Advanced Clinical Practice

Entry requirements

Applicants should have all of the following:

• Honours degree (2:2 or above) from the UK or Republic of Ireland
• recognised healthcare/health-related professional qualification and current professional registration
• at least two years’ full-time clinical experience (or the equivalent in part-time hours) in health or social care employment (for example nursing, paramedics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, radiology, etc), within a clinical service area relevant to Advanced Clinical Practice or the specified pathway you wish to follow (specific requirements and entry criteria apply to some modules and these will be indicated in the module outlines)
• employed in a senior clinical role (normally Agenda for Change Band 6 or 7)
• work in a practice setting which enables the achievement of the advanced clinical practice outcomes relating to the National Health Education England (HEE) multi-professional ACP Standards
• written evidence that your employer supports your learning and that there is the opportunity to develop into a role of Advanced Clinical Practice level

Months of entry

September

Course content

Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP) is a level of practice that involves autonomy and decision-making, carried out by highly-experienced registered health practitioners. It is underpinned by Health Education England’s four pillars: clinical practice, leadership and management, education and research.

Our innovative portfolio of multi-professional ACP modules are aimed at experienced healthcare practitioners from diverse professional backgrounds who wish to expand their role and advance their level of practice towards Advanced Clinical Practitioner status. This course is best suited to practitioners whose employer has agreed to support their development to ACP level in a specified role.

Four different pathways are available: Generic, Critical Care, Musculoskeletal or Urgent and Emergency Care. The degree title you are awarded will depend on your pathway. For example, if you complete the Musculoskeletal pathway, you will receive an MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (Musculoskeletal) qualification.

Our ACP course meets all the requirements set out within Health Education England’s Multi-Professional Framework for Advanced Clinical Practice in England (HEE, 2017), and is accredited by NHS England.

To complete the Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP) course, students require:

• MSc: 180 credits
• PgDip: 120 credits

Typically, students undertake 60 credits per year. We stagger the start dates of modules to help students balance work and life commitments with the course.

All students on the ACP course must take 105 credits of core modules focused on the pillars of education, research, and leadership. For the MSc, the remaining 75 credits will come from our portfolio of elective modules and will vary depending on your chosen pathway.

Some pathways have more flexibility than others and students work with their pathway lead to determine the best choice of modules for their own clinical practice.

All students on all pathways of the MSc ACP participate in professional practice days. There is one professional practice day each term for the three years of the course. These sessions are aimed to help professional development of students as they transition into their roles as advanced practitioners and give an opportunity for students to work together in a multi-professional setting.

Information for international students

For information on how to apply, advice on visas and immigration and English language requirements please visit our international student support webpages.

Fees and funding

For information about tuition fees, funding and scholarships please visit our fees and funding webpages.