Hello All,
I wish to bring to this forum a very burning issue and seeking for advise from the esteemed users and members of this forum.
Last year October I was convicted for 2 counts of drink driving (Failure to produce specimen for analysis and driving while unfit due to alcohol consumption) and was issued a 24 months driving ban, reduced to 18 months after completing 3 days drink awareness course; Which I have now completed. My road ride test was 56 microgrammes per millilitres of breath.
I applied in November last year to study Mental Health Nursing in one of the Universities in the UK. I was subsequently invited for interview, where I declared the conviction. The university recently contacted me to provide more details of the incident and DBS check, which I did. Yesterday I received a letter from the university DBS panel informing me that due to the nature of the offence, they will not approve my application for admission. However, I was given the right to appeal against this decision within 20 days.

I want to appeal against this decision as I really wish to study mental health nursing and qualify as a registered nurse.
Could members of this esteemed forum please suggest some useful and relevant points I could present as a strong grounds of appeal against the university's decision.

Thanks for anticipating contributions.

Hi Cejay

Really sorry to hear that you've been refused admission by the university. The university need to be reassured that you're not going to reoffend and to this end I think there are a few things that you should address in your appeal:

• If you can, provide evidence that you've taken responsibility for your actions and that you've sought to address any issues that led to your offending. You'll be able to demonstrate that you've attended the drink awareness course - explain the impact this has had and, if applicable, how you have a better understanding of the consequences of drink driving.
• Explain the circumstances that led to your conviction and reassure the panel that you pose no risk to anybody that you will be working with.
• The university may be worried that they'll find it difficult to find you a placement as part of your course. We know that the NHS is particularly risk adverse and if you can't get a placement then its unlikely that you'll be able to complete the course. You might want to consider sourcing your own placement which may alleviate some of their concerns. 

I hope this helps.  

Wishing you the best of luck. Let us know how you get on.

Debs

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Hi Debs,
Thanks very much for your response.

I am a 3rd year nursing student (adult branch), with a conviction (false representation); i also passed the panel review of the written explanation i submitted surrounding the circumstances leading up to mistake made. Thankfully,  i have been offered 4 NHS nursing posts (decisions, decisions). With that said, 6 years had elapsed at the point of application. Maybe your conviction was too recent? Did you read their policy? What about the additional choices on your UCAS application, have they responded?

Hi 
thanks for your response. yes my other choice got back to me immediately after the interview to say my conviction was not relevant conviction, therefore they will be processing my application as normal. I have been offered admission by that choice now. Just that they are not my first and preferred choice. But at least I have somewhere safe to land if my preferred choice dont go through.

Thanks

Cejay101

Thanks for the update - great news.

I'm keeping our fingers crossed that your first choice takes the view.  Let us know.

Debs

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