MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner - (Emergency Care) - Degree Apprenticeship
Option for Placement Year
Option for Study Abroad
International
Northumbria’s global footprint touches every continent across the world, through our global partnerships across 17 institutions in 10 countries, to our 277,000 strong alumni community and 150 recruitment partners – we prepare our students for the challenges of tomorrow. Discover more about how to join Northumbria’s global family or our partnerships.
View our Global FootprintBusiness
The world is changing faster than ever before. The future is there to be won by organisations who find ways to turn today's possibilities into tomorrows competitive edge. In a connected world, collaboration can be the key to success.
More on our Business ServicesResearch
Northumbria is a research-rich, business-focused, professional university with a global reputation for academic quality. We conduct ground-breaking research that is responsive to the science & technology, health & well being, economic and social and arts & cultural needs for the communities
Discover more about our ResearchAlumni
Northumbria University is renowned for the calibre of its business-ready graduates. Our alumni network has over 244,000 graduates based in 178 countries worldwide in a range of sectors, our alumni are making a real impact on the world.
Our AlumniIf you’d like to receive the latest updates from Northumbria about our courses, events, finance & funding then enter your details below.
* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here
Option for Placement Year
Option for Study Abroad
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.
Level of Study
Postgraduate
Mode of Study
3 years Part Time
Location
City Campus, Northumbria University
City
Newcastle
Fees
Fee Information
Modules
Module Information
The programme comprises core study modules and option modules, ensuring that studies are tailored to the needs of the apprentice and employer. All modules are designed to develop you across all 4 pillars of advanced practice within your specialist area of practice. The modules, assessments, and practice portfolio for this award are designed to meet the requirements of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Advanced Clinical Practitioner Curriculum. A summary of each module is below. Full details of each module can be found via the Modules Overview box at the bottom of the page.
Year one of the programme comprises two compulsory modules and one core module. The compulsory modules are designed to develop your knowledge and skills for your clinical practice role. The Health History and Examination module uses a body systems approach to developing the essential fundamental skills for patient assessment, whilst introducing the notion of clinical decision making in the context of evidence for practice. The Life Science for Advanced Clinical Practitioners module will deepen your knowledge of normal and disease altered physiological processes. It will enable you to appraise the means and methods of measuring the parameters of normal and altered physiology exploring metabolic and homeostatic mechanisms at a cellular level. You will apply this to your specialist field. The core Service Improvement and Research Methods for Advanced Practice module will equip you with the knowledge required to transform service delivery and secure continuous quality improvement. You will explore evidence-based practice, research and service improvement case studies relating the findings to your sector to consider how your practice can be transformed to meet personal, organisational and national drivers.
Year two includes one compulsory module and two optional routes. All apprentices will undertake the compulsory Managing Clinical Complexity in Advanced Clinical Practice module. In this module you will develop mastery in the complex knowledge and technical ability needed to assess, monitor and develop collaborative management plans across complex disease continuums.
Non-medical prescribing will be studied by those undertaking Option route 1. The prescribing qualification / authority of independent and supplementary prescribing relates to regulatory and legal permissions therefore to be eligible to study non-medical prescribing you must hold a professional registration that supports the prescribing role. There are support and supervision requirements additional to those required within the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice programme when undertaking the non-medical prescribing route. Further information can be found here.
Option route 2 is designed to further your development with specific reference to the Leadership and Management pillar and the Education pillar. Contemporary Advanced Clinical Practice explores the global, political and social context of advanced practice and the expectations of the advanced practitioner as clinician, educator, leader and researcher. Contemporary theories of leadership, management and change management will support your development as a leader of service innovation and enhanced patient care whilst development of knowledge and application of learning, teaching and assessment theories will develop you as an educator.
Professional and Practice Development for Advanced Clinical Practice evaluates your knowledge, capability and confidence in leading and enhancing patient care and service delivery. Focused on an area of interest, you will be introduced to the role of service user/public partnership engagement strategies, quality assurance and service enhancement approaches in clinical practice including use of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS) and Patient Recorded Experience Measures (PREMS) to promote multiprofessional and multi-agency teamworking to enhance person-centered care.
Year three includes a dissertation portfolio module and an apprenticeship End Point Assessment (EPA). The Apprenticeship Dissertation Portfolio for Advanced Clinical Practitioners is the culmination of your practice portfolio alongside the development of a Practice Project, Empirical Project, or Systematic Appraisal. The Knowledge for Advanced Clinical Practice (Apprenticeship End Point Assessment) is your final module of study and provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you have achieved the knowledge, skills and behaviours identified in the Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Integrated degree) standard.
