Eligibility criteria:
- You must be in EITHER first or second year of your undergraduate studies OR in first-year pre-registration postgraduate studies when applying
- You must be a student in nursing, midwifery or in one of the allied health professions
- You must be studying at one of the Council of Deans of Health member institutions (full list available here)
- You must be available to attend the welcome conference, which will take place over two days in September. Food, transportation, and accommodation will be provided.
- You must be committed to developing your own leadership skills and be willing and enthusiastic to engage in all elements of the programme
Writing your application
Spend time on your application: be thoughtful and considerate as to what you write about. Saying “I want to learn about leadership” is not going to get you a place on the programme! Read about the programme to make sure you know what to expect and what others have gained from the programme, and think about how the programme will benefit you. Keep your answers relevant and personal. You need to explain exactly why you deserve a place on the programme more than anyone else who applies! What makes you stand out?
Make sure you read the questions carefully and think about the best response you can give. It is helpful to use examples in your answers, and assessors also enjoy finding out about your previous experiences. When sharing examples, it is helpful to make sure you explain the example clearly, and note what your specific contribution was and the impact you made. When deciding on an example to use, consider an example which is most relevant and best demonstrates your leadership potential.
Clear answers
You cannot save your application as you go alone, so it is really useful to write your answers out separately on a word document before submitting. Think about the structure of your answers – avoid waffling and keep your answers clear and relevant.
Whilst you want to make sure your application is concise, one sentence responses make assessors think you’ve rushed your application. Use the word count given as an indication of roughly how long the response to each question should be. Make sure that you read your answers back to ensure that it makes sense and that you haven’t made spelling or grammatical errors. Whilst you won’t be penalised for one or two spelling and grammar errors, lots of mistakes may make assessors think you don’t care about your application. If you’re worried about making those mistakes, ask a friend or colleague to read over your answers to help proof read.
Additional resources to help
- Read about the STAR technique – this is a good way to answer your questions
- Listen to some of our podcasts or read some of our blogs to get a feel about the programme and some of the things students have been involved in.
- Watch our recruitment webinar on YouTube
- Follow us on Twitter for all the updates