Mental Health Nursing MSc
Subject and course type
- Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare
- Postgraduate
Make a real difference by supporting people towards recovery. Studying a masters in Mental Health Nursing at Kingston University will give you the specialist knowledge and experience you need to become a registered mental health nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
You are reading:
Help people live healthier, happier lives
Deepen your expertise and open doors to a rewarding career with life-enhancing impact.
One in four people experience mental health problems every year, which means the skills you’ll develop on this course are more important than ever. You’ll learn from a team of expert nurses, lecturers and researchers, preparing to make independent, fulfilling lives possible for service users, their relatives and carers.
A large part of this course will be spent on placement or in our award-winning simulation suites. This offers the perfect blend of learning styles and settings to help you refine your practical and therapeutic skills.
You’ll even receive a £5,000 per year, non-repayable NHS Training Grant to support your studies. Check out the NHS Business Service Authority website to find out more.
During the course, you’ll study the core elements of all fields of nursing, as well as modules specific to mental health. You’ll explore the diverse needs and contexts of mental health service users by analysing and applying research and evidence.
When you graduate, you’ll understand a range of psychological approaches used in clinical practice, and feel prepared to become a registered nurse. Previous students have gone on to secure roles in a range of settings, including hospitals, community teams, prisons, forensics, CAMHS and more.
By the time I sat my final exams, I'd already been offered two jobs. All I needed to do was to pass my exams and choose which job offer to accept, then I could start work as a registered mental health nurse.
Why choose this course
While you study, you’ll benefit from top quality teaching at Kingston University. Not only are we ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, we’re also top in London for Nursing (The Times Good University Guide 2025).
We even won Teaching Innovation of the Year for our public health elective placement at the 2023 Student Nursing Times Awards.
A portion of your learning will take place at our award-winning simulation suite, which creates realistic environments to help you develop skills in clinical, community and practice health settings.
You’ll take part in innovative simulations, where role players and full-body manikins will offer unique opportunities to build the knowledge and behaviours needed for safe and effective patient care.
Outside of the University, you’ll spend time on placement. Our placement providers include South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust, Surrey and Borders Partnership Trust, South London and Maudsley (SLAM) NHS Foundation Trust, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and independent hospitals, including the Priory Group.
Many of our staff are active in research, often in partnership with NHS trusts. That means they bring the latest thinking and best practice to your studies, with recent themes including integrated working, implementation, emergency, cardiovascular and critical care, and more.
Kingston University is top in London for Nursing (The Times Good University Guide 2025).
Accreditations
Recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for the purpose of registration as a qualified nurse (mental health).
Course content
Mental health nursing is underpinned by the notion of 'recovery', and you work collaboratively with service users to build on their strengths and manage their problems to encourage the best quality of life.
The first year is divided into two parts. In part one you will undertake a bridging module introducing you to the foundations of nursing.
In part two you will look at the context of nursing within mental health. In your second year (part three) you will learn about the analysis and application of research and evidence base, the complexities of nursing at an individual and organisational level as well as preparing for your transition to registered nurse.
Year 1 modules (parts one and two)
Year 1 introduces the foundations of nursing and healthcare. You will study the role of the mental health nurse and the diverse needs and contexts of mental health service users.
Core modules
0 credits
This module is the Practice Assessment Module which is designed to support you with the achievement of the NMC proficiencies and practice assessment requirements. The module focuses on practice preparation, reflection following practice experiences and the development of your numeracy skills. All elements need to be satisfactorily completed for you to complete part 1 and to be allowed to progress.
30 credits
This module will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to undertake a holistic and systematic mental health nursing assessment while considering the person's mental, physical and spiritual needs. You will critically explore the importance of working collaboratively with service users and carers during the assessment stage, emphasising the patient's journey towards recovery and service users and carers involvement in this process. You will be introduced to a variety of assessment frameworks and tools including; biopsychosocial and strengths-based approaches to collaborative assessment, and decision making. You will also be able to reflect critically on how to deal with complex ethical, legal and professional issues that may arise during the assessment process.