During the admissions process you can apply to have previously accredited academic study recognised against full modules of study within this programme. Any claims for recognition of prior (RPL) should evidence how your previous study fully meets the learning outcomes for the module claimed against and the corresponding programme learning outcomes. Applications for RPL should be discussed with and supported by your employer, and the programme team will make the final decision.
Government guidance on apprenticeship specific recognition of prior learning can be found here.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (2020) state that - Rigorous, robust and independent End Point Assessment (EPA) gives employers confidence that apprentices can actually perform in the occupation they have been trained in and can demonstrate the duties, and knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the occupational standard. For details of the current EPA for your standard please consult the IFATE Apprenticeship standards / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education webpage here.
This apprenticeship normally takes 3 years (part-time) to complete. The EPA for this apprenticeship is integrated and is the final 20 credits of the MSc programme. The EPA period lasts 12 weeks and starts once the apprentice has met the gateway requirements after the dissertation module.
Within university-led sessions you will draw on contemporary sources of research and evidence to explore key theories and core concepts related to advanced clinical practice across all 4 pillars. You will develop your ability to critically engage with learning, analysing and appraising evidence in the context of your practice, enabling you to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and behaviours for this apprenticeship standard.
Your learning will be facilitated by the advanced practice team who will introduce you to various approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment throughout your studies. Examples of teaching and learning methods used include classroom and seminar-based learning, case-studies and case-based discussions, group learning and presentation, self-study, peer learning, simulation, and networking. Formative and summative assessments are designed to offer feedback on your current development to inform your future learning. Assessments include academic essays, short examinations, oral presentations of practice, a viva-voce, practical demonstrations and development of a practice portfolio. The modules, assessments, and practice portfolio for this award are designed to meet the requirements of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Advanced Clinical Practitioner Curriculum. You will also be required to successfully complete a university-based multi-station objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) to demonstrate clinical skills early in the programme. The varied and authentic nature of these assessments will prepare you for your future career as an advanced practitioner. University study will contribute to your 20% off the job training, a mandatory requirement of an apprenticeship.
Whilst on campus, apprentices will have access to the University’s exceptional facilities including social spaces, IT facilities and lecture theatres in addition to 24/7 access to our award winner University Library. The use of our Clinical Skills Centre based at Coach Lane campus includes some of the most advanced healthcare facilities in the country and the facilities ensure that your learning will progress in parallel with the latest developments in the healthcare industry.
The team that delivers the advanced clinical practitioner programme comprises clinicians and academics who boast extensive clinical, research, leadership and management, and educational knowledge across a variety of healthcare specialties, bringing their expertise to the classroom to enhance your learning experience. With many years’ experience supporting advanced practice students and apprentices, our expert team will be there to support you through every step of this apprenticeship, ensuring you leave with confidence and a full understanding of all aspects of this dynamic clinical practice role.
To support your studies, you will be allocated a personal tutor for the duration of your programme that will offer pastoral support. An Academic Work Place Coach will be on hand to provide holistic apprenticeship support, regularly bringing together you, your employer, and the university to support your development throughout your apprenticeship.
Your employer will help guide your workplace learning, introducing you to opportunities that will help you to develop your specialist knowledge and consolidate your learning in your advanced practice role. This learning will enable you to demonstrate achievement of the knowledge, skills, and behaviours of the apprenticeship standard. Opportunities for learning in the workplace could include supervised practice, shadowing and shadowed practice, clinician led and clinical teaching, simulation, and short courses. As an apprentice, a minimum of 20% of your learning should be off the job. Further details about off the job training can be found here.
Your employer will use the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Advanced Clinical Practitioner Curriculum to identify and define your scope of practice. They will provide practice support and supervision in line with the RCEM curriculum and NHS England’s Workplace Supervision for Advanced Clinical Practice (2021), and this includes at least one named clinical or clinical educational supervisor. Apprenticeship development will be facilitated by the university via Academic Work Place Coaches who will arrange to meet with you and your supervisor at regular intervals throughout the programme.
During the programme, university assessments are aligned to the workplace and include work-based assessment. This alignment to the context and activity of your organisation and job role increases organisational understanding and performance. Whilst off-campus and in the workplace, you will have access to our technology-enhanced learning (TEL) facilities to provide access to module information, electronic reading lists and online learning resources such as podcasts, e-books and e-journals.
