PGCert Approved Mental Health Professional Practice

Year of entry: 2025

Overview

Degree awarded
AMHP Postgraduate Certificate
Duration
12 months part-time
Entry requirements
We require an undergraduate degree (minimum Lower Second) or equivalent alternative qualifications or experience.

Full entry requirements

How to apply

You can only apply for this course if you have been nominated by your employer, who must be responsible for providing your practice placement.

Please apply using our online application form , following all instructions. If you have any problems, please contact us at pgt.mentalhealth@manchester.ac.uk .

We recommend you apply as early as possible. We reserve the right to close applications if the course is full.

Course options

Full-time Part-time Full-time distance learning Part-time distance learning
N Y N N

Course overview

  • This is the only certificate that allows students to gain Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) status and be approved by local authorities.
  • Learn about the integration of mental health issues, psychiatry and mental health law in multidisciplinary teams from a social perspective.
  • Study at a university ranked 7th in the UK for Psychology (QS World University Rankings 2024).
  • The PGCert is approved by Social Work England.
  • This course is delivered entirely through face-to-face, on-campus teaching.

Open days

For details of the next University Postgraduate open day, visit open days and visits

Fees

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2025, the tuition fees are as follows:

  • (part-time)
    UK students (per annum): £4,260
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £4,900

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

For the latest scholarship and bursary information please visit the fees and funding page.

Contact details

School/Faculty
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
Contact name
Postgraduate Admissions Team
Telephone
+44 (0)161 529 4563
Email
Website
https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/study/nursing/masters/
School/Faculty
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health

Courses in related subject areas

Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview

We require an undergraduate degree (minimum Lower Second) or equivalent alternative qualifications or experience.

Relevant work experience

You must have a minimum of two years of work experience in your field.

Professional entry qualification

Applicants must hold a recognised professional qualification in social work, nursing, occupational therapy or psychology, and be one of the following.

  • A social worker registered with Social Work England.
  • A first-level nurse, registered in Sub-Part 1 of the Nurses' Part of the Register maintained under article 5 of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, with the inclusion of an entry indicating their field of practice is mental health or learning disabilities nursing.
  • An occupational therapist registered in Part 6 of the Register maintained under article 5 of the Health Professions Order 2001.
  • Either a psychologist registered in Part 14 of the Register maintained by the Health and Care Professions Council, or a chartered psychologist who is listed in the British Psychological Society's Register of Chartered Psychologists and who holds a relevant practising certificate issued by the BPS.

You must be able to provide your Social Work England or NMC membership number.

Application and selection

How to apply

You can only apply for this course if you have been nominated by your employer, who must be responsible for providing your practice placement.

Please apply using our online application form , following all instructions. If you have any problems, please contact us at pgt.mentalhealth@manchester.ac.uk .

We recommend you apply as early as possible. We reserve the right to close applications if the course is full.

Advice to applicants

As supporting documents are gathered in a pre-approval process, no further supporting documents are required.

How your application is considered

In addition to the online application process, all candidates will be required to attend a 15–20-minute online interview with an academic member of staff; a person with lived experience; and an experienced AMHP.

Overseas (non-UK) applicants

This course is not suitable for overseas applicants, as it focuses on mental health law applicable to England and Wales.

Fitness to practise / health requirements

Students are required to comply with practice health requirements as per their registering body.

Deferrals

Deferrals are considered on an individual basis. Successful applicants may defer entry to the course for up to one year.

Re-applications

If you applied in the previous year and your application was not successful you may apply again. Your application will be considered against the standard course entry criteria for that year of entry. In your new application you should demonstrate how your application has improved. We may draw upon all information from your previous applications or any previous registrations at the University as a student when assessing your suitability for your chosen course.

Course details

Course description

Our PGCert in Approved Mental Health Professional Practice is the only certificate that allows students to gain Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) status and be approved by local authorities.

The course combines academic study with practice in mental health, with a focus on AMHP training.

AMHP training covers the integration of mental health issues, psychiatry and mental health law in multidisciplinary teams from a social perspective.

Our lecturers reflect this multidisciplinary approach and include psychiatrists, lawyers, psychologists, nurses and social workers, as well as service users and carers.

Students undertaking AMHP training must be supported by their employers and seconded to the training. Employers must agree to provide a Practice Educator and an appropriate Practice Learning Placement.

