HELP! what degree should I take??

Thank you for the advice!. How are you finding Neuroscience? What is your plan after completing your degree? . i've attended a virtual open day and explored a bio science degree. They were very helpful and stated after I complete the degree, I can gain experience as a lab assistant and create a portfolio to become a biomedical scientist.
I haven't fully decided yet but i'm still keeping my options open

You seem to be very well informed about Nursing & its prospects for career development... that's good! An MSci isn't necessarily 'in-between' a BSc and MSc though, an MSci is an integrated masters: 'a longer undergraduate programme that eventually awards a Masters-level degree (as an integrated Masters). It stands for ‘Master in Science’ (as opposed to ‘Master of Science’).' So it basically means that your first 3 years will be an undergrad (BSc), with your fourth year being used to top-up to Masters level
You are correct that if you do an integrated masters, you won't be eligible for a postgraduate loan for an additional masters as it's an ELQ (Equivalent or Lesser Qualification.)
Having an MSci in Nursing won't necessarily do much for you tbh... all newly-qualified nurses start at Band 5 regardless of whether they qualified at Bachelors or Masters level. Particularly if you want to be an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, you may be better off doing the BSc so that you are then eligible for a postgraduate loan for your MSc Advanced Clinical Practice. You don't need 5 years experience before doing a masters! For an Advanced Clinical Practice masters, some uni's require 36months of experience (but some don't, such as De Montford Uni... you just need to be NMC registered!). Check around some uni's postgrad courses, there are others that don't specifically require a set amount of experience
36 months for ANP/Band 7 is fairly typical/slightly accelerated progression for a Nurse's career though... you can apply for Band 6 positions usually with 18months of experience but even then some nurses can progress sooner (I know someone who was promoted to a B6 job just over 6 months post-qualifying haha!)

You say you're passionate about helping others - that's the reason most people go into nursing. I don't think anybody goes into the job for the money... we do it because we care & we're passionate about what we do yes, it can be long hours... yes, we're not paid enough in the grand scheme of things... but when you're treating patients and you make a difference to their lives when they're at their most vulnerable, it makes it all worthwhile. Nursing is rewarding, that's for sure.

In terms of pay, we're paid in accordance to the Agenda for Change. Newly-qualified nurses start at the bottom of band 5, their pay then increases incrementally the more time/experience you have within that band... but as I've said, you can be moving up into more advanced pay bands from band 5 to band 6 and beyond within 18 months of qualifying... I suppose it's up to you to decide whether the pay's feasible for you to live on and such. We do get decent enough annual leave, pension, childcare etc in the NHS as well. https://www.nhsemployers.org/pay-pensions-and-reward/agenda-for-change/pay-scales/annual

(PS, work experience isn't necessarily a must for nursing. It's desirable... not essential. I was an audio engineer before I was a student nurse lol, no background in healthcare at all, just a passion for the field)

Hiya! Sorry I didn't make it clear but I haven't actually started the course yet, I am starting this September. There's lots you can do with a neuroscience degree though like research, pharmaceutical, healthcare, lab work, pre-med you can even become a lawyer. Not entirely sure what I want to do yet but it's nice to know that I have options and neuroscience is a very flexible degree, especially at some unis. If you can ( aware it's hard at the moment 😬) go to a proper open day and see what you as that's what really made me sure that it's the degree I want to do! Hope this helps

Thank you for the advice!. How are you finding Neuroscience? What is your plan after completing your degree? . i've attended a virtual open day and explored a bio science degree. They were very helpful and stated after I complete the degree, I can gain experience as a lab assistant and create a portfolio to become a biomedical scientist.
I haven't fully decided yet but i'm still keeping my options open

Thanks for the information. That was very helpful. I'm very indecisive about doing a Msci or a Bsc, Especially since a uni I like (Exeter Uni) is offering a MSCI with a promise of getting higher roles faster. I'm very surprised to hear you don't need 5 years minimum experience with a Bsc to become an Advanced Nurse especially because that's what I was told!
please see the table on this link : https://www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/nursing/nursingmsci/#your-future

I totally understand about becoming a nurse with the sole purpose of helping people. I like the idea of that because I don't like seeing people suffer and I want to help them/ease their pain. But I also have to look at things realistically as I need to get a financially stable job and support my family! such is life lol

Thank you for your reply! That seems very interesting. If you don't mind me asking what A-levels are you doing? I've also heard jobs are limited with just a Bsc in Neuroscience as further study is required? is this true? Best of Luck!!

Hello, sorry I know that you weren't talking to me but as I was in a similar boat to you I would like to help you. I am going to study neuroscience at Exeter in September as I fell in love with the course and the uni. I chose neuroscience knowing that I always wanted to do a healthcare related job but I knew that nursing wasn't for me and your heart has to be in it. I found that neuroscience would be a great degree for me due to taking psychology at A level which made me love it.When I spoke to my lecturer he said that half of graduates are expected to stay in research and go onto PhDs and further study. Others do stay in science but don't study anymore and get careers in things such as pharmaceuticals, teaching, biotechnology, regulatory affairs, research assistant etc. On a offer holder day he also spoke about how neuroscience is constantly growing and being applied to different areas such as business, computing/artificial intellegence (look up neural artificial networks and neuromarketing both are really interesting. A small amount graduates don't even stay in science and go into accounting and finance. It's not really the name of the degree but it's the skills you pick up from the degree.

If you're really passionate about nursing and your heart is in it you should go for it. However, there are also postgraduate degrees you can take after a bsc to become a nurse if you ever change your mind. If you also love neuroscience you could always become a nurse that specialises in neuroscience. Neuroscience is a growing field and who knows?? by the time we graduate there could be more jobs than we expected.

That's true . Thank you for the advice ! Does Neuroscience involve a lot of chemistry? my a levels are : Bio, Psychology, English Lit, and sociology.
I was interested in Neuroscience but I heard it involved a lot of chem, something i'm not that good at lol.

Biochemistry is mainly what you would see from a uni so you don't actually need A level chemistry. However, I know some unis like UCL and KCL are chemistry heavy and you actually need chemistry but there's more unis that say you need biology and don't need chemistry. The first year is to bring everyone up to the same pace and you wouldn't be the only one without A level chemistry. For example, I plan to study at Exeter this September and they ask for ABB which must include biology and another science. Psychology is actually classed as a science at Exeter and other unis so there's no reason why you couldn't get an offer. Even though, I haven't started the course yet I know people were worried about that but it's mainly bio heavy, you may get a bit in pharmacology if you choose it as a module and many unis (not just Exeter) have a module to give you the basics of chemistry you need in first year. Exeter has a module called chemistry of life which is essentially biochemistry and teaches you about metabolism and enzymes etc.

Honestly, the only unis I saw that required you to have A level chemistry was UCL and I think KCL do too. Cardiff, Nottingham, Manchester, Exeter, Keele, Aston, Birmingham, Sussex and Leeds were just some of many unis offering neuroscience without needing chem and not being them heavy Look at different unis and look at the modules or even talk to students to see how they found it. I can't tell you too much bc I haven't started the course yet but that's what I have found from my own research.

Thank you for your reply! That seems very interesting. If you don't mind me asking what A-levels are you doing? I've also heard jobs are limited with just a Bsc in Neuroscience as further study is required? is this true? Best of Luck!!