Bachelor of Midwifery/Bachelor of Nursing

Name: Bachelor of Midwifery/Bachelor of Nursing
Price: <a href='#fees-and-scholarships'> Commonwealth supported place </a> AUD

VU course code: HBMA | CRICOS: 105376F | Level of study: Undergraduate

ATAR

Lowest selection rank: 70.10*

Duration

4 years full time

Delivery mode

In Person

Fees

Commonwealth supported place

Location

St Albans

Next start date

20 January 2025

Application closes

12 January 2025

View all start dates

Overview

Prepare for a career supporting life and bringing new life into the world. Our double degree in midwifery and nursing gives you the knowledge and skills for two distinct, in-demand professions.

During your Bachelor of Midwifery/Bachelor of Nursing degree, you’ll acquire practical skills for each profession – and the healthcare knowledge common to both.

You'll practise your new skills in a safe environment on campus, using technology that simulates patient care. You'll also undertake many weeks’ supported clinical practice, working with real patients. By the time you graduate, you'll be work-ready – with genuine experience caring for women through pregnancy, childbirth, and post-birth.

We will teach you to understand your patients’ health needs, as well as their social need to feel safe in your care, based on:

up-to-date and evidence-informed health care
awareness and understanding of cultural safety and sensitivity
woman-centred and person-centred quality care
development of professional relationships and workplace integration.

Nursing and midwifery complement each other perfectly, and give you choice and flexibility in your career. After graduating from this course, you’ll be able to register and practise as a registered midwife and registered nurse.

Location: Please note that you will study at St Albans Campus for years 1-2, and at Sunshine Clinical School for years 3-4.

: On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Utilise comprehensive health assessment of the client, including consideration of physical, psychological, sociological, spiritual and cultural factors;

Advocate for principles of culturally sensitive woman-centred and person-centred care across the lifespan;

Adopt a wellness and preventative health approach to woman-centred and person-centred care using principles of health promotion;

Synthesise bioscience and pharmacology knowledge and apply this to midwifery and nursing practice;

Interrogate evidence relating to midwifery and nursing philosophy and practice to inform planning, implementation and evaluation of care;

Exhibit values, behaviours and professional knowledge congruent with legal, professional, and ethical standards for registered midwifery and nursing practice;

Utilise effective and therapeutic communication skills in the healthcare context; and

Critically reflect on their identity as a developing health professional by articulating self-care strategies and their plan for lifelong learning.
: Our state-of-the-art technology lets you participate in classroom simulation learning, practising your new skills in a safe environment.
We have nursing lab facilities designed to simulate a hospital environment where you can practise your nursing and midwifery on models before you move on to real people.
Through simulation-based education (SBE), you’ll have repeated opportunities to learn in situations you might not encounter in your placements. You’ll try out your inter-professional skills, with specific and immediate feedback to help you learn quickly.
Video recording from fixed cameras helps you improve your learning through greater understanding of your approach.
: You’ll graduate career-ready, having spent 25 per cent of your course working in clinical placements.
We have practical nursing-placement opportunities in over 200 clinical venues. Our strong partnerships with Western Health and Werribee Mercy Hospital give you access to acute teaching and training hospitals for nursing and midwifery students.
You’ll also meet and follow at least 10 women through:
pregnancy
childbirth
post-birth.

Entry requirements

When assessing your application, we consider your educational achievements and work experience, as well as your skills and personal attributes (where relevant).

Applicants for this course will need to meet the entry criteria outlined below. If you don’t meet the entry criteria, you may be able to gain entry by first completing a related course or unit(s). We call this a ‘pathway’.

You may also be eligible for course ‘credits’, where you are granted a unit or units towards your qualification for equivalent previous study or work experience, so you can graduate sooner.

ATAR requirements

Minimum ATAR: 70.10*

This course has a minimum ATAR entry requirement. This means you’ll need to achieve a certain ATAR, along with other criteria, to be considered for this course.

The following table shows the ranking results of our current student intake and is an indication of the ATAR you’ll need to successfully apply.

* Use as a guide only. This ATAR was created in January 2024 and may change for 2025 entry.