To meet the requirements for AMHP, you must successfully complete the four mandatory course units and a competent Practice Portfolio.

Students who successfully complete the PGCert will be able to progress to our PGDip in Applied Mental Health, which includes a literature review. You can then progress to our MSc in Applied Mental Health.

PhD with integrated master's

If you're planning to undertake a PhD after your master's, our Integrated PhD programme will enable you to combine your postgraduate taught course with a related PhD project in biology, medicine or health.

You can also visit this page for examples of projects related to integrated master's courses.

Aims

Our PGCert has been designed for those wishing to seek authorisation under the Mental Health Act 1983, as amended in 2007, to discharge the duties of an Approved Mental Health Professional.

The outcome is to produce knowledgeable and skilled professionals who will be able to discharge statutory responsibilities under this legislation, and who will also have the ability to stay abreast of cutting-edge research and development within contemporary mental health services, as well as having the capacity to translate research insights into practice.

The course aims to produce students who:

  • have a systematic and integrated knowledge and understanding of mental disorders, the different models of causation, presentation, assessment and management, the different models of treatment and intervention and their outcomes;
  • have sufficient knowledge and practical skills to critically apply theoretical models to practice situations, both at the level of individual case planning and case management and also at the level of policy and service development;
  • can work comfortably within multidisciplinary mental health settings;
  • can access and negotiate service frameworks involving a variety of statutory and non-statutory agencies;
  • can successfully achieve consensus in representing their own professional view as one among several, perhaps competing, views or approaches to mental health problems;
  • are able to work in partnership with service users and their carers, and to have the ability to appreciate the perspectives of users and carers.

Special features

Multidisciplinary teaching

Learn from psychiatrists, lawyers, psychologists, nurses and social workers, as well as service users and carers.

Teaching and learning

Our lecturers include psychiatrists, lawyers, psychologists, nurses and social workers, as well as service users and carers.

Find out more by visiting the postgraduate teaching and learning page.

Coursework and assessment

Assessment is continuous throughout the programme. Students are required to complete assessed essays, an 'open book' mental health law examination and practice-focused assessments.

Course unit details

This course comprises four compulsory units and a Practice Portfolio (zero credit rated unit). The units are:

  • Critical Decision Making in Mental Health Practice
  • Applied Psychiatry
  • The Role of the AMHP
  • Applied Mental Health Law

Each of the four units are worth 15 postgraduate credits and the Practice Portfolio is a zero credit rated unit.

The pass mark for each unit is 50%. The Practice Portfolio is assessed as either competent or not yet competent.

On successful completion of all four units plus being deemed 'competent' in the Practice Portfolio, you will be eligible to be approved as an AMHP by your local authority.

12-month route

Compulsory units:

  • Critical Decision Making in Mental Health Practice : Students will explore how o make complex and critical decisions in AMHP practice with an underpinning of anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice. The unit includes input from people with lived experience of mental health services, AMHPs and other professionals. The unit aims to enable students to make evidence-based, research-informed decisions to optimise the experience of people using mental health services.
  • Applied Psychiatry: This unit will examine pharmacological, psychological and social intervention strategies and the research evidence for their impact on the outcomes of mental disorder.
  • Role of the AMHP: Students will be provided with knowledge about the AMHP role within the legislation and the range of functions that the AMHP is required to undertake.
  • Applied Mental Health Law: This unit has a focus on the concept of risk, risk thresholds as they operate within the Mental Health Act and the skills of risk assessment in mental health crisis work. It also focuses on the interface between the Mental Health Act 1983 as amended in 2007, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Students will be provided with an analysis of how the current capacity legislation operates in a range of contexts.
  • Practice Portfolio: This is a zero credit rated unit. This unit requires students to undertake a 50 day placement and complete practice portfolio which is centred around providing evidence of AMHP competence in line with statue.

Course unit list

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
Critical Decision Making in Mental Health Practice SOWK60712 15 Mandatory
Role of the AMHP SOWK60741 15 Mandatory
Models of Mental Distress SOWK60751 15 Mandatory
Applied Mental Health Law SOWK60773 15 Mandatory
Practice Portfolio (AMHP) SOWK60800 0 Mandatory

Facilities

The University of Manchester offers extensive library and online services to help you get the most out of your studies.

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk

Careers

Associated organisations

Contributors to the course include mental health trust staff, voluntary and third sector staff and service users and carers.