Advanced Clinical Practice

Entry requirements

To be accepted on to the programme candidates must:

• Hold current registration with a professional statutory body pertaining to their area of advanced practice.
• Hold a degree in a discipline cognate to their professional qualification or hold a non-graduate qualification which the university has deemed to be of satisfactory standard for the purpose of postgraduate admission. Candidates without a full honours degree at 2:2 and above will be required to submit a 1,500 word essay on a topic chosen by the admissions team as part of the induction process. This will be assessed using the level 6 academic criteria (Appendix I) and must demonstrate achievement at 50% or above for successful admission to the programme. Alternatively, recent successful completion of an appropriate level 6 module such as Research Methods, Non-Medical Prescribing at level 6 or Preparing for Master’s Level Study will allow admission to the programme, subject to programme team agreement.
• Have a minimum of two years full time equivalent post-registration clinical experience.
• Be employed in a clinical role with a high level of autonomy or Be able to secure a placement to the above for a minimum of two days per week or Be in a Trainee Advanced Practitioner role.
• Have a Designated Supervising Medical Practitioner (DSMP) (for those students undertaking Non-Medical Prescribing and Clinical Assessment in Advanced Practice modules) and have mentorship support during their practice placement from their employing organisation.

N.B. If undertaking Non-Medical Prescribing, further admissions criteria apply which will supersede those above (contact the programme lead for further information). If undertaking Mentorship in Practice or Learning and Teaching in Practice, students must satisfy the pre-requisites for these modules (contact the programme lead for further information). Students without a first degree who are accepted to the programme will be able to take the Non-Medical Prescribing module(where eligible) but may only take this at level 6 (in accordance with Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) requirements).

Months of entry

September

Course content

Extend your knowledge and skills to advance levels within your specialist area of practice, through a selection of modules designed to enhance your ability to take on roles in advanced practice.

Develop a critical awareness of current problems, gaining new insight at the forefront of your area of advanced practice that enables further strategic development of practice (and practice knowledge).

Study and develop with the confidence that you are improving your career prospects - 100% of graduates from this course are in paid work or study 15 months after graduating.

The distinctive features of the Masters programme are its 600 practice hours and its focus on the four pillars of advanced practice. This means that the programme produces practitioners who are able to think at a high level in practice, but who also underpin their practice with a high level of scholarship. The programme therefore provides a first-class opportunity for post-registration learning in practice.

You will be supported by a medical or clinical mentor over the two taught years, a value-added feature of the advanced clinical practice course that is not available in a traditional master’s course. Further, the development of a practice portfolio over the taught elements of the programme demonstrate the student’s capacity to function at an autonomous level in practice, while also illustrating the ability to consider the complex needs of their patients/clients. This again is generally not a feature of a traditional master’s course, and allows students to review and apply enhanced knowledge in practice as part of their clinical roles.

In order to facilitate this, applicants to the advanced clinical practice course will be required to have a responsible role in practice and to either be working as an autonomous practitioner, or to be able to secure a trainee advanced practitioner role.

The programme team work in partnership with the University Health Board and Wales Ambulance Service Trust to select candidates appropriate for this course interviewing applicants.‌‌‌‌‌

Key course features

• The course features a programme structure based on a 50% theory and 50% practice divide in programme hours
• Assessment of practice learning through a portfolio of evidence allows the student to demonstrate their progression in practice

The programme aims to enable experienced professionals to:

• develop a systematic and critical knowledge and understanding of their specialist field of practice
• develop a critical awareness of current problems, gaining new insights at the forefront of their area of advanced practice that enable further strategic development of practice and practice knowledge
• enable practitioners to inform, enhance and develop their competency within their field of practice
• demonstrate advanced scholarship in their subject area through the planning and execution of level 7 enquiry

Information for international students

If you are applying as an European / International Student, and live outside of the UK, you should make your application through our online application system, Centurus.

For information about the university’s entry requirements for EU/international students, please visit our international section.

Fees and funding

You may be able to access Welsh Government Funding for this course- please contact Advancedclinicalpractice@wrexham.ac.uk to discuss this further.

Tuition fees do not need to be paid upfront. Tuition fees for 2024/2025 MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (part-time) are £2,983 per year.

The fees you pay and the support available may depend on a number of different factors. Full information can be found on
our fees & finance pages.