Advanced Mental Health Practice

Entry requirements

• A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 in any subject, or equivalent. Applicants are normally expected to have at least one year of professional or management experience. Applicants for the programme must also meet the professional requirements set out in Schedule 1 of the Mental Health (AMHP) Regulations 2008 and hold a professional qualification in social work, nursing, occupational therapy or psychology and be currently registered to that profession as laid out in Schedule 1.

It will also be a course prerequisite that students:

• Have completed the Consolidation Unit
• Hold a recognised professional qualification in social work, nursing, occupational therapy or psychology and are registered to that profession
• Demonstrate that they already have the level of professional competence, capacity and ability to undertake and complete AMHP training at the PQ Higher Specialist Social Work Award Level
• Have been nominated by their employer, who can provide support and an appropriate placement and practice assessor.

Months of entry

September, December

Course content

Why study MA Advanced Mental Health Practice at BU?

• After completing this course, you will also be able to take on the role of Best Interest Assessor under the Mental Health Capacity Act 2005 if required by your employer (subject to amendment by the LPS framework)
• This is a part-time course, which can be taken over a maximum of 5 years. It is arranged in blocks of taught days and placement days
• Learning includes a mix of interactive workshops, teaching sessions and facilitated group discussions
• Service user and carer input are central to the course, combined with individualised self-directed learning with flexibility in units to meet your individual needs
• Opportunities for experiential learning are provided in a supervised practice placement as required by the professional body
• As part of your Master’s you’ll deliver a Service Improvement Project, which will involve you improving an existing approach to service improvement or developing a new one.

Career opportunities

The course recognises the diversity of mental health social work, providing practitioners with the opportunity to develop their knowledge and enhance their skills in dealing with complex work.

Advanced Mental Health Practice graduates can undertake roles such as Approved Mental Health Professional and Best Interest Assessor, and will be able to support roles within mental health and health & social care.

Information for international students

If English is not your first language, you will need IELTS (Academic) 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in writing, speaking, listening and reading.

Fees and funding