Additional costs for nursing and midwifery students

Summary of additional costs that may be incurred when undertaking a nursing or midwifery course

Nursing placements

Nursing programmes are taught in three geographic locations:

  • Plymouth (Adult Health, Child Health, Mental Health)
  • Exeter (Adult Health, Mental Health)
  • Truro (Adult Health, Mental Health)

You must apply for your choice of taught site at the time of application. It is recommended that you consider the cost of accommodation before making this choice.

Whichever site you choose you may be required to travel to placements and to cover any associated costs. This may take the form of a bus trip to a local area or further away to ensure the appropriate experience is provided and as a result may require you to have a second accommodation in the placement area.

Nursing students undertake placement activity between 20-23 weeks in each academic year. Placements for Nursing programmes are provided across the Southwest and surrounding areas with bases in Cornwall, Exeter, North Devon, Plymouth, Torbay, Taunton and Somerset.

  • Adult Health students rotate within a placement zone which includes three of the placement areas above with a view to undertaking two placements in each of the placement areas across the three years. Placement activity includes acute and community settings and it may be necessary to travel to a placement.
  • Child Health students identify and prioritise their choice of area to undertake placements and the team endeavour to fulfil these requests. Placement choices are Plymouth, Exeter, Taunton, Torbay, Yeovil and surrounding areas, Cornwall and North Devon.
  • Mental Health students are allocated to a designated trust area and undertake all placements in that area.

Midwifery placements 

Student midwives undertake the theory component of the programme on the Plymouth campus only.

Midwifery placements are undertaken in one of the geographic areas shown below for the duration of the programme.

  • Cornwall
  • Exeter
  • North Devon
  • Plymouth
  • Taunton
  • Torbay
  • Yeovil
Midwifery students undertake placement activity between 21-27 weeks in each academic year.

To ensure the necessary experience is provided students may be required to travel to different areas within their geographic area and these costs must be covered by the students. The travel may take the form of a bus trip to a local area or further away. In additional may require a student to have a second accommodation in the placement area.

Example costing accommodation and travel

We recommend that students do not travel daily to distant placements. All students are actively encouraged to take accommodation for the duration of their placement to avoid resultant tiredness when undertaking 12 hour shifts.
If based on our Plymouth campus, we endeavour to ensure that no more than half of the placements overall will require double accommodation in other locations.
The indicative cost of accommodation for 5 nights ranges from £50 - £130 per week dependent on location of the trust in which you will undertake placements.
Examples of the current cost of rail travel (2022) for 12 weeks is shown below estimated on 7 days travel per week:
Plymouth – Exeter return is up £1400
Plymouth – Truro return is up to £900
Plymouth – Torquay return is up £1000
Plymouth – Taunton return is up to £2100

You may find the Homestay website helpful when looking for additional accommodation.