Advanced Clinical Practice

Entry requirements

To apply for the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice programme you must have a current UK health professional registration with a regulatory body (e.g. Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) or Health and Care Professional s Council (HCPC).

You should have a second class or above (2:2 classification) honours degree in a relevant subject from an approved institution of higher education.

In addition, you should have achieved a minimum qualification of level 2 in English and Mathematics (as per general apprenticeship requirements). Where it is not possible to provide evidence of this, you need to undertake the national numeracy and literacy (functional maths and English).

You need to have a current job contract in a clinical area in a trainee/advanced clinical practice role or a role where you will have the opportunity to develop advanced clinical practice skills, knowledge and behaviours.

You must have a minimum of 3-years post-registration experience, 2 of which must be within an area relevant to speciality, setting or sector.

You need written confirmation from your employer that they will support you to complete the programme and that you will have an assigned clinical supervisor.

Candidates who meet the above requirements but do not have a degree, or have a classification of less than 2.2, who have evidence of master’s level (level 7) study undertaken within the last five years will also be considered.

For candidates who meet the above requirements, but do not have a degree, or have a classification of less than 2.2, who are not able to evidence of master’s level (level 7) study undertaken within the last five years, will be given the option to undertake a module from year 1 of the programme and if successful, this credit can be transferred into the programme.

Those wishing to undertake the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice Apprenticeship programme will need to meet the above requirements and have been identified by their employer.

Months of entry

January, May, September

Course content

We offer both an MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner programme and an MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship programme depending on your funding route. These interdisciplinary postgraduate courses will prepare you to become a competent and confident Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP). You may also select a Non-medical Prescribing option or a Non-prescribing option for the programme diet depending on whether you are eligible to prescribe or not in your profession or within your current role. These multi-professional programmes are aimed at practitioners aspiring to develop and work at an advanced level of practice. They also provide experienced advanced clinical practitioners with the opportunity to evidence, and where necessary develop, the core capabilities and specialty specific competencies across the four pillars of advanced clinical practice (clinical practice, leadership and management, education, and research) at master’s level.

Students will come from a range of regulated healthcare professions such as nursing, pharmacy, therapeutic and diagnostic radiography, physiotherapy, paramedics, speech and language therapy, dietetics, and occupational health, who are working in a variety of specialties, settings or sectors.

Our MSc Advanced Clinical Practice and MSc Advanced Clinical Practice Apprenticeship programmes aim to develop your skills, knowledge and capabilities as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) within your specialty, sector or setting. They have been designed by experienced and senior clinicians specifically around the four pillars of advanced practice to equip you with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes (behaviours) to meet the requirements of the Multi-Professional Framework of Advanced Clinical Practice introduced by Health Education England in 2017.