Undergraduate
Apprenticeship

Assistant Practitioner (Health)

FdSc Level 5

Start date

Duration

Location

Overview
Requirements
Course detail & modules
Costs & fees
Study & career progression

Next steps

Start date

Next steps

Overview

This 2-year higher apprenticeship course has been designed for Band 2/3 healthcare assistant/support workers wanting to advance their careers. It is approved against the latest version of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education apprenticeship standard v1.1 – Assistant Practitioner (Health)

Assistant Practitioners assist registered healthcare professionals in total patient assessment, and in the coordination of care (including referrals to other practitioners), as well as undertaking clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic activities, according to service needs.

They work in a variety of settings, such as hospitals, clinics or in the community (eg GP surgeries) and in a wide range of health and care services for example diagnostic services, rehabilitation, orthopaedics, oncology, end-of-life care, mental health and learning disabilities.

Assistant Practitioner roles often cross traditional occupational boundaries, offering a diverse and fulfilling career.

Upon successful completion of this higher apprenticeship course, you will:

be awarded a higher apprenticeship certificate and an academic qualification (Foundation Degree Science FdSc), that directly relates to your knowledge and skill in providing high quality person-centred, compassionate health/social care
be eligible to apply for a Band 4 Assistant Practitioner post
be eligible to apply for a range of higher education pre-registration healthcare courses, leading to professional registration
be eligible to apply for the pre-registration nursing course at UWL (BNursing (Hons)), entering directly into year 2, in recognition of your prior learning. This is available as an apprenticeship and fee-paying course.

On this apprenticeship course, you will attend university one day a week and undertake your job in a health/social care setting for the remainder of the time, helping you to apply the theory you learn, to the care you deliver.

We welcome apprentices from a range of backgrounds, including but not limited to, those who work in:

wards or outpatient areas supporting a nurse.
maternity support
physiotherapy
operating department
occupational therapy
speech and language
GP practice
radiotherapy
diagnostic radiology
pharmacology

This apprenticeship has been developed in collaboration with employers and is eligible for apprenticeship levy funding.

Find out more about what an Assistant practitioner does on the NHS website.

A Health Assistant Practitioner helps several elderly patients

Select a start date below to see relevant course information:

Start date:

View apprenticeships standards End Point Assessment

Requirements

Requirements for apprentices

You will:

Hold evidence of GCSE English Language and Mathematics Grade 9-4/A*-C or Level 2 ESFA compliant equivalents, on entry to the course.

You will be supported to undertake Functional Skills Level 2 English and maths whilst on the course, with the aim of achieving this by the end of year 1 (level 4) and at the latest prior to Gateway. This requires an additional 57 hours of study for each subject (there is no additional cost). These hours are in addition to the off-the-job hours for the course. The employer must release the apprentice from work to undertake these courses.

Employment

You must:

Be employed in a health or social care setting, in a role that involves providing care to service users.
Be employed for a minimum of 30 hours a week.
Have support from your manager to undertake the apprenticeship.
Have an identified mentor who will assess you in practice and support you to complete the clinical competency document.

Change of Employment

Change of employment during the course could impact your studies and any plan to do so should be discussed with the course leader.

Eligibility

All apprenticeships starting from 1 August 2021:

Eligibility is subject to Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Apprenticeship Funding Rules. Over the duration of the apprenticeship, you must meet the eligibility requirements in place at the time, including:

Have the right to work and study in England
Spend at least 50% of your working time in England; and
Are a UK citizen and have been ordinarily resident for the last three years in the UK or meet one of the following immigration statuses:

UK and Irish Nationals: have been ordinarily resident in the UK or EEA for the three years before the first day of the start of the apprenticeship.

EEA nationals: have either pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme; and have been ordinarily resident in the EEA, Gibraltar, or the UK for at least the previous three years before the first day of the start of the apprenticeship.

*Non-EEA nationals: you are eligible if you have permission from the UK government to live in the UK, (not for educational purposes) and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the previous three years before the first day of the start of the apprenticeship.

* You must meet the UK government’s eligibility criteria for apprenticeship funding:

Where an applicant for an apprenticeship does not hold a UK passport as a British citizen, these requirements state that you must have an immigration permission in the UK that allows you to study and will cover the length of the whole apprenticeship in full without you needing to extend your visa or immigration permission during the apprenticeship.

Please check the guidance for further clarification, particularly for information on:

Family members of UK and EEA nationals
Individuals with certain types of immigration status and their family members
Asylum seekers
Other immigration status.

You can also contact the Student Admissions Team admissions@uwl.ac.uk if you require further clarification.

Course detail & modules

On this higher apprenticeship course, you will learn how to:

work effectively and safely within your area of practice in a health/social care environment, within the limits of your own competence
support the care, protection and wellbeing of patients and service users
develop effective communication skills, including the use of verbal written and interpersonal skills, IT skills and accurate record-keeping
understand the importance of promoting effective teamwork
develop skills of critical, analytical, and reflective thinking to question your own practice and seek solutions to potential problems and identify best practice opportunities
develop the skills to access, retrieve, analyse, and evaluate evidence to decide the extent to which it should inform or influence your practice.

At UWL, we understand how important support is to your success. On this FdSc apprenticeship course we offer:

teaching staff who are highly committed and specialists in their subjects
a variety of teaching and learning and assessment strategies, which will increase your confidence and capacity to learn as you progress through the course, helping you to fulfil your potential
a personal tutor to guide you through your course
access to the full range of UWL’s student support services [please can you insert a link to the relevant page]
study support and a dedicated librarian
access to state-of-the-art simulation facilities helping you to practice your skills in a safe environment.

