The Professional Graduate Certificate in Enhanced Clinical Practice apprenticeship is a Level 6 qualification designed for registered healthcare professionals ready to take the next step in their career.
Degree Apprenticeship
Enhanced Clinical Practice MSc
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About the Enhanced Clinical Practice Apprenticeship MSc
Delivered over 18 months, this innovative programme combines academic study with real-world clinical practice, preparing you to work confidently at an enhanced level.
Aligned with the Enhanced Clinical Practice (ECP) apprenticeship standard, the course develops your clinical expertise, leadership capability, and ability to drive meaningful service improvement.
You’ll build the skills to deliver complex, person-centred care, lead teams, influence practice, and contribute to quality improvement projects that make a tangible difference in your workplace.
This course is designed to fit around your professional role, with a flexible blended learning approach that includes:
- Online teaching (live and self-paced)
- Face-to-face sessions and simulation
- Work-based learning within your current role
Learning is practice-focused and interactive, with opportunities to apply theory directly to your clinical environment. You’ll benefit from:
- Simulation-based clinical skills training
- Collaborative, multi-professional learning
- Digital learning tools and resources
- Supported workplace development through supervision
This approach ensures you can develop professionally while continuing to work, making the course both accessible and highly relevant.
What are Degree Apprenticeships?
Degree apprenticeships are a fantastic way to upskill employees and train new staff. They contribute to improved competitiveness and productivity, as well as increased staff retention.
Degree apprentices study for higher level qualifications alongside working. As such, they spend at least 6 working hours each week carrying out ‘off-the-job training’ where they study for their degree and gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours that are required to successfully complete the apprenticeship.
Large employers can use their apprenticeships levy to pay for apprenticeship training. Smaller firms can claim up to 95 per cent of these costs from the Government. This means apprenticeships are a cost-effective choice for both the employer and learner.
Modules
The programme consists of four compulsory modules, and a number of core modules which relate to the learner’s specialism and field of practice. Learners undertake each of the following compulsory modules:
NH6500: Personal impact and professional development for enhanced practice
This module will support you to increase your self-awareness and understand your personal impact and influence for enhanced practice. You will critically explore personal, professional, legal, ethical, economic and political drivers and requirements, evidence-based practice and critical reflection that underpin professional practice within healthcare. You will learn how to build and use personal and professional knowledge and resilience enabling you to more effectively challenge and enhance practice. By understanding positive influencing behaviours, you will influence with confidence and increase your impact on others.
NH6501: Enhanced clinical practice: clinical assessment
This module will enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to expand your range of assessment techniques as appropriate within your area of practice to determine the holistic needs of an individual. You will develop skills of clinical reasoning to be able to devise patient management plans that address the complexities of physical, psychological, mental health and social factors. You will develop competence in applying your skills of clinical decision making as you apply your assessment findings to your clinical problem.
NH6502: Enhanced clinical practice: leadership, education and coaching
This module will enable you to explore theories and develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that underpin effective leadership, teaching and coaching in practice, for staff, patients and carers. You will critically explore a complex range of factors which support and impact upon learning and teaching, enabling you to develop an understanding of the key theoretical principles relating to leadership, teaching and coaching.
NH6503: Enhanced clinical practitioner project
This module will consolidate learning from the previous stages of the course and requires the student to develop a plan for a quality improvement project. They will develop a plan for a quality, evidence-based project focusing on a change or improvement in their workplace area, to demonstrate the integration of the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for enhanced practice.
The project plan and summary will be formulated using level 6 academic criteria and criticality, providing an evidence-based rationale for the project, a plan for implementation and evaluation. The student will showcase their acquired level of enhanced practice demonstrating that they have made the required transformation.
This apprenticeship has a non‑integrated End Point Assessment (EPA), which takes place after the apprentice has completed the on‑programme learning (typically 18 months) and once they have met the gateway criteria for progression to EPA. The gateway criteria consist of:
- Confirmation from the employer that the apprentice is consistently working at or above the occupational standard.