15 credits
This module will introduce you to the principles and practice of public health and the nurse's role within this. It will develop your knowledge, skills and attitudes to make a positive impact on the health of individuals, communities and populations.
You will be introduced to the central themes of public health practice and the NMC Future Nurse standards (2018) Platform 2. You will gain an understanding of the aims and principles of health promotion and protection and prevention of ill health. You will also develop a foundational awareness of the four core elements of public health nursing practice: Search for health needs, stimulation of awareness of health needs, influence on policy effecting health, facilitation of health enhancing activities.
You will be equipped with essential digital skills, including the use of public health intelligence to survey and assess a population's health and wellbeing. You will develop an understanding of how the social/wider determinants of health are important drivers of health inequalities. This module will also consider approaches to reducing these disparities.
You will gain an understanding of public health policy, and be supported to reflect on the ethical dimensions of public health practice. The module will also introduce you to the global dimensions of health, and its links with UK health outcomes. This includes the impact of climate change and the need for sustainable development and environmental management for the benefit of public health.
30 credits
This module provides you with the fundamental clinical knowledge and skills required for parts 1 and 2 of the programme. You will be prepared for your role in practice, enabling you to provide evidence based, person centred care to people at any stage of life who may have a range of physical, mental, cognitive or behavioural health conditions.
You will be prepared to make evidence-based decisions by collating and rationalising relevant evidence to ensure safe, high-quality person and family-centred care in digital healthcare environment. You will also be introduced to foundational pharmacological and medicines management knowledge to enable you to safely develop your skills and knowledge in the administration of medicines to clients, patients and service users. You will develop your understanding of the regulatory, legal, and ethical frameworks that influence medicines management and the underlying pharmacological science. Issues such as concordance will be explored, and the skills required to access resources to support medicines management practice.
Embedded within the module is simulated practice learning that will support the development of your clinical knowledge and skills. Personal tutor groups are integrated into this module as is time with your course director and year lead. This is a shared learning module with some key field specific elements.
30 credits
This module will introduce you to the fundamental elements of nursing and person-centred care, compassionate communication, evidence-based practice and contemporary health policy. It will enable you to develop critical knowledge, skills and professional attributes for the delivery of safe and effective person-centred care of individuals and their families or carers across a variety of settings.
You will begin to establish a sense of their nursing field identity but also that of other fields in order to promote effective interdisciplinary and integrated care. The skills required for evidence-based healthcare will also be developed and digital healthcare as a concept introduced.
15 credits
This module is a core requirement for all MSc Nursing students. The content of the module is designed to help you develop your knowledge and understanding of human anatomy and physiology in relation to nursing, which is an essential element of nursing proficiency. Pathophysiology will be introduced in relation to common conditions, and you will also begin to develop your knowledge of pharmacological concepts.
The main features of the module are to enable you to apply scientific principles to nursing care. It will also support you to identify and understand current nursing practices underpinned by scientific theory.
Year 2 modules (part three)
Year 2 examines the analysis and application of research and evidence and the complexities of nursing at individual and organisational levels. You will learn a range of psychological approaches used in clinical practice and prepare for your transition to registered nurse.
Core modules
Non-credit bearing credits
This module is the Practice Assessment Module which is designed to support you with the achievement of the NMC proficiencies and practice assessment requirements. The module focuses on practice preparation, reflection following practice experiences and the development of your numeracy skills. All elements need to be satisfactorily completed for you to complete this level and to be allowed to progress to registration.
30 credits
This module focuses on knowledge and skills necessary to deliver collaborative recovery focused care. It will focus on critically appraising a range of evidence-based psychosocial interventions. You will have the opportunity to develop, practise and critically reflect upon the knowledge and skills require for these interventions ensuring they are designed to meet the holistic needs of service users and to support their recovery. You will also explore the individual, social and service factors contributing to poorer physical health outcomes and inequalities experienced by people with serious and complex mental health needs.
The concepts of shared decision making, collaborative working and person-centred care will underpin all psychosocial approaches and interventions to improve both physical and mental health.
