Take your next career step with MSc Advanced Clinical Practice.

Study with our exceptional multidisciplinary team and learn to manage the care journey of very complex patients.

Whatever area of health care you’re ready to advance in, this flexible, blended-learning degree will support you at every step.

You’ll learn through a mixture of:

  • online
  • work-based, and
  • on-campus teaching, including simulation with patient partners.

Flexible delivery

This ACP degree is specially designed to fit around your existing career in health care, with part-time hours and a customisable pace.

Four pillars framework

Our curriculum is rooted in the Four Pillars of Advanced Clinical Practice framework. You’ll build your expertise to an advanced level across all pillars: clinical practice; leadership; facilitating learning; and evidence, research and development.

Tailored to you

Choose from a diverse range of courses, with options to balance research and clinical content, to tailor your advanced clinical practitioner training to your career aims.

In partnership with the NHS

Learn in a collaborative environment, with a degree delivered in partnership with our NHS colleagues. Senior clinicians, clinical academics, and staff from nursing and the allied health professions helped develop this degree, and they’ll be involved throughout your teaching.

Become an independent/supplementary prescriber

This degree includes courses to help you earn your V300 award and register as an independent/supplementary prescriber.

These non-medical prescribing courses are accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Who can join this MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice?

If you’re a nurse, physiotherapist, paramedic or other healthcare practitioner working in an advanced or advancing role, this degree offers you a flexible way to develop your knowledge and clinical skills.

This degree is for qualified healthcare practitioners who:

  • live within easy travel distance of Aberdeen, and
  • work in clinical practice, in any healthcare discipline, in hospital or community settings.

Choose the University of Aberdeen for MSc Advanced Clinical Practice

1st in the UK for Medicine

Join a university ranked 1st in the UK for Medicine (Guardian University Guide 2025).

Over 525 years of excellence

Graduate from the fifth-oldest university in the English-speaking world, founded in 1495.

NHS and alumni discounts

NHS staff get 10% off this online degree. University of Aberdeen alumni get 20% off.

What you’ll study

You can apply to study for a:

  • Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)
  • Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits)
  • Masters (180 credits), or
  • start with one of the short courses that make up this degree (15 or 30 credits).

Typically, students enrol for the PgCert first, then continue through to the PgDip and MSc, subject to personal development goals.

Try our degree scheduler

Choose your courses

Choose your courses

See all the courses that are part of this degree and choose what you want to study.

Manage your study schedule

Manage your study schedule

Control the pace and cost of your degree. Decide how much you want to study each term.

Save to your wishlist

Save to your wishlist

Save your schedule to your wishlist so you can view and edit anytime.

Customise your degree

How you’ll study

Blended learning

Advanced Clinical Practice is delivered flexibly, via blended learning.

This means you’ll have courses that are:

  • fully online
  • fully on campus
  • a mixture of online and on campus, and
  • work-based.

Online teaching

Online teaching is delivered through MyAberdeen, our online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Take a look around MyAberdeen.

You can access MyAberdeen on computer, smartphone and laptop, 24 hours a day. You’ll find a range of resources available, including:

  • online lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops
  • videos, podcasts and audio clips
  • reading materials
  • discussion boards with colleagues and tutors
  • online access to our award-winning Sir Duncan Rice Library.

On-campus teaching

Your on-campus teaching takes place in the Suttie Centre at our Foresterhill Health Campus in Aberdeen.

Your on-campus learning will include:

  • lectures, tutorials, and seminars
  • simulation, including sessions with patient partners
  • interprofessional sessions
  • small group work
  • experiential learning in Clinical Practice with experienced practitioners.

The Suttie Centre is a purpose-built facility designed to support your learning in a safe, simulated clinical environment.

Foresterhill is one of the largest clinical complexes in Europe. It’s home to one of the leading medical schools in the UK, a large teaching hospital, maternity and children’s hospitals, and the Rowett Institute. Find out more about our Health Campus.

Work-based learning

Hands-on demonstration and clinical skills teaching will also take place in your own area of practice.

Your tutors

You’ll learn from leading academics, researchers, and health professionals from our Institute of Applied Health Sciences (IAHS), as well as NHS staff, clinicians and researchers.