VU course code: HBMA

VTAC course code: 4301310681

Campus: St Albans

ATAR profile of people who received an offer for the Bachelor of Midwifery/Bachelor of Nursing.
	ATAR (Excluding adjustment factors)	Selection Rank (ATAR plus any adjustment factors)
Highest rank to receive an offer	89.05	95.80
Median rank to receive an offer	70.05	81.65
Lowest rank to receive an offer	55.80	70.10

Learn more about ATAR

What is ATAR?

The Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) compares the results of final-year school students, with adjustments made for factors such as hardship. The ranking is expressed as a number between 0 and 99.95. ATAR minimum entry requirements are not usually essential entry criteria for applicants who have completed secondary education more than 2 years ago.

English requirements

Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they meet the requirements of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s (NMBA) English language skills registration standard.

See the NMBA website for more information

When applying, you must complete and submit the AO7 – Nursing or Midwifery English Language Requirements. Your application for the Bachelor of Midwifery/Bachelor of Nursing cannot be reviewed until we receive this declaration. As admission to this program is competitive, we urge you to complete your application promptly.

AO7 – Nursing or Midwifery English Language Requirements (PDF, 194.42 KB)

Entry criteria

Minimum entry criteria include:

English-language requirements
academic requirements.

Your work and life experience will also be considered.

To find specific entry requirements for this course, please select the section below that is most relevant to you.

Meeting the minimum entry criteria does not guarantee entry into this course.

: This information is relevant if, in the 2 years prior to studying with us, you have completed (or will complete) one of the following:

Australian Senior Secondary Certificate (e.g. VCE)

an Australian or overseas equivalent to VCE

an International Baccalaureate (IB).

Admission criteria

Completion of an Australian Senior Secondary Certificate (VCE or equivalent)
PLUS:
Units 3 and 4: a study score of at least 30 in English (EAL) or 25 in any other English other than EAL.
PLUS:
Units 3 and 4: a study score of at least 20 in one of Biology, Chemistry, Health and Human Development, any Mathematics or Psychology.

Please ALSO refer to ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section regarding English language skills registration standard for domestic students.
: This information is relevant if you have completed an accredited award (such as a certificate or diploma) at an Australian Registered Training Organisation (usually a TAFE, polytechnic or other registered VET institute).

Admission criteria

Completion of an Australian Advanced Diploma or Diploma (or equivalent) in Health Science or Nursing.

Please ALSO refer to ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section regarding English language skills registration standard for domestic students.
: This information is relevant if you’ve previously completed all or part of a university or other higher-education course.

Admission criteria

Completion of at least one semester of an Australian Higher Education award (or equivalent) in Health Science or Nursing.

Please ALSO refer to ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section regarding English language skills registration standard for domestic students.
: This information is relevant if you left secondary school more than two years ago and haven’t studied since.

Admission criteria

Completion of an Australian Senior Secondary Certificate (VCE or equivalent) more than two years ago
PLUS:
Units 3 and 4: a study score of at least 30 in English (EAL) or 25 in English (or equivalent) other than EAL.
AND:
Units 3 and 4: a study score of at least 20 in one of Biology, Chemistry, Health and Human Development, any Mathematics or Psychology.

Please ALSO refer to ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section regarding English language skills registration standard for domestic students.

Special entry programs

Special admission programs

If you are from a disadvantaged or underrepresented social, economic or cultural background, you may be eligible for one of our special admission programs. These programs are designed to help you access education more easily.

Learn more about special admission programs

VU Early Entry

If you're currently in Year 11 or 12, our exclusive VU Early Entry program comes with a Conditional Offer to the course of your choosing*, a personalised course plan, special events, exclusive discounts and access to one-on-one course advice.

*Conditions apply.

Learn more about VU Early Entry

Inherent requirements

Inherent requirements are the abilities, attributes, skills and behaviours needed to meet the learning outcomes of the course.

You should carefully consider the inherent requirement statement as a:

guide for your learning during the course
way for you to identify challenges you may have in studying this course.

Learn more about inherent requirements

Additional information

Police check: Students must complete a National Police Records check prior to undertaking hospital/agency placements on an annual basis.

Working with Children Check: Students must complete a Working with Children Check prior to undertaking clinical placements.