60 credits
Navigating the transition from student to a registrant who understands the professional and political environment in which they will be working is critically important to the delivery of safe, effective, and high-quality health care. This module aims to explore the key areas that will enable you to transition and fulfil the role of a registered nurse and also to prepare you for your role as a practice supervisor. The module is designed to prepare you for professional nursing practice by further developing your knowledge and skills to enable you to be an accountable and compassionate registrant within the health and social care system. There is a focus on the mechanisms that underpin care organisation and delivery, how nurses are integral to and can influence this and aims to develop your critical understanding of the factors influencing the environment in which you will be working.
The module will also develop your collaborative learning and teaching knowledge and skills enabling you to work with peers, people and families/carers. You will integrate your knowledge of learning theories, communication and relational skills to enable you to work collaboratively with others, critically reflecting on the challenges this can pose. You will also develop the clinical skills and proficiencies required for Part 3 of your programme through skills and simulated practice learning activities. You will have the opportunity to critically discuss inter and intra professional working alongside developing strategies for managing challenging communication. Personal tutor groups are integrated into this module as is time with your course director and year lead. This is a shared module that all students will undertake together providing opportunities for intra-professional discussion and learning.
30 credits
This module will support you to build on previous modules by developing knowledge and skills of working with those with a range of complex needs to include mental health disorders and comorbidities and working with those from diverse backgrounds. It will also cover your role in coordinating and managing the complex nursing and integrated care needs of people across the lifespan, across a range of organisations and settings and develop your skills in the critical appraisal of these.
You will also develop the clinical skills and proficiencies required for Part 3 of your programme through skills and simulated practice learning activities. You will build on your knowledge of partnership and collaborative working and critically examine and appraise the cultural, political, psychosocial and technological influences on nursing care, resource management and finances.
30 credits
From the point of first registration, newly qualified registrants are expected to be models of integrity and leadership for others to aspire to (NMC, 2023). With that fundamental principle as its focus, this module provides you with the theoretical knowledge and skills needed to work safely and effectively within healthcare teams critically reflect on this. The module also covers the more practical skills required to be a modern leader in healthcare including business planning, local workforce planning, and understanding human factors, all within the context set by the obligations and boundaries of relevant legislation and regulation.
Through participation in this module, you will become equipped with an understanding of what is needed to be a leader such that you ensure the delivery of safe, effective and high-quality nursing care and evaluate this. Theories of leadership and group dynamics will be applied to contemporary nursing practice while you will also critically examine how we know whether your nursing care is safe and effective and what you can do to measure, influence and improve the care that we provide.
While the focus of this module is primarily mental health nursing, some learning will be shared across all four fields of nursing through intra-professional learning activities.
Non-credit bearing credits
This module is the Practice Assessment Module which is designed to support you with the achievement of the NMC proficiencies and practice assessment requirements. The module focuses on practice preparation, reflection following practice experiences and the development of your numeracy skills. All elements need to be satisfactorily completed for you to complete and to be allowed to progress.
Career opportunities
After you graduate
Recent Kingston postgraduates have gone on to a variety of nursing careers in acute and community settings within the NHS and independent sector. Options include roles in hospitals, hospitals, GPs, community mental health nursing teams, prisons, drug and alcohol services, forensics, CAMHS, eating disorder units, private hospitals and third sector organisations.
Links with the health sector
Our academic staff liaise closely with NHS and independent sector organisations about learning, teaching, assessment and research.
- South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust
- Central and North West London Foundation NHS Trust
- Huntercombe Hospital
- The Priory Group
- Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Huntercombe Hospital
- Hexagon Housing Association
- Royal Hospital for Neurodisability (Putney)
- Cygnet Healthcare Woking
Teaching and assessment
We offer a range of innovative, flexible approaches to learning and teaching. This includes:
- Classroom based learning
- Simulated practical exercises
- Case based learning
- Clinical placements
- Self-directed learning
- Individual and group working
- Research
- Online resources
When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking and preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS – the online virtual learning platform.
