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Our Degree Apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner provides an exciting opportunity for those working as experienced, registered, health professionals to develop in their advanced clinical practice roles.

The MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Emergency Care) studied as a Degree Apprenticeship is a research rich, experientially focused award for those in employment as a trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner providing care in the Emergency Department/ Emergency Medicine Specialty. The programme is a work-based learning award and as such, places an emphasis on developing and applying the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for a successful career in your ACP role. Your employer is responsible for initiating entry onto this programme. As an apprentice on this course your learning will be tailored to your needs, which will be identified in partnership with your employer and the university using the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Advanced Clinical Practitioner Curriculum.

Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs) are recognised as autonomous specialists who manage complete episodes of care, working across what are deemed traditional professional boundaries to enhance the patient journey and develop clinical practice. Driven by the NHS (National Health Service) Long Term Plan (2019) and the NHS People Plan (2020), advanced clinical practice is considered the cornerstone of healthcare service redesign and delivery and is supported in the 2023 NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

The Degree Apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Emergency Care) award is designed to meet the requirements of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE) Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Integrated degree) standard. The course is designed to meet the requirements of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Advanced Clinical Practitioner Curriculum, and the programme is aligned to the Health Education England (HEE) Multiprofessional framework for advanced clinical practice in England (2017). Its design draws on the NHS England Centre for Advancing Practice (CfAP) Standards for Education and Training (SETS) (2020) and Workplace Supervision for Advanced Clinical Practice (2021). This degree apprenticeship programme is designed for healthcare professionals that hold a qualifying professional registration and are employed as a trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner within the Emergency Department (or equivalent). As an employer-initiated apprenticeship, full employer support to undertake this study is essential (Employers should pay particular attention to the Employer-led Learning and Application and Recruitment information of these pages). A practice portfolio developed throughout your studies will document your apprenticeship development across all 4 pillars of advanced practice (Clinical, Leadership and Management, Education, and Research) expected of an ACP specialising in Emergency Medicine, enabling you to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and behaviours (KSBs) of the apprenticeship standard. The practice portfolio used for this apprenticeship is derived from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine curriculum.

If your ACP role is not in within the Emergency Department or Emergency Care specialty, other apprenticeship awards are available. We offer bracketed named awards for the following nationally recognised advanced practice curriculums:

 

Degree Apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Advanced Critical Care Practitioner)

Degree Apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Primary Care)

Degree Apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Sexual Health)

Degree Apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Acute Medicine)

Degree Apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Older People)

Where no nationally recognised curriculum framework exists for your advanced practice role, our universal Degree Apprenticeship MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner award can be studied, and bespoke capabilities guided by your employer integrated into your practice portfolio.

 

On completion of this programme, you will gain an MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Emergency Care) qualification and an apprenticeship qualification. Completion of this course will also support your application to credential as an Emergency Care Advanced Clinical Practitioner (EM-ACP) with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. As an apprentice completing this course you will graduate with the skills and knowledge to help drive service improvements, analyse and interpret clinical data to help make a diagnosis, and improve patient care. This will equip you for such influential roles and support longer-term career aspirations working in advanced practice.

Apprenticeship programmes at Northumbria University are designed to support apprentices in acquiring the appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours and retain the integrity of the apprenticeship standard as defined by IFATE. For further details please consult the IFATE Apprenticeship standards / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education webpage here.

Course Information

Level of Study
Postgraduate

Mode of Study
3 years Part Time

Location
City Campus, Northumbria University

City
Newcastle

Fees
Fee Information

Modules
Module Information

Entry Requirements 2025/26

Standard Entry

Applicants should normally have:

A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree in a relevant subject.

Registration with the Health and Care Professionals Council / Nursing and Midwifery Council (or other appropriate Allied Health Professional registrant) and employed in a relevant clinical setting.

Employed as or working towards an Advanced Clinical Practice role.

International qualifications

If you have studied a non UK qualification, you can see how your qualifications compare to the standard entry criteria, by selecting the country that you received the qualification in, from our country pages. Visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry 

English Language requirements

International applicants are required to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 7 with 7 in each component (or approved equivalent*).

