Pre-Hospital Emergency Care

This one-year programme, run in partnership with the South Western Ambulance Service, provides a unique opportunity to enter the ambulance service and will help you gain access to a paramedic career pathway.

You will be taught by both university staff and experienced paramedics from a range of clinical backgrounds, with teaching delivered both online and face-to-face at Wiltshire Air Ambulance base. This blended learning provides flexibility, allowing you to fit your learning around other responsibilities, such as caring responsibilities.

Our expert academics will support you throughout the course, and you will join a close-knit community of learners.

As well as your academic training, you will gain real-world experience of pre-hospital emergency care through placements with the South Western Ambulance Service in Bristol, Wiltshire, Somerset, or Dorset.

To prepare you for employment within the ambulance service, you will also complete blue light training (the emergency driving qualification) as part of the course.

Course Overview
This programme has been co-created with ambulance partners to provide an alternative route into the ambulance service, where you will be supported by the university to develop the appropriate skills and knowledge to access employment.

Upon successful completion of the course, you will have completed the first year (120 credits) of a BSc Paramedic Science degree and will be offered a role as an emergency care assistant with the South Western Ambulance Service (subject to pre-employment checks). Within 12-18 months of completion of the course, you will be offered a place on the BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science Degree Level Apprenticeship, which will complete your paramedic training, enabling you to qualify as a paramedic.

On this course you will...
• Learn online and also through face to face sessions.



• Attend placements located at ambulance stations within Wiltshire, Somerset, or Dorset (SWAST area).



• Be provided with blue light training (the emergency driving qualification) as part of this programme designed to prepare you for employment within the ambulance service.



• Upon successful completion of the programme and subject to pre-employment checks, you will be offered a role as an emergency care assistant within South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. This opportunity will be based within Wiltshire, Somerset or Dorset.



What you will learn
On this programme, you will gain experience both clinically and academically, in pre-hospital care in both the ambulance service and in other clinical settings. As part of the programme, you will be provided with blue light driver training course.

Within 18 months of successful completion of this programme you will be offered a place on the BSc Hons- Paramedic Science (degree level apprenticeship).

With campuses in the Lake District, Carlisle, Lancaster, Ambleside, Barrow, and London, you’ll be surrounded by natural beauty, supportive communities, and real opportunities.

With strong links to law firms, schools, NHS Trusts, creative agencies, and employers nationwide, we connect your learning directly to your future career.

Ranked the No. 1 university in the Northwest and in the Top 5 in the UK for Graduates into employment or further study within 15 months (97.5% of Graduates – Graduate Outcomes Survey, HESA 2026), Cumbria is a university focused on your future from day one.