MSc Advanced Leadership for Professional Practice (Nursing)

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

• Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work

We require a health professional qualification relevant to nursing and current registration with the relevant professional, statutory or equivalent regulatory body.

You must also hold a relevant honours first degree (Lower Second or above, or equivalent) from an approved higher education institution OR evidence of previous advanced study, research or professional experience that the University accepts as qualifying you for entry.

Students whose unit(s) have practical components also need written support from their employer to attend and complete any practice requirements.

International students must demonstrate English proficiency through a secure and approved testing system.

We ask for English language proof if you are from non-majority English speaking countries (a list of majority English speaking countries, as defined by the UK Home Office, can be found here ).

Specifically, we require a minimum of:

• IELTS: 7.0, with a score of 6.5 or above in each component;
• TOEFL iBT:100 overall (25 in all subscores);
• GCSE English Grade C.

See further information about requirements for your country .

Home/UK applicants should usually have current clinical practice experience at the point of application.

Those studying part-time should continue to practice throughout the duration of their studies.

International applicants should possess a minimum of six months post-qualified clinical practice experience.

Due to the content of some course units, we require students to demonstrate a satisfactory level of experience in a related clinical area to be eligible to undertake the unit.

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £12,100
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £29,400

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

The fees 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 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. Please be aware that you are only eligible for the postgraduate loan for English students if you choose the 1 year full-time or 2 year part-time programme.

For part-time routes, full-time fees will be split over two or three years as appropriate.

International fees

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1,000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

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).

To achieve the aims and individual clinical unit outcomes for this MSc, you will need to be able to reflect on your current/recent practice and demonstrate how your role can develop, enhance or propose change to patient care and service delivery.

International applicants should possess a minimum of six months post-qualified clinical practice experience.

When completing your application, please include the following in the 'Further Information' section of the application form:

• the focus of your current/recent clinical practice and an overview of your role;
• your areas of clinical interest and the units you are interested in studying.

UK applicants who do not hold a first degree (or equivalent qualification) may be admitted on the basis of a health/social work professional qualification. To do this, you must demonstrate the ability to study at postgraduate level.

If you do not have a first degree, you will be required to undertake a stand-alone level 7 unit to test your ability to study at this level. If successful, this unit would be incorporated into your degree pathway.

You can study individual units as standalone short courses or build up units of study towards a PGCert or PGDip award, and undertake a dissertation to complete the MSc award. See the CPD Units page for more information.

Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) (60 credits)

You will initially develop your specialist knowledge and clinical practice relating to nursing, particularly in relation to leadership and management.

Recognising your key role in practice, these clinically focused units of study will enable you to enhance practice and service delivery.

45 credits can be undertaken from a variety of optional course units to best suit your professional specialism.

15 credits will comprise one core unit on Leadership in Professional Practice

Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) (120 credits)

You will further explore and develop advanced clinical practice in nursing by selecting further optional units from the portfolio of units available.

PGCert - 60 credits including compulsory course unit Leadership in Professional Practice

PLUS

15 credits can be undertaken from a variety of optional course units to best suit your professional specialism AND

45 credits comprising two compulsory course units Advanced Evidence Based Practice & Leadership (30 credits) and Developing Practice and Managing Change (15 credits).

Master of Science (MSc) (180 credits)

After successfully completing the 120 credits for the PGDip, you may be eligible to undertake a dissertation from the options below:

• full or adapted systematic review;
• report-based dissertation.

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

You can take individual units from this course as standalone courses for continuing professional development (CPD). See the nursing, midwifery and social work CPD page for further information.

The General Pharmaceutical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council have validated the Independent Prescribing unit, which is also available as a standalone short course .