Community Specialist Practitioner Higher Apprenticeship
Full time (54 weeks) or Part time (106 weeks)

The programme places emphasis on developing and applying the knowledge, skills and competencies required for a successful career in your field of community specialist practice.

Our philosophy is to support a student-centric culture, empowering you to be an engaged and independent student, with excellent clinical and leadership skills. A transformational pedagogical approach is used, where, as an adult, you will engage in self-directed learning; critical evaluation; reflection; knowledge and skills acquisition. The programme offers a blended learning approach, which includes e-lectures and e-learning materials such as Online Supported Learning (OSL), seminars, a range of simulation methodologies across the module teaching delivery and workshops.

The use of technology-enhanced and simulated learning forms a core part of your programme. This will be a component of your academic modules, proportionately and effectively used across the curriculum and in your clinical practice to support the achievement of your learning goals.

There is a mixture of field specific teaching within modules, focusing on prescribing and advanced clinical assessment skills and also within shared modules. The latter supports inter-professional learning, giving you the opportunity to engage and learn with students undertaking other professional pathways. This strategy is to enable you to explore the complexity and diversity of service provision and develop skills that contribute to inter-professional working. Both research and technology enhanced learning (TEL) are embedded throughout the programme, all learning materials are underpinned with contemporary research evidence. You will be actively encouraged and supported to engage with the research and audit process generally throughout the programme, but also in specific modules which focus on the advancement of research, audit and evidence-based practice knowledge and skills commensurate with your specialist nursing role. In relation to practice, you will be allocated a placement duration of the programme, where you must demonstrate evidence of achieving NMC standards required of a community specialist practitioner.

You will benefit from a shared learning approach throughout the programme, learning and working alongside fellow student community specialist practitioners with the aim of promoting integrated learning and knowledge exchange. This shared approach to learning will remain a consistent theme throughout the programme whilst allowing field-specific learning to take place in tutorials and specified sessions throughout each of the modules to support and consolidate specialist learning, delivered by experts from within your field of practice.

End Point Assessment

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (2020) state that - Rigorous, robust and independent End Point Assessment (EPA) gives employers confidence that apprentices can actually perform in the occupation they have been trained in and can demonstrate the duties, and knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the occupational standard. For details of the current EPA for your standard please consult the IFATE Apprenticeship standards / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education webpage here.

This apprenticeship normally takes between 54 and 106 weeks to complete, followed by the endpoint assessment which will typically be completed within 3-12 months. Full details are available on the IFATE website.

The programme team have developed a robust supportive framework to support you pastorally as we recognise that as a student you will perform more effectively when supported, therefore, Northumbria University has developed a personal tutor policy, which is designed to ensure you receive support at key times during your programme.

You will be supported by a personal tutor who provides pastoral help, guidance, and support for the duration of your programme. Module leads also provide this help, particularly in connection with specific issues relating to their module. You will also be supported in the clinical setting by Practice Assessors (PA’s, Practice Supervisors (PS’s) and practice placement facilitators (PPF) and as part of the SPQ programme there will be progress review meetings with you, your employer, and the University. There will be progress review meetings in each semester over the programme to discuss your progress and explore any issues that may impact on your ability to complete the required standards.

The programme team have many years’ experiences of supporting specialist practitioners so you are encouraged to seek out this support so that we can provide appropriate advice to allay your concerns or, we can refer you to appropriate services as indicated. Another potential for pastoral support lies within your ‘community of practice,’ which will provide you with a peer support network. Various forms of communication are available to ensure you can access support in a timely manner; examples include email, telephone, and face-to-face contact (at a distance via Microsoft teams or in person). Contact details for all academic and professional support staff are available on the Blackboard Ultra pages of the eLearning Portal. Student Central provide access to counselling services, advice on finance and any other student related non-programme issues including disability and dyslexia, counselling, and mental health support.

This higher apprenticeship programme aims to prepare you to fulfil your role in your field of community nursing, operating effectively as a community specialist practitioner.

This higher apprenticeship programme is therefore designed to equip you with the relevant academic and practical knowledge and skills to meet the NMC SPQ standards (2022).

Your field of specialist practice is also mapped to the QNI standards, and you will be endorsed within your identified field of practice. Employers/sponsors and co-producers are valuable partners in the development, delivery, and review of the higher apprenticeship programme and this helps us to ensure our provision continues to provide you and your peers with contemporary knowledge, skills and values desired in the workplace. Within Northumbria University, you will be able to access a range of support to develop and prepare you for employment via services including the Careers and Employment Service team. Northumbria apprentices have exclusive access to Graduate Futures Careers Online – the employability hub packed with interactive resources to help explore career options, develop your CV, complete practice aptitude tests, undertake interview simulations and review e-learning resources on a wide range of career topics. 

Employers are invested in your success on this higher apprenticeship programme and have been involved in the development of your pathway of study. Your employers will support you throughout your journey and prepare you for your substantive role once you have completed all requirements of the higher apprenticeship programme.

The employer covers all tuition fees for the apprentice, the total payment required depends on the organisation’s apprenticeship levy status.

Apprentices studying an apprenticeship do not pay any tuition fees, however, as they are in full-time employment they do not have student status and therefore are not entitled to apply for student finance. 

To discuss the fees for this apprenticeship in detail or to explore signing an agreement with the university, complete the enquiry form below and someone from our Business and Enterprise team will be in touch shortly.

We guide both employer and apprentice through the application and funding process and will be on hand to assist you during the apprenticeship journey.

To start the application process for either current employees or new recruits contact Business Development team today by email or complete our online enquiry form.

All apprentices are required to be in full-time employment to study the Community Specialist Practitioner Apprenticeship. If you are interested in studying this apprenticeship and you are in current full-time employment complete our online enquiry form. Alternatively, you can call 0191 215 6300.

If you are not in full-time employment but would like to study this apprenticeship programme, visit our vacancies page for information on all apprenticeship opportunities currently available.

Skills Assessment

Before entry onto the programme, all Apprenticeship applicants must complete an Initial Skills Assessment which maps their prior knowledge against the apprenticeship standard. This is part of the University’s regulatory funding obligations. The purpose of an apprenticeship is to provide new learning and the skills assessment will be used to establish whether we need to tailor your programme in any way to account for your previous qualifications or experience. It also provides a benchmark against which to map your progress on the programme.