Prepare for the role of Advanced Clinical Practitioner in primary or secondary care
Year of entry: 2025 (September)
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Find out moreThis course will enable you to develop competency in advanced clinical practice while working in your existing healthcare setting.
If you would like to apply for the Advanced Clinical Practitioner apprenticeship route, please contact your employer in the first instance.
Through the integration of research and theory with practice, you’ll build your knowledge and skills so you can safely assess, diagnose and treat or refer patients presenting with undifferentiated problems. This will include the prescription or administration of medication according to the rules governing your particular profession.
You'll gain professional skills including risk management, resilience and leadership in order to progress your journey towards advanced practice. In addition, you’ll examine the wider context of healthcare and work towards improving health outcomes in collaboration with others, not merely for individuals but also for groups and populations.
On graduation, you’ll be a critically reflective practitioner, able to make informed judgements based on sound analysis, often within unpredictable circumstances. You will be ready to take your place in a range of healthcare settings.
This course has been designed to enable you to achieve the capabilities in the NHS (2017) Advanced Clinical Practice Multi-professional framework and is offered with apprenticeship and non-apprenticeship routes. If you wish to explore an apprenticeship, you will need to talk to your employer about this as there are specific requirements and employment required.
This MSc-level course is similar in content to the PGDip Advanced Clinical Practice. However, on the MSc course you will undertake an additional year (Year 3) which includes a service improvement project (dissertation).
This course is accredited by the Centre of Advancing Practice (nhs.uk).
Health Education England’s Centre for Advancing Practice has been established to standardise post-registration education by accrediting advanced practice courses that achieve the standards outlined in the multi-professional Advanced Practice Framework. Practitioners who have completed accredited education programmes will be eligible to be listed on the Centre’s Advanced Practice Directory.
Please be aware that this is only available to those students who have successfully completed the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice programme and not to those who have exited the programme with a Postgraduate Diploma.
Successful completion of the Independent and Supplementary Prescribing module will enable you to legally prescribe medicines and appliances.
Expert speakers are a great feature of the course. We use them to bring in specialist knowledge to enhance your knowledge base and understanding.
Throughout the programme you will need to be able to work with a clinical supervisor (a qualified Advanced Clinical Practitioner, GP or doctor of registrar level or above) in the area of practice where you are currently employed.
You'll spend a full day each week with your clinical supervisor to work on skills and competencies learned in class and to develop your competency in your own area of practice.
This course has been designed to enable you to achieve the capabilities in the NHS (2017) Advanced Clinical Practice Multi-professional framework and the Apprenticeship standard ST0564/01.
You will study the evidence underpinning advanced clinical practice, the biological basis of illness and how pathology relates to signs and symptoms in the individual. You will learn how to assess these signs and symptoms through history taking, and physical and mental health assessment, and how to formulate this information into clinical diagnoses and a plan of care.
You will explore professional issues faced by Advanced Clinical Practitioners and look at how to manage risk and gain resilience. You will also examine the broad context of health, including public health, and how the Advanced Clinical Practitioner can influence outcomes in the healthcare context. You can also qualify as a non-medical prescriber (if you are not already one).
You will also study three option modules:
Option A (If you are eligible for non-medical prescribing)
Option B (if you have previously studied Non-medical Prescribing at Level 6)
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff.
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
In your final year, you will complete a dissertation in the form of a service improvement project, which will enable you to undertake and implement a project relevant to your own practice and place of work.
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Part-time (3 years) This is the year 1 fee. Fees for future years are subject to confirmation. This is course is currently not available to overseas applicants who need a UKVI Student visa to study in the UK. |
£3,733 | £8,633 |
Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.
For courses which are longer than one year, the tuition fees quoted are for the first year of study.
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
There are no specific additional fees for this course. You may choose to buy your own textbooks, which will cost around £150, however, these will also be available from the library. You may also want to print out some documents. We would anticipate the cost of printing would be up to £30.
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2025/26 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.
You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.
You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.
You will be learning with and from experts in the field using a combination of lectures, skills sessions, and directed and independent study, all designed to support you in developing your clinical capability and competence. Working in practice for a minimum of one day a week with your clinical supervisor, you will combine the theory with clinical practice.
You will benefit from our state-of-the-art Clinical Simulation Unit, which replicates a number of areas of healthcare in which you may work.
You will be based in the Department of Health Sciences, which is on Campus West. The majority of your teaching will take place in Alcuin, or at other locations across Campus West.
Students will work in their own area of clinical practice throughout the programme. Students may choose to organise placements in other healthcare settings in order to enhance their clinical learning.
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
You will be assessed in both theory and practice with formative assessments to support you in identifying areas for development.
The demand for qualified Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs) is growing, and on completion of this course you will be able to apply for and work as an ACP.
Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to:
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | You should hold an undergraduate degree (exception may be given if you have evidence of recent successfully completed modules at level six). |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
This course is open to healthcare professionals who have current registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Health Care Professions Council, or the General Pharmaceutical Council and have at least two years relevant clinical experience.
You need to be able to attend university one day per week during term time and should have the full support of your workplace management.
You may also be required to pass an interview in order to be offered a place on the course.
You must have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Check and show evidence of Occupational Health clearance.
Those funded as an apprentice must be employed as an apprentice. English and maths at Level 2 with Grade 4 or equivalent will be required prior to undertaking End Point Assessment (Transition to Advanced Practice module)
If you intend to undertake this module you need to be a registered nurse, pharmacist or physiotherapist with three years' post-qualification experience and have been working in the clinical field of intended practice for the last year.
You will need to be able to complete 90 hours learning in practice under the supervision of a designated prescribing practitioner (DPP).
You will need separate and specific support from your employing organisation and you must have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Check which is under three years old at the time of enrolment.
Please see our recognition of prior learning policies.
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Minimum requirement | |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component |
| Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component |
| Oxford Test of English Advanced | 136, minimum 126 in each component |
| Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component |
| Kaplan Test of English Language | 478-509, with 444-477 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 61, minimum 55 in each component |
| TOEFL | 87, minimum 21 in each component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all components |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
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