Your tutors include:

Helen Gray

Helen is a Lecturer who leads our MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice. A dual registered nurse, she specialises in critical care nursing and practice education.

Helen has worked as a bedside nurse, team leader and educator in the UK, Canada and USA. She’s been training NHS advancing practitioners for over 10 years.

View Helen’s profile

Professor Rona Patey

Rona is Director of the Institute of Education in Healthcare Medical Science. She has been a Consultant Anaesthetist in Aberdeen since 1991.

Rona was appointed as Director of the Foresterhill Clinical Skills Centre in 2001 and as the Head of the Division of Medical and Dental Education in 2011.

Dr Jonathan Whitfield

Jonathan is a Medical Consultant for NHS Grampian and an Honorary Senior Lecturer. His background is as a Physician specialising in acute care.

Dr Daniel Bennett

Daniel is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen and is the Undergraduate Lead for Psychiatry.

He works as a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist with NHS Grampian and has been an Associate Postgraduate Dean with NHS Education for Scotland since September 2017.

View Daniel’s profile

Your support team

Our friendly team are here to answer any queries you have before, during and after your studies.

Helen Gray

Helen is the degree coordinator. She’ll be on hand to answer any questions about degree content before you start and to help you throughout your studies.

Clare McHattie

Clare is part of the School’s postgraduate teaching support team. She’ll be there throughout your studies to answer any of your non-academic queries.

Get in touch

The online education team is here to answer any questions you have right now about this qualification, or about studying online.

Ask us a question

Where this will take you

Careers

This degree will prepare you to work as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP).

You’ll graduate as a highly autonomous practitioner, equipped to make impactful contributions to healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

In-demand skills for Advanced Clinical Practice

You’ll develop in-demand expertise harmonious with the four pillars of advanced practice, as well as high-level critical-reasoning and decision-making skills.

Teamwork is at the core of today’s healthcare environment, and this ACP degree ensures you’ll have the skills you need to be an essential part of multidisciplinary teams.

Future career opportunities

This degree prepares you for further career advancement, leading you towards future roles including Senior ACP and Advanced Practice Consultant.

What is an Advanced Clinical Practioner?

An Advanced Clinical Practitioner is defined as an experienced and highly educated registered healthcare professional who manages the complete clinical care for their patient.

As clinical leaders, they have the freedom and authority to act and accept responsibility and accountability for their actions.

The level of practice of an ACP is characterised by high-level autonomous decision making, including:

  • assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, including prescribing for complex problems
  • decision making using high-level expert knowledge and skills
  • the ability to refer, admit, and discharge within appropriate clinical areas, as well as
  • working as part of multidisciplinary teams.

Lifelong career support

Our career support doesn’t stop when you graduate.

You have access to our free careers service while you study, and beyond.

  • 1:1 appointments
  • CV checks
  • Interview prep
  • Job opportunities

Fees and funding

Postgraduate Certificate

60 credits

£4,060

This indicative cost is based on 60 credits of study over two terms, starting in September 2025.

Postgraduate Diploma

120 credits

£8,680

This indicative cost is based on 120 credits of study over two years, starting in September 2025.

Master of Science

180 credits

£13,160

This indicative cost is based on 180 credits of study over three years, starting in September 2025.

The fees quoted above are based on you starting your studies with us in the 2025/26 academic year.

Our indicative costs include a 5% fee rise each year.

Pay as you go

This is a pay-as-you-go qualification.

You do not have to pay the full tuition fee upfront.

You can spread the cost and pay as you go, term by term.

How it works

  • You decide how many credits to study for each term.
  • At the start of term, you pay only for the credits you’re taking that term.
  • This gives you control over your costs and workload for each term of your qualification.

Your personalised cost breakdown

Use the degree scheduler to plan your studies and see your cost breakdown, term by term.

Entry requirements

PgCert, PgDip, MSc

To apply for this programme, you must be:

  • a registered nurse or allied health professional
  • working in or towards an advanced clinical role in healthcare.

On-campus requirements

This blended-learning degree features study sessions delivered on campus in Aberdeen, and you will be required to attend these sessions in person.

Apply for this programme

Start month
September or January
INDICATIVE COST
£4,060

This indicative cost is based on 60 credits of study over two terms, starting in September 2025.

Apply via our Applicant Portal
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