How to transfer to UK school?

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 6, 2006

HI. i am currently a nursing student still doing prerequisites and i was thinking about moving to the UK. well London actually and i read the threads about nurses moving to the UK, but i haven't seen anything about students moving to the UK. i wanted to go to school there and then stay permanently. there's 3 schools that i could use my financial aid for : king's college, middlesex and southbank. Do nurses in the UK make enough to live decently on and more importantly does anyone have any advice? it would be much appreciated. thanks!

nurse training is very different than the UK and I would imagine you will have to pay international fees to the university. London is very expensive to live and probably as a student nurse will find it hard. You should be able to join a agency as a auxillary worker (nursing aid) to suppliment your income but would need to make sure your visa allows you to work. You would also need to be aware that the training in the UK doesn't always match training required should you move back to the US and you may have to do some catch up courses if you did move back. You could arrange with the university in London to do hours in mental health, paeds, midwifery as well as general prior to you starting your course which would help in meeting US requirements.

hope this helps a bit

suzanne4, RN · Feb 6, 2006

Anna is very correct on this. If you have been looking at prices, remember to add on the difference from the pound to the dollar, about 60% at least more, then the price of being an international student there, that will also increase things.

On a normal student visa, you would not be permitted to work.........and the cost of living in London proper is extremely expensive. More expensive than San Francisco housing.

BIOnerd · Feb 7, 2006

thanks guys...well i have been researching and according to the schools i will be able to work, but not more than 20 hours a week. it's odd... to get a school Visa you have to be able to show that you can afford to live there during the school year without working BUT once you are there you are allowed to work. weird. I was wondering... is the deadline for admission for fall 2006 the same at every school? for some reason i've only been able to find application deadline dates on one website. also is the salary for an adult nurse or midwife sufficient to live on? sorry for all the ??? i'm just trying to figure this all out. thanks

suzanne4, RN · Feb 7, 2006

Adult nurse working and living in London proper in one person's salary, or just one job? No way, the one salary is definitely not enough to live there, if you are going to live like you would in the US. Take a close look at what the salaries are and then what the apts are renting for. You are in for a real eye opener. You can get by out of the city, but definitely not in London.

And the salary that you can possibly earn while in school, will definitely not be at RN wages.

I really suggest that you rethink your idea. If you ever wish to work in the US, you are hgoing to need to make up hours just to be able to get a license in the US. The training in the UK is now completely different. And the training for midwifery will require that you have extra training. More than the three year program.

suzanne4, RN · Feb 7, 2006

Adn you will not be transferring, you will be applying to a program from Day One. Their curriculum is completely different from the US.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 7, 2006

thanks guys...well i have been researching and according to the schools i will be able to work, but not more than 20 hours a week. it's odd... to get a school Visa you have to be able to show that you can afford to live there during the school year without working BUT once you are there you are allowed to work. weird. I was wondering... is the deadline for admission for fall 2006 the same at every school? for some reason i've only been able to find application deadline dates on one website. also is the salary for an adult nurse or midwife sufficient to live on? sorry for all the ??? i'm just trying to figure this all out. thanks

Like suzanne says you will not be paid as a RN until you qualify which would be in 3 yrs and pay will have increased.

A student from the UK training as a nurse gets a bursary and even then it isn't enough for them to live on. The course is generally full time with set course structure with blocks of holidays, this may be a problem when on holiday and working because 20 hours a week isn't a lot and pay will not be a lot either. I would suggest maybe looking at other areas in the UK as fees and cost of living should be cheaper

Once qualified living alone and in London you will find it very hard to live even though you do get a bit extra for living in London it isn't enough. Here is a link which gives a rough idea on pay scale. As a newly qualified you generally start on band 5

http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/10/85/32/04108532.pdf

BIOnerd · Feb 10, 2006

thanks everyone..appreciate the info