician. You will not be paid for this time and travel expenses are not refunded as part of the course.
You will spend a significant proportion of your time on placement working with your dedicated practice educator, who will guide and develop your skills and knowledge of the assessment and management of a wide range of clinical cases. You will follow the clinical shift patterns of your practice educator, which will include unsociable hours including days, nights, weekends and bank holidays. You will be expected to complete approximately 500 hours.
How you’re assessed
Assessment methods on the course include but are not limited to:
- OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations) - Practical demonstrations of skills in a simulated environment
- Practice Educators observations of competency in practice
- An E-portfolio (PebblePad)
- Case studies
- Reflective accounts
- Presentations
- Academic posters
- Essays
- Multiple-choice and short-answer question exams.
- Simulated Multi-disciplinary meetings
Careers and employability
After graduating from this programme, you will be able to apply for employment as an ambulance technician with a UK Ambulance Trust or private provider. You will have the opportunity to progress to team leader, supervisor or other management roles.
Having consolidated your clinical practice, you will also be eligible to apply to train as a paramedic. This certificate allows you to apply for advanced standing entry into Year Two of our BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science (subject to availability).
Other developmental roles include but are not limited to:
- Urban Search and Rescue (USAR)
- wilderness / remote medical support
- telephone triage / 111 call advisors
- event medical technician.
Campus and facilities
We are continually investing in our facilities and transforming our learning and teaching environment to create an inspiring and innovative atmosphere. Teaching will take place at the University Hub's £6.5 million University Centre, which opened in 2016 and which is equipped with the latest facilities and state-of-the-art technology. Facilities include:
- On-site Café
- Teaching and Learning Centre
- Library
- Social spaces
- Student support services
- Dedicated study zones including PC suites.
Entry requirements
What are we looking for?
- 64 UCAS Tariff points (excluding General Studies, Key Skills and music exams) One subject should be a natural science (Psychology is acceptable, or a health-related subject or public services).
- Three GCSEs grade C / 4 or above including Maths, English and a Science-based subject. Passes in Functional Skills and Key Skills qualifications at level 2 in Maths and English can be accepted as equivalents.
Other requirements
You will also need to:
- be at least 18 years of age at the start of the course. This is the minimum age requirement set by our placement providers. If you will be under 18 at the start of the course, your application may be declined, or you may be offered the opportunity to defer your application until next year
- undertake an interview with a lecturer
- confirm the ability to use a range of IT facilities including email, internet, and word processing
- provide evidence of vaccination against Hep B, or undergo a vaccination programme, before any placements can be undertaken.
IELTS
If English is not your first language you will need an IELTS score of 6.5. Please note that the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) require IELTS 7.0 with no element below 6.5 for registration.
Alternative Entry Approaches
We may also consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or beyond the beginning of a course where applicable, for example, into year 2. Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route.
All prospective students who wish to apply via Recognition of Prior Learning should initially contact the central Admissions and Enquiries Team who will be able to support you through the process.
NTU we recognise the commitment and achievement required to take part in national voluntary adult and cadet programmes, particularly those with a focus on health and first aid, such as St John Ambulance, Territorial Army, Army Cadets, 999 Academy or Community Responder programme.
If you do not have 64 UCAS points, we will still consider your application if you meet the following requirements:
- You can demonstrate over two years of commitment to a programme (and were aged 15 or older when this started).
- You can provide a supporting letter of recommendation from your unit manager, youth team or commanding officer.
Please note: the GCSE entry requirements will still apply.
Mature Applicants
We welcome applications from mature students (aged 21 and over) and do not necessarily require the same academic qualifications as school leaving applicants when supported by relevant work experience.
Disclosure Barring Service
A satisfactory Enhanced DBS (Adult and Child) disclosure will also be required.
Driving Licence
Whilst a full driving licence is not a requirement for this programme, it will likely be a condition of future employment and will be beneficial when travelling to and from placements.
Occupational Health
All offers will be made subject to the successful clearance to practice from our occupational health team.
Personal statement
In addition to the entry requirements listed above, you will need to submit a personal statement demonstrating:
- an understanding of the role of the Ambulance Technician and current issues in pre-hospital care
- any evidence of health-related work (paid or voluntary)
- How your personal values align to the NHS Core values
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form
This course is not suitable for tier 4 visa applicants.
We accept qualifications from schools, colleges and universities all over the world for entry onto our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. If you’re not sure how your international qualification matches our course requirements please visit our international qualifications page.
Fees and funding
Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there’s no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.
Additional costs
Your course fees cover the cost of studies, and include loads of great benefits, such as the use of our brand-new library, industry-standard workshops and study spaces, support from our expert Employability team, and free use of the IT equipment across our campuses.
Library books
You’ll need to cover the cost of your own books, standard drawing and writing equipment and consumables. However, our NTU in Mansfield library is home to a wide range of books, journals and materials (many of which you can access online) – meaning you may not need to purchase as many books as you might think! Our library team work closely with our academics to ensure that our library collection closely matches the topics you’ll be studying, to provide relevant resources for you to use, free of charge.
Printing and materials costs
Students should also budget approximately £100 per year to cover any printing that they may require to support their studies.
Placements
If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.
Getting in touch
For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494
While we aim to keep any extra study costs to a minimum, please see our page on additional costs and optional extras to find out about any additional expenses you may incur on your course.
This course is not suitable for tier 4 visa applicants.
We accept qualifications from schools, colleges and universities all over the world for entry onto our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. If you’re not sure how your international qualification matches our course requirements please visit our international qualifications page.
How to apply
Writing your application and personal statement
Be honest, thorough and persuasive in your application. Remember that we can only make a decision based on what you tell us, so include all your qualifications and grades, including resits or predicted grades.
Your personal statement is a really important part of your application – it’s your chance to convince us why we should offer you a place. You’ve got 4,000 characters to impress us. Make sure you use them to show how your skills and qualities are relevant to the course(s) you’re applying for. For more hints and tips, take a look at our page on how to write a good personal statement.
Ready to join us?
Then apply as soon as you can. Just click the Apply button at the top of the page and follow the instructions for applying. Make sure you check the entry requirements above carefully before doing so.
Keeping up to date
After you’ve applied, we’ll be sending you important emails throughout the application process –check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.
You can get more information and advice about applying to NTU on our Your Application page. Good luck with your application!