Apprentices studying an apprenticeship do not pay any tuition fees, however, as they are in full-time employment they do not have student status and therefore are not entitled to apply for student finance.
Application and entry onto this course should be initiated by employers. To discuss the fees for this apprenticeship in detail or to explore signing an agreement with the university, complete the enquiry form below and someone from our Business and Enterprise team will be in touch shortly.
NHS England has developed Regional Faculties for Advancing Practice to support advanced practice roles. It is strongly recommended that you visit the Regional Faculty for Advancing Practice webpages to explore the support that is available to your organisation during the implementation and ongoing development of these roles.
If your organisation is unable to support your studies via their levy but you still want to apply for one of the Advanced Clinical Practitioner options, please find below alternative routes to apply. Please note your employer will still need to initiate an application to the programme and full fees will be applicable.
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner
MScAdvanced Clinical Practitioner (Primary Care)
MScAdvanced Clinical Practitioner (Sexual Health)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Advanced Critical Care Practitioner)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Emergency Care)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Acute Medicine)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Older People)
To start the application process for either current employees or new recruits, contact our Business and Enterprise team today by completing our online enquiry form. Alternatively, you can call 0191 215 6300.
Should you wish to speak to any of the course team during the planning phase of your ACP recruitment and training programme, please raise an enquiry with the Business and Enterprise team.
NHS England has developed Regional Faculties for Advancing Practice to support advanced practice roles. It is strongly recommended that you visit the Regional Faculty for Advancing Practice webpages to explore the support that is available to your organisation during the implementation and ongoing development of these roles. Please note, any applications to a regional faculty are in addition to University application processes.
To study this Advanced Clinical Practitioner Degree Apprenticeship you are required to be in full-time employment and working in a role that is recognised as an advanced clinical practitioner or trainee advanced clinical practitioner within the Emergency Department/ Emergency Medicine specialty within your organisation. You should speak with your employer about how your organisation can support you on this course, and in the role of an ACP. If you are interested in studying this apprenticeship and you are in current full-time employment you can complete our online enquiry form. Your employer will make the final decision about whether you will progress to application and it is recommended that they contact our Business and Enterprise team as detailed above.
Before entry onto the programme, all apprenticeship applicants must complete an Initial Skills Assessment which maps their prior knowledge against the apprenticeship standard. This is part of the University’s regulatory funding obligations. All Initial Skills Assessments are reviewed prior to induction and a meeting is held between the apprentice and a Work Place Coach to discuss this, including short-term and long-term goals upon commencing the apprenticeship. The purpose of an apprenticeship is to provide new learning and the skills assessment will be used to establish whether we need to tailor your programme in any way to account for your previous qualifications or experience. It also provides a benchmark against which to map your progress on the programme.
As an apprentice, you must meet the Institiute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education qualifications requirements. Applicants will need Maths and English Language at minimum grade 4/C, or Functional Skills English and Maths at level 2 and be able to provide evidence of these qualifications. Further information about these requirements can be found here. It is recommended that applicants have these qualifications prior to entry, however if applicants are working towards these qualifications whilst studying their apprenticeship, it is a condition that they are completed prior to the gateway to advance to End Point Assessment. The University will facilitate provision of Maths and English qualifications where this is needed.
Throughout your programme, you must demonstrate compliance with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) rules through submission of evidence of your off-the-job training (OJT), which is reviewed at intervals throughout your apprenticeship, to ensure you meet the minimum 20% OJT requirement.
If you are not in full-time employment but would like to study this apprenticeship programme, keep checking our vacancies page for information regarding job opportunities.
If your organisation is unable to support your studies via their levy but you still want to apply for one of the Advanced Clinical Practitioner options, please find below alternative routes to apply. Please note your employer will still need to initiate an application to the programme and full fees will be applicable.
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Primary Care)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Sexual Health)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Advanced Critical Care Practitioner)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Emergency Care)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Acute Medicine)
MSc Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Older People)
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
* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here
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.
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.
Our Applicant Services team will be happy to help. They can be contacted on 0191 406 0901 or by using our Contact Form.
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.
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:
If you’d like to receive the latest updates from Northumbria about our courses, events, finance & funding then enter your details below.
* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here
Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.
Information about all of our tuition fees, funding and scholarships.
Get an insight into life at Northumbria at the click of a button! Come and explore our videos and 360 panoramas to immerse yourself in our campuses and get a feel for what it is like studying here using our interactive virtual tour.
Back to top