To become an accredited advanced practitioner, you will need to complete either a taught or ePortfolio route. The availability of the ePortfolio route is not open ended; its continuing availability will be dependent on the remaining number of existing, experienced advanced practitioners who need to be recognised as such.
Taught Route
Many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the Midlands offer the 3-year (part-time) MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice. Depending on which MSc course you choose, this will start annually in semester 1 (from September) and some courses also have a semester 2 intake (from January). To search for a list of accredited programmes please visit the centre for advancing practice website here.
There are three funding routes to completing the taught MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice:
NHS England Midlands, subject to budgetary constraints, provides funding to support the development of Advanced Practice roles through three routes:
Advanced Clinical Practice Master of Science (MSc) Fees Funded Programme – NHS England will pay the tuition fees to a maximum of £2666* per year (totalling a maximum of £8,000*) for the maximum period of 36 months. Currently, within region, the tuition fees are paid directly to the university.
*This is the maximum contribution from NHS England Midlands, any additional fees must be covered by the employer
Advanced Clinical Practitioner Degree Apprenticeship – funding for this route for 2026/27 will be via the NHS England national mitigation funding. NHS England will pay employing organisations a maximum of £4000 per year (totalling a maximum of £12,000 for the typical length of the apprenticeship e.g. 36 months). Payment will be via the Education Funding Agreement (EFA) and employing organisations will then need to pass this payment to the relevant university. During this time, trainees, universities, and employers will need to adhere to previous apprenticeship standards and conditions previously agreed within the apprenticeship levy.
Advanced Clinical Practice Top-up – funding is available for those who have previously completed modules which are normally part of an advanced clinical practice MSc programme. The individual would undertake the additional modules to complete the full MSc mapped to the capabilities of Multi-Professional Framework for Advanced Practice in England. The Midlands rate of funding is £42.50* per credit, up to a maximum of 120 credits.
*This is the maximum contribution from NHS England Midlands, any additional fees must be covered by the employer
All routes also include a supervision grant which is paid directly to employer or via the Training Hub once trainee enrolment is confirmed. This is intended solely to support high-quality supervision. Employers must ensure trainees receive appropriate study leave, workplace learning opportunities, and weekly supervised time, meeting the national supervision and governance standards in line with the Multiprofessional Framework for Advanced Practice in England.
The total amount for the supervision grant is to be confirmed for 2026/27, but for information, the 2025/26 supervision grant was £2758 per trainee per annum. This funding is also for a maximum period of 36 months and must be made available at service level to directly support the supervision of each trainee. The supervision grant must not be used for equipment or capital costs, and misuse of funding or inadequate supervision may lead to withdrawal of future funding.
Self-funding is discouraged, as Advanced Practice roles need organisational backing, appropriate supervision in the workplace, and an assured post on qualification. Only NHS organisations in the Midlands region, including Trusts, GP practices via Training Hubs, and other providers of NHS commissioned services, can apply for funding.
Funding for any of these routes cannot be accessed individually it needs to be planned in collaboration with your employer and Advanced Practice Lead/ Education Lead.
To secure funding you firstly need to discuss with your employer that they wish to develop you as a trainee Advanced Practitioner, and they have workforce development plans for a prospective Advanced Practitioner role for you on completion of training. Once that workforce development need has been established, to access funding you will need to liaise with your employing organisation’s Advanced Practitioner lead or education and training lead (or for primary care, the Advanced Practitioner lead or education and training lead within your Primary Care Training Hub).
These are the funding conditions of funding that need to be in place:
- The decision by NHS England Midlands region to allocate advanced practice funding is based on confirmation of the following at Organisation, Trust, or Primary Care Training Hub level:
- 1. Funding is for MSc programmes of academic study in advanced clinical practice for staff who are already registered as nurses, midwives, pharmacists, or AHPs to train as an Advanced Practitioner via a MSc Advanced Practice course (including apprenticeship or top up route).
- 2. The trainee is employed substantively in an organisation that is commissioned to deliver NHS services.
- 3. An advanced practice training post is provided by the employer during advanced practice training with an appropriate job description working across all four pillars.
- 4. Assurance is provided to NHS England that a substantive advanced practice post will be made available to the trainee upon qualification, in line with organisational or system workforce planning.
- 5. A suitable learning environment is provided to the trainee, aligned to the domains within the Education Quality Framework (2021) and Safe Learning Environment Charter (2024).
- 6. An appropriately qualified coordinating educational supervisor, in line with Minimum standards for supervision (2020), is identified for the trainee prior to application for funding.
- 7. Supervision takes place in line with Minimum standards for supervision (2020).
- 8. The employer will provide the trainee with sufficient time for attending taught sessions at an education provider, time to meet their supervisor regularly and time for work-based learning each week. It should not be expected that the trainee takes unpaid or annual leave for dedicated training days.
- 9. Any trainee changes of circumstance (e.g. pauses, withdrawals, returns, change of education provider, changes of employer) must be reported to NHS England as soon as possible. Failure to report a change of circumstance in a timely manner may impact funding. In addition to these changes, any fitness to practice referrals should also be reported to the Regional Faculty.
- 10. Once funding has been approved, organisations must not alter start dates, funding route or change education providers without prior authorisation from the Regional Faculty. Any changes made without approval will result in the employer being responsible for any associated financial consequences.
- 11. Funding is provided for the trainee to undertake an advanced practice programme within the NHS England region in which they are employed. Exceptions will only be considered under exceptional circumstances and subject to case-by-case review.
- 12. Trainees are required to complete the NHS England Midlands Advancing Practice Trainee Data Collection Form.
- Through accepting NHS England funding, you are confirming that the expectations outlined will be met for all trainees employed by your organisation / within your Training Hub area who are receiving such funding for advanced practice training. Where these conditions are not met, funding may be discontinued and where there is a pattern within an employer / Training Hub area of advanced practice trainees not being supported appropriately, advanced practice funding may be withdrawn from the employer. The provision of this funding for supporting advanced practice training will be evaluated and funded organisations will be asked for monitoring information as part of this planned evaluation process.
ePortfolio Route
The e-Portfolio (supported) Route is designed to enable recognition with the Centre for Advancing Practice of existing, experienced advanced practitioners, regularly working clinically in advanced practitioner roles, who have already completed their advanced practice experiential and educational learning before 2017 when HEE’s Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England was published.
Application for this route is voluntary and there are three main stages of the ePortfolio (supported) Route:
- Expressions of interest and application
- Learning need analysis (LNA)
- Completion of an e-Portfolio
Eligibility Criteria
- Existing advanced practitioner employed in an advanced practice clinical role in an NHS commissioned service (confirmed by advanced practice lead or equivalent)
- Employer support for completion needed
The completion of the e-Portfolio (supported) Route is over a 12-month period, working with an education supervisor from a partner education provider, usually the advanced practice team from an allocated university
Further information including dates for the next round of applications can be found on the ePortfolio webpage.
Advanced Practice in Primary Care
If you are working in primary care, the requirements for funding are the same as above, however you will need to contact your local training hub.