Evidence of mandatory documents and vaccinations for placement is a hurdle for specific units in year 2, year 3 and year 4. Students must provide evidence of achievement of the required vaccinations and documents by 5pm on Friday of Week 3 of the Block in order to be eligible to pass the unit and to go on placement. Evidence of annual flu vaccination is also required (subject to availability).

Health status: Students must be prepared to declare their fitness for practice and immunization status prior to undertaking hospital/agency placements.

A Clinical Placement fee applies in all situations where the student is enrolled in a unit with a clinical placement component and/or has been provided with a clinical placement opportunity and fails to meet minimum standards for external placement, this can include late cancellations, failure to attend, student and professional misconduct, failure to provide mandatory documentation, regardless if the student discontinues prior to the enrolled Census Date. For placement fee details relevant to your course refer to https://www.vu.edu.au/current-students/your-course/fees/additional-fees-charges.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR ALL DOMESTIC STUDENTS ON NURSING AND MIDWIFERY BOARD OF AUSTRALIA (NMBA) ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS REGISTRATION STANDARDS
Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they meet the requirements of the NMBA English language skills registration standard. Proof of this English language competency can be achieved via ONE of the following two pathways:

Primary Language Pathway

Students are to provide a declaration that English is their primary language;

OR

English Language Test Pathway

Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have achieved the required minimum scores in one of the following English language tests and meet the requirements for test results specified in NMBA’s English language skills registration standard:
• IELTS (Academic): minimum overall band of 7.0 (with no individual band less than 7.0); OR
• OET: minimum score of B in each of the four bands; OR
• TOEFL iBT: minimum overall score of 94 (with minimum score of 24 in listening and reading, 27 in writing and 23 in speaking) OR
• PTE (A): with a minimum overall score of 65 and a minimum score of 65 in each of the four communicative skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking).

Credit & Entry pathways into this course

Victoria University is committed to providing a transparent admissions process. Find out more about how to apply for our courses, and our commitment to admissions transparency. Meeting the minimum admission criteria does not guarantee entry into this course. Past academic performance may be considered.

Course structure

To attain the Bachelor of Midwifery / Bachelor of Nursing, students will be required to complete:

384 credit points of Core Midwifery and Nursing studies.

Units

Fees & scholarships

University fees vary, depending on how much the government contributes towards course costs (if anything).

Read below to find out about the fee ‘type’, the estimated yearly tuition costs for this course, and the financial support on offer (including our generous scholarship program).

Commonwealth supported place

A Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) is subsidised by the government, reducing it to the amount listed here. Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens will qualify for a CSP place. If your course is not Commonwealth supported, or you don't qualify, you'll pay full fees.

Learn more about Commonwealth Supported Places

Fees

Scholarships

Careers

Registered midwives work in hospitals, group practices and the community sector in antenatal, birthing and postnatal units.

Nursing graduates work in general practice, acute care, aged care, rehabilitation, mental health, palliative care and health education.

Many of our graduates hold nursing positions at Sunshine Hospital (Western Health) and the Royal Women’s Hospital.

Job titles

registered midwife
registered nurse
nursing manager
nursing educator
clinical nurse specialist.

Salaries

Use Jobs and Skills Australia to find average salaries in Australia:

An in-demand profession

The nursing and midwifery professions need qualified employees.

In 2021 the State of the World's Midwifery report identified a global shortage of midwives. In nursing, there are large demands for aged-care nurses, mental health nursing and critical care (HealthTimes).

The number of job openings for midwives and registered nurses is expected to continue to grow over the next five years, according to Labour Market Insights.

Become a registered nurse & midwife

When you graduate, you’ll be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to practise as a registered nurse and registered midwife in the Australian healthcare system.

You’ll also meet the standards of midwifery and nursing practice to register with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Professional accreditation/Industry recognition

Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC)

This course is accredited by the ANMAC, an independent organisation that assesses courses on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

VU stories

Gaining momentum in midwifery

Bachelor of Midwifery / Bachelor of Nursing

"My placements allowed me to integrate my knowledge into my clinical practice and also consolidate my knowledge and skills. They also helped me build my independence and confidence and started to shape me as a midwife."

Emma's story