PGCert Approved Mental Health Professional Practice

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• Medicine

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

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

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 have current membership of the relevant professional body and provide the registration or personal identification number for that.

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £4,500
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £5,100

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

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).

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

• Critical Decision Making in Mental Health Practice
• Models of Mental Distress
• 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: You will explore how to 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 you to make evidence-based, research-informed decisions to optimise the experience of people using mental health services.
• Models of Mental Distress: 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: You 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. You 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 you to undertake a 50 day placement and complete practice portfolio which is centred around providing evidence of AMHP competence in line with statue.

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

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

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