Thank you all for so many amazing and positive comments on my blog post about not getting in to my first choice University last week- they all meant such a lot to me!
To become a Registered Dietitian in the UK you need to either complete a 3-4 year undergraduate and master’s course at an accredited university, or an undergraduate nutrition/science degree followed by a Postgraduate degree in dietetics, which usually take 2 years, again at an accredited university.
Read my first post about becoming a registered dietician here.
Surprisingly there are very few accredited universities that offer a Dietetics undergraduate or postgraduate course in England at the moment (only 2 of them are actually in London!);
London Metropolitan University
(Check out the Dietetics website for info about courses in Scotland, Wales and ROI).
After getting rejected from Kings, I began thinking about my future. When I originally applied to become a Dietitian I was most interested in Sport’s Nutrition, so had applied to Kingston to do their Exercise, Nutrition and Health course, however over the past few months I have been leaning towards clinical dietetics.
It’s scary having to make a choice now that will affect the next 4 years of your life, so I decided to ring a few of the above universities to see if they had any spaces in clearing- and they did! I was put on the waiting list at the University of Hertfordshire, and given an interview at London Met.
On Saturday afternoon, I was told that I had been given a place at London Met on their 4 year Dietetics course!!!
I am thrilled!
The best bit – the course is funded by the NHS.
That’s right, the NHS pays for all accredited Dietetics degrees for British students, plus bursaries for some too. Saving £45k is definitely a win in my book and takes a lot of stress out of my decision to decline the offer at Kingston (which is not funded) and accept the place at London Met.
If you’re interested then you can find out more about NHS bursaries here. You do need to send off you Birth Certificate and driving licence or passport so this needs to be done well in advance of any trips. Plus I need to send 36 months of payslips/P45s to prove I’ve been self-supporting for the last 3 years to potentially qualify for an extra bursary! Something to think about if you’re planning on applying in future, throw nothing away!!
I start at London Met in September and have already started ordering text books, thinking about which societies and clubs I can join etc. I am so excited to get to do uni all over again, this time doing the things I thought I was too cool to do when I was at Leeds!
That is such amazing news – well done! So pleased for you! Looking forward to hearing all about it once you get started. Bex x
Thanks Bex, I will definitely be sharing my studies, work experience etc- thinking about including some more lifestyle/real life blog posts (if they go down well!) 🙂
That’s great news, Charlie – sounds like that was a very good window opening for you! And the funding piece is just the extra icing on the cake – will make such a difference. Onwards and upwards – just that Chicago thing to sort out now!
Haha just that little 26.2 mile jaunt, yes!
Congratulations Charlie, this is so cool!! I’d love to study to become a dietician/nutritionist…. but not having any A levels or a degree I don’t know how easy this would be for me. Best wishes for starting your new path in September 🙂
Hi Abi- don’t let that stop you! The science course I did was the equivalent of A levels and lots of people on the course didn’t have A levels or a degree! I would definitely recommend looking in to it- it’s never too late!!
May I ask what what course you did? Thank you! x
sure it was the Certificate of Higher Education in Life Sciences subjects allied to medicine at Birkbeck. Find out more in this blog post – https://therunnerbeans.com/2015/06/training-to-be-a-registered-dietician-part-1.html
Huge congratulations! Awesome news and certainly well deserved. xxx
Thank you, thank you!
It’s so brilliant to see you change your life and change your career. I’m early in on my journey of changing things, having just resigned from my job and sold my home. Moving to London and applying to start a masters in Human Evolution for next year. Looking at your story really does help me feel like it can be done, well done! I look forward to hearing your story of qualifying to become a dietician. ✌️
Awesome news Charlie, well done and good luck!
Congratulations and Good Luck at the MET. G.
Wow, well done! That’s brilliant news! I have so many friends that since graduating 5 years ago are going back to uni to do a degree they truly love – just goes to show when you’re choosing your courses when you’re 18/19 you sometimes really don’t make the right decisions! Good luck with it all and I look forward to reading about how you’re getting on along the way!
Great news C! We’re thrilled to hear the news. Funds left to come visit : )
Congrats and best of luck!!
Congratulations! A debt-free education sounds like the perfect solution to me. You should be very proud!
Fantastic news. Congratulations and best of luck with the course 🙂
Well done, you’ve earned your place. Looking forward to hearing all about it. X
SUCH great news! So happy for you!
Congratulations! How very exciting!
Congrats! Being a dietitian is just about the best career! Hope you love your dietetics program 🙂 Good luck too!
Amazing, well done Charlie. x
Great news Charlie.
Congratulations! I am really looking forward to your time at University recaps.
That is awesome, congrats! I did my undergrad at London Met in Nutrition Exercise and Health and am hoping to get on the post grad dietetics course, so I may see you there next year! 🙂