As a student at Kingston University, we will make sure you have access to appropriate advice regarding your academic development. You will also be able to use the University's support services.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 180 credits across a year (typical for a postgraduate course) would equate to 1,800 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- 20% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Assessment methods include; essays, exams, presentations and reports and clinical skills assessed in our simulation suites and by practice supervisors and practice assessors in practice placements.
The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows:
- Year 1: 58% coursework, 42% exams
- Year 2: 67% coursework, 33% exams
Please note: the above breakdowns are a guide calculated on core modules only. If your course includes optional modules, this breakdown may change to reflect the modules chosen.
We aim to provide feedback on your assessments within 20 working days.
Fees and funding
| Fee category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| MSc full time | £9,535 |
| International | |
| Year 1 (2025/26): | £18,800 |
| Year 2 (2026/27): | £19,600 |
| Fee Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | MSc full time £9,250 |
| International | MSc full time £18,100 |
NHS Training Grant
Nursing students on pre-registration courses will receive a payment of at least £5,000 a year which doesn’t need to be paid back, subject to eligibility criteria. For more information, please visit the NHS Business Service Authority.
Scholarships and bursaries
Interested in studying a masters in Mental Health Nursing at Kingston? The following funding support is available:
Full-time students qualify for the same support for tuition fees and living costs as undergraduate students. You can access loans from the Student Loans Company, or visit our Fees and Funding page to find out about the options available to you.
Nursing students on pre-registration courses from September 2020 will receive a payment of at least £5,000 a year which doesn’t need to be paid back, subject to eligibility criteria. For more information, please visit the NHS Business Service Authority.
The government provides grants to support you while you do your clinical placements. You do not have to pay these back. Here’s what’s on offer through the NHS Business Services Authority:
- £2,000 Child Dependants' Allowance
- Up to £3,000 for exceptional hardship
- Reimbursement of additional travel and accommodation costs over normal daily travel to clinical placements
Please note, you can’t apply for a pre-registration masters qualification in the same profession that you are already registered in. For example, if you hold a BSc Nursing in Adult Nursing, you won’t be able to complete an in Mental Health Nursing.
Kingston University offers a 10% discount on full- and part-time postgraduate degree course tuition fees to our alumni. Visit our alumni discount page to find out more.
Find out more about scholarships and bursaries for international students.
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Kingston University will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our free intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
Placements
Placement expenses for travel and accommodation may be reimbursed by NHS Bursaries where, for example, the requirement exceeds that of attending university; or requires additional accommodation to that of the usual term time location. These expenses may need to be covered initially by the student before any applicable reimbursement is received. Please note: EU and international students may not be eligible for support for travel and accommodation.
The University will pay for your application to be processed, but you’ll need to subscribe to the Update Service for £16 per year. This allows universities and potential employers to view any changes to your DBS.
We provide you with a uniform. You will need to purchase appropriate shoes (£20-£60) and a fob watch (£5-£20) for practice. Additional uniform items will be available for purchase if you want them.
Professional body membership fees will be about £10 while you’re studying this course. When you qualify, it costs £120 to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council for a year.
How to apply
Before you apply
Please read the entry criteria carefully to make sure you meet all requirements before applying.
How to apply online
How to apply online
Use the course selector drop down at the top of this page to choose your preferred course, start date and mode, then click 'Apply now'. You will be taken to UCAS where you will complete your application. You should:
- Submit your application between the beginning of the September before you come to university and mid-January if you're a British or EU applicant
- Visit the UCAS website for exact dates and more information
- Complete your application in full, including your personal details and academic record
- Supply a reference and personal statement
- Submit your application as early as possible to have the best chance of receiving the right offers.
- The UCAS code for Kingston University is K84.
Application deadlines
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications will close when the course is full.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
What our students and graduates say
I ended up accepting a job in the unit where I'd spent my final placement, so I knew how the unit ran.
Kingston University had lots of support networks in place, ranging from maths help, to support with writing styles and money management. I was able to tap into lots of resources to help me through the study and learning process.
