Advanced Clinical Practice Degree Apprenticeship

The Advanced Clinical Practice Apprenticeship Degree from AV大平台 (DMU) will support experienced clinicians to develop competence across the four pillars of Advanced Practice. The programme aims to progress your knowledge, skills and competence (behaviours) in: clinical practice and diagnostic reasoning, research, education and leadership.

The programme has been carefully developed in consultation with local stakeholder organisations and is reflective of the vision for Advanced Practice in the NHS Long Term Plan (2019) and the NHS Workforce Plan (2023). The course curriculum is underpinned by the principles and guidelines from the Department of Health (DOH), NHS England (NHSE) formerly Health Education England (HEE), and Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA).

Aligned to the , this programme is allocated a Funding Band of £12,000 by the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA).

Entry criteria

Direct entry into the programme is not permitted and apprentices must be recruited by their employers in the first instance.
Dual admission procedures are required in order to ensure that the employer’s recruitment requirements are satisfied, as well as the university’s minimum entry requirements for the academic programme. Apprentices must be approved to undertake the programme by both their employer and the university.
Apprentices must have support from their employing organisation to take part / provide input into progress reviews and release the apprentice to attend off-the-job training
Apprentices must be registered healthcare professionals with their appropriate professional regulatory body with no restrictions on their practice.
Apprentices must have a patient-facing role as a trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner and contracted to work a minimum of 30 hours per week.
Have a minimum of 5 years post-qualification experience
Apprentices must hold a UK Honours degree with at least a second-class honours within an appropriate field of healthcare.
Apprentices must have attained the required functional skills in English and Mathematics (minimum grade 4/C, or Functional Skills in English and Maths at level 2 and be able to provide evidence of these qualifications) prior to proceeding through the gateway to End Point Assessment (EPA). For apprentices who do not hold level 2 English and Mathematics at the commencement of the programme, there will be an opportunity to complete this within the first 12 months of the programme.
If English is not the apprentice's first language they will need to complete the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Apprenticies must provide an IELTS certificate that confirms an overall score of 7.0, however, a level 6.5 in writing will be accepted alongside a level 7 in reading, listening, and speaking.
As part of the university’s onboarding processapprentices must undertake a skills scan against the knowledge, skills, and behaviours of the Advanced Clinical Practitioner ST0564 apprenticeship standard.
Apprentices are required to attend a skills scan interview with the programme team at the university as part of the university onboarding process.
Funding for the apprenticeship is provided through the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)

There are other apprenticeship entry requirements in relation to UK residency etc. that will be assessed as part of the entry process.

Reasons to study this apprenticeship

Upon completion of this programme you will have a sound base of Advanced Practice having had the opportunity to learn and then consolidate both your academic and, on- the- job, based learning. It is expected that in achieving the MSc ACP (Apprenticeship) your career options will be enhanced. The teaching staff on this programme are either highly experienced ACPs who have attained or have been working towards digital badge accreditation or senior medical clinicians. Those without a clinical focus are research active, mostly doctoral-level academics, with an interest in advanced practice. The staff are committed to delivering high quality, research informed teaching and learning to enhance the apprentice experience in the challenging role of ACP.

Start date: September 2024

Delivery model

The apprenticeship model has been designed to be delivered as a ‘blended learning’ approach which involves accessing learning material through the university’s virtual learning environment, and attending university for lectures, practical workshops and classroom -based activities. This approach caters for different learning needs and seeks to provide a thought-provoking learning experience. Apprentices will be supported and encouraged to develop skills in critical reflection both throughout their taught modules and during their regular progress meetings. Critical reflection is an essential skill which enables practitioners to have the confidence to maximise their learning and professional development in order to maximise the learning experience and future development. Apprentices are not expected to do any study in their own time; time should be factored in to their working week to enable them to complete academic work. The curriculum has been designed with expert advice from clinicians, academics and local strategic partners to address both the academic and clinical demands of the role. This is a Masters level qualification and therefore it is expected that you will take responsibility for devising your own learning plan, and accessing support where you require it. University contact hours in a typical week will be between two and seven hours, usually over the course of one day.

Programme content and structure

Year 1

Advanced Health Assessment – 30 credits

Diagnostic Reasoning for Advanced Clinical Practice – 15 credits

Year 2

Critical Evaluation of Research for Advancing Practice – 15 credits

Applied Prescribing (NMC & HCPC Registrants) – 30 credits

Pharmacology for Prescribing in Advanced Clinical Practice (NMC & HCPC Registrants) – 15 credits

Practice Certificate in Independent Prescribing (GPhC Registrants) – 45 credits

Prescribing Practice within an Advanced Clinical Practice Role – 15 credits (if Prescribing not required)

Year 3

Advanced Practice Service Improvement Project – 45 credits

End Point Assessment – 20 credits

Portfolio module

Throughout this programme students will also be required to demonstrate competence, aligned to the four pillars of advanced practice, within a zero credited portfolio. Students will choose one of the following portfolio options:

Generic
Frailty
Urgent and Emergency Care

End Point Assessment (EPA)

This is an integrated apprenticeship which incorporates on-programme academic and workplace learning. The EPA is the final module of the programme and the assessment is set by the Institute for Apprenticeships.

The EPA is mandatory, it is the final assessment which is required in order for the apprentice to complete their studies and be awarded the MSc. The assessment looks to evaluate the apprentices Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours across the 4 pillars of Advanced Clinical Practice and consists of the following elements:

• Open Book Examination

• Presentation of Practice

All apprentices are required to complete a portfolio which will capture the knowledge, skills and behaviours developed during the programme and in the workplace. This will contribute to their EPA and enable apprentices to reflect, plan and evaluate their development. Portfolio software is provided by the university to enable the apprentice to demonstrate and collate all required information. Training and support is provided to enable the apprentice to feel confident in using this software.

Final Award

All successful apprentices will achieve:

• MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice

• Advanced Clinical Practice Degree Apprenticeship

Contact us

For more information regarding any programme specific queries or for ACP career guidance, please contact the programme team:

Cath Watson
Programme Lead E: Cath.watson@dmu.ac.uk

For more information, contact us by completing our online enquiry form.