Enhanced Clinical Practice Top-up - MSc
This programme is designed for practitioners who have completed the Enhanced Clinical Practice apprenticeship, enabling them to 'top-up' their qualification to a Master's degree. The MSc Enhanced Clinical Practice Top-up degree consolidates enhanced practice expertise, critical enquiry, leadership, and quality improvement skills.
Month of entry
- September, January
Mode of study
- Part time
Location
Subject area
- Midwifery, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Radiography
Fees for 2026/27 academic year
-
UK - part-time £4,400 per year
Fees
Duration of study
- One year, part-time
This course is no longer accepting applications from international students for the 2026/27 academic year.
Why study Enhanced Clinical Practice Top-up at Keele University?
Course summary
The Enhanced Clinical Practice Top-up allows practitioners who have completed the Enhanced Clinical Practice apprenticeship, within the last five years, to 'top-up' their qualification to a full Master's by completing the Advanced Work-based Practice Project (60 credits). This is designed to develop you as a reflective practitioner and support you in exploring an area of professional practice aligned with your interests and career aspirations.
Working collaboratively with a work-based facilitator and academic supervisor, you will identify a relevant area for improvement, and take ownership of your own project. You will negotiate, design, implement, and evaluate a service improvement initiative, and apply your academic knowledge to real world practice.
This will allow you to create a meaningful contribution to your workplace, while also developing your ability to think critically, creatively, and innovatively. You will strengthen your research, problem solving, and leadership skills and demonstrate how evidence-informed ideas can translate into effective and sustainable improvements in practice.
This programme will support you to deliver complex clinical care in challenging and changing environments, using your critical analysis skills and knowledge to manage complex interventions.
Course structure
Modules
The module details given below are indicative, they are intended to provide you with an idea of the range of subjects that are taught to our current students. The modules that will be available for you to study in future years are prone to change as we regularly review our teaching to ensure that it is up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods, as well as student voice. The information presented is therefore not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules available in any given year.
Compulsory module
Advanced Work-based Practice Project (NUR-40037)
This module follows a work-based learning direction. It is structured to take into account a number of factors affecting education and professional role development for health-care professionals to embody an emphasis on the researching professional as a reflective practitioner. This module is grounded in professional practice and will offer you the opportunity to negotiate, design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness upon service of an advanced work-based project. This will inform the development of professional practice, significantly contribute to service enhancement and contribute to your continuing professional development.
Entry requirements
The following section details our typical entry requirements for this course for a range of UK and international qualifications. If you don't see your qualifications listed, please contact us to find out if we can accept your qualifications.
Typical Offer:
This programme is suitable for those who have undertaken the Enhanced Clinical Practice Postgraduate Diploma Apprenticeship, to 'top-up' to a full Master's.
Applicants must also:
- Be currently registered with the appropriate professional body
You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)
English language requirements
All of our courses require an English language qualification or test. For most students, this requirement can be met with a 4 or C in GCSE English. Please see our English Language guidance pages for further details, including English language test information for international students. For those students who require an English language test, this course requires a test from Group E.
References
Normally, you will need to provide at least one academic reference to support your application unless you have been out of study longer than two years. If it has been more than two years since you last studied on a degree-level programme, you will normally need to provide an employment reference instead. For more information about Academic References, please see our Postgraduate how to apply web pages.
Personal Statement/Statement of Purpose
Please see our Postgraduate how to apply web pages for guidance on what to include in your personal statement.
Recognition of Prior Learning
The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a process which enables applicants to receive recognition and formal credit for learning acquired in the past through formal study or work and life experiences.
RPL can also be requested for admission onto the start of a programme in lieu of the admission requirements. For more information, see our Recognition of Prior Learning web pages.
General information
The entry grades outlined in this section indicate the typical offer which would be made to candidates, along with any subject specific requirements. This is for general information only. Keele University reserves the right to vary offer conditions depending upon a candidate's application. For international students, find out how we work with approved agents as part of our admissions process.
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Postgraduate funding and scholarshipsFees, funding and scholarships
Fees
- Charged on a modular basis. Prices can be found here.
- This final module is not part of the Enhanced Clinical Practitioner apprenticeship and therefore not funded through apprenticeship provision.
Fees
For continuing students, fees will increase annually by RPIX, with a maximum cap of 5% per year.
Funding
Whether you're continuing from undergraduate study or returning to education, our dedicated financial support team is here to help.
Please note, if your course offers a January start date, the January 2026 start date falls in the 2025/26 academic year. Please see the tuition fees archive for the 2025/26 fees.
Planning your funding
It's important to plan carefully for your funding before you start your course. Please be aware that not all postgraduate courses and not all students are eligible for the UK government postgraduate loans and, in some cases, you would be expected to source alternative funding yourself. If you need support researching your funding options, please contact our financial support team.
For continuing students, fees will increase annually by RPIX, with a maximum cap of 5% per year.
Scholarships
We know that understanding what support is available for postgraduate students is an important step in planning your future and we are committed to rewarding excellence and potential.
Visit our scholarships and bursaries webpage to find out more about our scholarships, including:
- Keele Global Scholarship – up to £5000 tuition fee discount for international students (2027/28)
- Keele Graduate Scholarship – up to £3000 tuition fee discount for home students (2027/28)
Terms and conditions apply.
Additional costs
You do not need to budget for additional mandatory or optional costs beyond standard study expenses. For general information, see the university's additional costs information.
Teaching, learning and assessment
Teaching
The programme includes a blended learning strategy of direct tutor contact, seminars, group discussions, KLE activities, practice based facilitator tutorials, and one-to-one supervision.
Assessment
In order to reflect the broad range of knowledge and skills developed throughout the course, assessment includes a practice based report. Teaching staff ensure a clear assessment criteria, and constructive feedback which will help to improve your performance.