*The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS. You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades you will need in our English Language section. Visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications

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* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

DA7018 -

Apprenticeship Dissertation Portfolio for Advanced Clinical Practitioners (40 Credits)

In this module you will critically explore a range of approaches to research and how research informs clinical practice. Emphasis will be placed on your understanding of the world view, design and meaning system that will drive your own final project that will form your dissertation. You will pick between an Empirical Project, Service Improvement or Systematic Appraisal. In the module you will revisit and deepen your understandings of a range of key topic areas linked to research and service improvement processes; it will include discussion of world views and research paradigms; the research question, aim or hypothesis; research and service improvement design, using literature and theory to inform evidence-based practice; developing ethical codes; constructing the research sample, collecting robust research evidence; ensuring quality assurance within your work; analysing both qualitative and quantitative evidence; and writing and disseminating your findings. You will be invited to attend a series of research and service improvement seminars during the module, and you will have access to a named supervisor for one-to-one supervision. Both the seminars and individual supervision will encourage you to apply the key areas of learning within this module to your own professional context and field of expertise. This will enable you to critically examine how the research and service improvement processes will work best for your final project goals and design.

If you are studying for a specialist named award, you will be expected to complete your research project (portfolio one) and the competence-based component (portfolio two) in the context of the nationally recognised standard of advanced practice associated with that award. Please refer to the programme specification document for more information about specialist named awards.

More information

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

DA7018 -

Apprenticeship Dissertation Portfolio for Advanced Clinical Practitioners (40 Credits)

In this module you will critically explore a range of approaches to research and how research informs clinical practice. Emphasis will be placed on your understanding of the world view, design and meaning system that will drive your own final project that will form your dissertation. You will pick between an Empirical Project, Service Improvement or Systematic Appraisal. In the module you will revisit and deepen your understandings of a range of key topic areas linked to research and service improvement processes; it will include discussion of world views and research paradigms; the research question, aim or hypothesis; research and service improvement design, using literature and theory to inform evidence-based practice; developing ethical codes; constructing the research sample, collecting robust research evidence; ensuring quality assurance within your work; analysing both qualitative and quantitative evidence; and writing and disseminating your findings. You will be invited to attend a series of research and service improvement seminars during the module, and you will have access to a named supervisor for one-to-one supervision. Both the seminars and individual supervision will encourage you to apply the key areas of learning within this module to your own professional context and field of expertise. This will enable you to critically examine how the research and service improvement processes will work best for your final project goals and design.

If you are studying for a specialist named award, you will be expected to complete your research project (portfolio one) and the competence-based component (portfolio two) in the context of the nationally recognised standard of advanced practice associated with that award. Please refer to the programme specification document for more information about specialist named awards.

More information

Any Questions?

Our Applicant Services team will be happy to help.  They can be contacted on 0191 406 0901 or by using our Contact Form.

 

All information is accurate at the time of sharing. 

Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.  

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.

 

Accessibility and Student Inclusion

Northumbria University is committed to developing an inclusive, diverse and accessible campus and wider University community and are determined to ensure that opportunities we provide are open to all.

We are proud to work in partnership with AccessAble to provide Detailed Access Guides to our buildings and facilities across our City, Coach Lane and London Campuses. A Detailed Access Guide lets you know what access will be like when you visit somewhere. It looks at the route you will use getting in and what is available inside. All guides have Accessibility Symbols that give you a quick overview of what is available, and photographs to show you what to expect. The guides are produced by trained surveyors who visit our campuses annually to ensure you have trusted and accurate information.

You can use Northumbria’s AccessAble Guides anytime to check the accessibility of a building or facility and to plan your routes and journeys. Search by location, building or accessibility feature to find the information you need. 

We are dedicated to helping students who may require additional support during their student journey and offer 1-1 advice and guidance appropriate to individual requirements. If you feel you may need additional support you can find out more about what we offer here where you can also contact us with any questions you may have:

Accessibility support

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