This Higher Apprenticeship aims to develop your skills, knowledge and behaviours which are needed to undertake working within a mental health environment at band four.  You will study one day a week in the classroom, as well as developing your skills and behaviours within the workplace.  The subjects that you will cover include anatomy and physiology, psychology and sociology, leadership and management, risk management as well as undertaking professional practice modules based over a two-year period.  You will be assessed via a variety of techniques including presentations, essays and professional discussions.   

For this course, you will need to secure an appropriate workplace to gain relevant experience. You will need a mentor who is registered with Nursing and midwifery council OR health care professions council.

Your employer must be in agreement with the student to attend University once a week.

If you have any questions about employment, please contact course leader Ellie Read, or the admissions office.

All of the modules on this course are compulsory. Successful completion of all of the modules in the first year is worth 120 credits at Level 4 and equivalent to a Certificate of Higher Education. Successful completion of the second year is also worth 120 credits and will lead to the award of the Level 5 Foundation Degree.

Year 1 Compulsory Modules 

The student must take 120 credits from the modules in Compulsory Modules

• Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology (30 credits) 
• Developing Your Clinical Practice in Mental Health 1 (30 credits) 
• Communicating in Practice (15 credits) 
• Sociology and Psychology of Health (30 credits) 
• The Management of Risk for Mental Health (15 credits) 
• Clinical Practice in Mental Health (30 credits)

Year 2 

The student must take 120 credits from the modules in Year 2

Year 2 Compulsory Modules 

The student must take 120 credits from the modules in Compulsory Modules 

• Developing Your Clinical Practice in Mental Health 2 (20 credits) 
• Enquiry Methods (15 credits) 
• Principles of Management and Leadership (15 credits) 
• The Principles of Professional Assessment for Mental Health (15 credits) 
• The Principles of Professional Development (15 credits) 
• Assistant Practitioner End-Point Assessment (for degree students) (40 credits) 
• Occupational Case Study (for HTQ students) (40 credits)

Graduates of this course are eligible to progress to related Honours Top-up courses, and are also eligible to apply to join the second year of associated full Honours degrees, such as the BSc (Hons) in Nursing (Mental Health) at UWE Bristol. 

This Foundation Degree has been designed for those aspiring to be assistant practitioners (Skills for Health Career Framework Level 4) who already have related roles in health and social care settings and want to further their careers. 

Industry insight 

Assistant practitioner roles in mental health are varied, so you could be working in hospitals, community recovery teams and with families and young people. 

Qualification Requirements

• Ideally a level 3 qualification in a Health and Social Care related subject
• Requirement of 64 UCAS tariff points
• Maths and English GCSE above a grade 4/C or equivalent
• You will need to secure an appropriate workplace to gain relevant experience. You will need a mentor who is registered with Nursing and midwifery council OR health care professions council.
• Your employer must be in agreement with the student to attend University once a week.

Please contact Ellie Read for more information on ellie.read@weston.ac.uk or UCWenquiries@weston.ac.uk 

Programme specification