- Achievement of Level 2 Maths and English qualifications
- Submission of a portfolio of evidence developed during the programme
- Agreement of the quality improvement proposal subject, title and scope between the employer and the End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO)
The EPA consists of two components:
- A quality improvement proposal report (approximately 3,000 words), followed by a question and answer session (approximately 25 minutes).
- A professional discussion (approximately 60 minutes), underpinned by a portfolio of evidence.
Careers
Multidisciplinary and collaborative learning is a core feature of the programme and is actively fostered through structured opportunities for professional networking and shared learning across disciplines, sectors, and practice contexts.
You’ll engage with peers from diverse professional backgrounds, enabling the exchange of perspectives, expertise, and approaches to complex clinical and organisational challenges. These interactions support the development of professional identity, systems-level thinking, and an appreciation of the roles, responsibilities, and contributions of different professions and experts by experience.
Through sustained collaborative engagement, you will develop the communication, leadership, and partnership-working capabilities required for effective enhanced clinical practice within complex, multi-professional healthcare environments. This supports development of skills for future careers.
Upon successful completion of the full PGC in Enhanced Clinical Practice, you will be equipped with the knowledge, skills, expertise and self- confidence necessary to work at enhanced level.
In addition, you will have a range of knowledge and skills in areas such as leadership; management; professional and personal development; conflict management and professional resilience that will be relevant and transferrable to employment beyond healthcare.
Meet the lecturer
Tracy Longden-Thurgood, Subject Leader
Tracy is qualified in both healthcare and strategic HR and specialises in learning and development. She holds an MSc in Biomedical Science, a PGCE, and an Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management and Development.
She now leads University of Gloucestershire’s Healthcare Science programmes, as well as being responsible for external quality assurance of the Diabetic Health Screening Diploma from Gloucestershire Hospitals Accredited Centre.
She is also a member of the Health Care Professions Council (Biomedical Science).
Employer and learner support
Learners have a personal tutor throughout their apprenticeship, as well as a learner coach who conducts reviews and supports them towards successful completion. They are also supported by module tutors and our Student Centre staff, who are contactable by telephone, in person and online.
Employers are able to access our dedicated apprenticeship support team, who are here to ensure that businesses get the best from both the learner and the programme.
Learner benefits
All apprentices have access to:
· experienced professionals, who are experts in their field
· state-of-the-art facilities
· all university libraries and IT and facilities
· discounted travel with Stagecoach across the South West network
· an NUS card offering great discounts at restaurants and high street stores
· a vibrant social scene complete with bars, sports clubs, gyms and leisure facilities
View our apprenticeships FAQ guide and discover answers to the most commonly asked questions about higher and degree apprenticeships.
Entry requirements
Apprentices on the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner (ECP) programme should be in relevant, full-time employment (eg employed for at least 30 hours per week) throughout the duration of the apprenticeship. As a work-based programme, individuals are typically employed in clinical roles where they can develop and apply enhanced practice, often managing a defined area of patient care within a multidisciplinary team.
ECP apprentices are usually experienced practitioners working in roles aligned to enhanced practice, commonly at a level comparable to Band 5 or Band 6 positions, depending on their profession and area of practice. They are expected to have sufficient experience and responsibility within their role to support the development of enhanced clinical skills and to evidence practice at Level 6.
Learners must be a registered UK healthcare professional from any discipline, and should have the full support of their employer and a suitable clinical mentor for the duration of the programme
Exact entry requirements are set by the employer but typically include GCSE grade C/4 or above in Maths and English language, plus have prior learning at level 6; usually in the form of a relevant undergraduate degree or equivalent professional qualification.
Relevant work experience would also be discussed during the learner’s application interview.
Update for Employers of Apprentices in the School of Education, Health and Science
You may have seen the Government’s recent announcement about changes to the English and maths requirements for completing an apprenticeship. We’ve taken some time to review what this means for our programmes here at University of Gloucestershire. After careful consideration, we want to let you know that our apprenticeships in the School of Education, Health and Science will continue to require the same English and maths qualifications as before. This is because of the entry requirements for our degree programmes and the expectations set by the relevant Professional Bodies.
If you have any questions or would like to talk this through, please feel free to get in touch—we’re always happy to help.
Contact the client manager
Sally Conlon
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