Enhanced clinical practitioner apprenticeship
New for 2025, our Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship develops practitioners with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to provide a high standard of complex care for patients, using enhanced levels of clinical judgement.
The apprenticeship delivers high-quality staff development with reliable funding for local NHS Trusts and healthcare organisations, supporting the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan 2023 and providing a clear development route for healthcare professionals.
| Qualifications |
Apprenticeship Certificate and a Postgraduate Certificate in one of three specialist pathways:
PGCert Enhanced Clinical Practice
PGCert Enhanced Clinical Practice (Clinical Education)
PGCert Enhanced Clinical Practice (Paediatrics / Neonatal)
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| Duration |
18 months including end-point assessment
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| Delivery |
Day release
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| Entry requirements |
Potential Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprentices must meet the following entry criteria:
- Apprentices must hold current registration with one of the statutory regulators of health and care professions
- Apprentices are normally expected to hold a relevant degree with an award of 2:2 or above (or have demonstrable equivalent experience).
- Apprentices usually have at least two years’ post-registration experience and need to have completed a period of preceptorship.
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| Apprenticeship eligibility criteria |
- Apprentices must hold a Grade 4 or above in GCSE English Language and GCSE Mathematics (or equivalent) prior to taking the end-point assessment. Apprentices who do not provide a suitable Level 2 English certificate, and do not hold an appropriate English language equivalent qualification from this list, will also need to provide an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) result that is dated within the last two years. The minimum requirement for this programme is an overall score of 6.0, with no less than a 5.5 in each of the individual elements. The university’s policy around this can be found here.
- Have access to the agreed off-the-job training hours, during contracted working hours* (may be delivered flexibly)
Please note the apprenticeship route is only available to UK/EU/EEA nationals or apprentices that have lived and have had a right to work in the UK for three years or more and work a minimum of 50% of their time in England. |
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| Start date |
January 2025 |
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| Application closing date |
Thursday 31 October 2024 |
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| Programme fee |
£7,000
Programme fees can be covered by the Apprenticeship Levy or the employer who may be eligible for funding, apprentices do not pay programme fees. |
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| Department |
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences |
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Course overview
Who is the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship for?
The Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship offers regional NHS Trusts and healthcare providers a reliably funded, fully supported route to develop existing staff or attract talented new employees.
The programme is for healthcare professionals who are working at or towards an enhanced level of practice with specific knowledge, skills and behaviours in a field of expertise.
Enhanced practice is reflective of the level of practice and is not attached to a particular job role; we therefore expect to welcome apprentices from a wide range of specialist areas. Specifically we have designed the programme for healthcare professionals registered with the:
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
To access this programme, apprentices must be employed in a job role that provides opportunities to learn the skills, knowledge and behaviours outlined in the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship Standard. They must also work at least 50% of their time in England. We work with each apprentice to determine their level of existing skills and knowledge and build a learning plan to provide the support they require to meet the apprenticeship standard.
To discuss your employee's suitability for the programme please contact our employer engagement team.
Contact us
Programme Details
The university offers three specialist pathways within the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship allowing apprentices to tailor their learning to niche specialist areas or develop through a general pathway.
Available pathways:
- General pathway
- Clinical Education pathway
- Neonatal / Paediatric pathway
Apprentices undertake two core modules, plus one chosen pathway module. The programme is typically delivered over 13 months, at which point successful apprentices will progress onto a gateway review and end-point assessment to complete their apprenticeship.
Upon completion of the apprenticeship, all apprentices must undertake the end-point assessment (EPA) which is a synoptic assessment of the knowledge, skills and behaviours that have been learnt throughout the apprenticeship. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure apprentices meet the standard set by employers and are occupationally competent.
Modules
Enhancing Clinical Practice (20 credits)
Core Module
Apprentices enhance and develop skills in patient assessment and improve professional practice to provide safe and effective person-centred care. They develop their knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology and undertake the assimilation of information to inform patient assessment.
Enhanced Clinical Practice Portfolio (20 Credits)
Core Module
This module runs throughout the taught element of the programme and supports apprentices to develop a portfolio of evidence demonstrating their ability to practice at an enhanced level in their chosen specialty. Apprentices compile a portfolio of clinical and non-clinically focussed evidence, developed in practice, to demonstrate their progress towards achieving the associated knowledge, skills and behaviours required at an enhanced level of practice.
Pathway Modules
Each apprentice will choose one of the following pathway modules:
Decision Making and Clinical Reasoning (20 Credits)
General Pathway
This module has been developed to develop apprentices' knowledge of the theory of clinical decision making and clinical reasoning in an applied way. Apprentices develop the skills and knowledge to select appropriate investigations and analyse clinical findings through the application of clinical decision making and reasoning theory.
Enhancing Clinical Education (20 credits)
Clinical Education Pathway
Apprentices develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours to underpin their practice with the principles of respect, empathy, equality and diversity to foster a learning environment and provide a learning experience that is inclusive, supportive and safe.
They learn how to identify the training and education needs of colleagues in their area of practice, using available resources effectively to develop a business case to communicate this need. They are also able to reflect on their own experience to identify their ongoing learning needs to continually develop as an adaptable, reliable and competent practitioner.
Enhancing Paediatric and Neonatal Clinical Practice (20 credits)
Paediatric and Neonatal Pathway
This module aims to support apprentices in developing clinical reasoning and decision-making skills appropriate to levels 1, 2 and 3 high dependency/critical care of paediatric and neonatal populations.
This includes exploring legal and ethical issues in neonatal and/or paediatric critical care and enhancing leadership and teaching skills; and discussing underpinning research as part of developing and understanding the key evidence base for care, as a pre-requisite to enhancing clinical practice through developing clinical expertise
Gateway
Before apprentices can progress to the end-point assessment they must meet all the criteria needed to pass the Gateway Review:
- Evidence that they have developed the knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the apprenticeship standard
- Passed the three modules within the chosen pathway
- Agreed a quality improvement proposal
- Completed a portfolio
End-point-assessment
The final part of the apprenticeship is the end-point assessment. This requires apprentices to demonstrate that their learning can be applied in the real world.
Apprentices will:
- submit a quality improvement proposal report with question-and-answer session
- undertake a professional discussion underpinned by portfolio of evidence.
The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer but is not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules that will be available in any given year. Modules (including methods of assessment) may be changed, renamed, reorganised or be updated, or modules may be cancelled, over the duration of the programme due to a number of reasons such as curriculum developments, staffing changes or changing demands of industry. The University shall ensure that modules and programme continue to adhere to the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours (KSBs) required of the applicable Apprenticeship Standard, which are fundamental to any programme of delivery.
This content was last updated on Tuesday 1 October 2024
How to apply
Prior to application the university will qualify the eligibility and suitability of the employer, this involves a short training needs analysis discussion.
Once the employer has engaged with the university to initiate their side of the onboarding process, candidates will be invited to apply online.
Contact our employer engagement team