In your workplace, you will have a named clinical mentor. Your mentor will hold a registered qualification, relevant to your work area (i.e. registered nurse/physiotherapist/midwife). They will support your learning by:

identifying learning opportunities with you
supporting and facilitating the development of your clinical skills
monitoring and reviewing your progress
assessing your course competencies and specialist competencies related to your area of practice
ensuring you are working within your scope of practice.

Mentors are given support and training to undertake the role that includes:

understanding the role of an assistant practitioner
knowledge and understanding of the course competencies
the role of the mentor and how to support students
how to complete the competency documentation
knowledge and understanding of the scope of practice within the clinical area.

As an apprentice, you will also have 12 weekly meetings with your employer and your allocated Apprenticeship Support Link Tutor (ASLT) to provide personalised feedback on your progress in the theory and practice components of the apprenticeship course.

Year 1 and 2

Compulsory modules

Learning Skills Development

This module will prepare you for the course by identifying your learning style and needs. It will teach you how to write an academic essay, develop effective literature search skills, note taking and paraphrasing and time management.
Assistant Practitioner: Introduction to the Role

The module looks at the different roles in healthcare and how all the professions and support staff work to ensure safe care for people receiving care. The reasons the role was developed will be explored including the way the role is utilised across different healthcare professions and workplaces.
Anatomy and Physiology for Healthcare

This module provides you with the underpinning knowledge and understanding of the normal anatomy and physiology of the human body. The module covers all the major body systems. This will help you to develop your understanding, clinical and analytical skills related to caring for people within healthcare and social care setting.
Skills for Practice

This module looks at the fundamental skills you will need to give care to people. These include planning and organisational skills, communication skills, the ability to form good working relationships and the practical skills for observation of the patient, assessing their needs and helping them with hygiene needs, nutrition, and more.
Safe Practice in Healthcare

Patient safety is an essential part of care that aims to prevent avoidable errors and patient harm. The module explores the risks associated with healthcare and identifies how these risks can be reduced.
Introduction to Research

You will learn what research and evidence-based practice is, and why it is important in healthcare.
Pathophysiology for Healthcare

You will learn what happens when the normal function of the body systems is disrupted due to illness or disease. You will consider the risk factors that can lead to disease, treatments, care delivery, and the impact this may have on a patient’s life.
Enhanced Skills for Practice

This module will help you to build on the skills you learnt at level 4. You will examine the care of a deteriorating patient and will learn about pharmacology and medication management. The principles of health promotion will also be studied, providing insight into how you can help people improve their health and wellbeing.
Improving the Quality of Care

People have a right to receive high quality healthcare. The module looks at quality, what it is and how we measure it. It looks at improvements that have been made in healthcare and evaluates the effectiveness. You will be asked to undertake a small improvement project within your workplace to complete this module.
Assistant Practitioner: Developing the Role
This is the end point assessment (EPA) module. The EPA is typically completed within 3 months and comprises:
Observation of practice – 2 hrs and 15mins (component 1 – live observation 90mins; component 2 question and answer session 45 mins)
AND
Professional discussion underpinned by portfolio of evidence – 90 mins

Teaching & learning

A demonstration of operating department practice in a hospital setting

How you will be assessed

There is regular on-course assessment of knowledge, skills and behaviours, by the employer and University.  You will complete 200 credits of on-course learning, before moving to Gateway. On meeting the Gateway requirements, you will undertake the End Point Assessment (EPA) module Assistant Practitioner: Developing the Role (40 credits at academic level 5).

The EPA is typically completed within 3 months and comprises:

observation of practice – 2 hrs and 15mins (component 1 – live observation 90mins; component 2 question and answer session 45 mins)

AND

professional discussion underpinned by a portfolio of evidence – 90 mins

The overall EPA can be graded as Distinction, Pass or Fail. On successful completion of the EPA you will receive your:

Higher Apprenticeship Assistant Practitioner (Health) certificate from the Education Skills Funding Agency
Foundation Degree Science (FdSc) Assistant Practitioner certificate from UWL

The outcome of the apprenticeship will be shared with your employer.

Costs & fees

Costs for apprentices

Although there are no tuition fees payable by you as an apprentice, additional costs may be incurred which are outside of the apprenticeship levy funding. Please discuss additional costs directly with your employer.

Costs for employers

For employers, the costs of training your apprentice will usually be covered by the apprenticeship levy. Find out more about how apprenticeship funding works.

Please note, an apprentice must be paid for all of their off-the-job learning, ie, study days and attendance at Functional Skills level 2 English and maths courses, where these qualifications are not held on entry.

Teaching staff

Study & career progression

A nurse checks the blood pressure of and older patient

On successful completion of the Assistant Practitioner (Health) course, you will be eligible to apply for:

a Band 4 Assistant Practitioner post/equivalent post i.e. healthcare science associate
a range of higher education pre-registration healthcare courses, leading to professional registration
the pre-registration nursing course at UWL (BNursing (Hons)), entering directly into year 2, in recognition of your prior learning.

Next steps

Next steps for apprentices

Apprenticeships are open to both existing and new employees.

If you would like to start an apprenticeship in your current working role, you will need to register interest with your employer.

Why not send the appropriate person at your organisation a link to our information for employers?

How to apply

To apply for this apprenticeship, you will need to find a position with an employer who is offering it. We cannot accept applications directly.

We advertise any apprenticeship vacancies from employers we are working with on our Vacancies page, and we recommend checking the National Apprenticeship Service website for vacancies across the country.

Next steps for employers

If you are interested in offering this apprenticeship, either by hiring a new apprentice or training a current employee, contact Janet Rowson, Director of Apprenticeships:

Email janet.rowson@uwl.ac.uk

Assistant Practitioner (Health)

Overview