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Mental Health Practice

MA / PGDip / PGCert

Duration
Start date
Location

Suitable for applications.

Overview

Established by the Children and Social Work Act (2017), from December 2019 Social Work England (SW England) replaced the Health and Care Professions Council as regulator for Professional Social Work in England.

The two interdependent elements in this qualification are:

  1. Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) training (available at PGD and MA level)
  2. Either a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or MA in Mental Health Practice

Employers are responsible for sponsoring students for this programme. They also provide practice placements to enable students to develop their practice. This is assessed by means of a portfolio.

Employer nomination

All applicants must be nominated by a local authority or other employer. The Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) role was created in 2007 and replaced the Approved Social Worker (ASW) role. The AMHP role can be undertaken by registered social workers, appropriately qualified and experienced nurses, occupational therapists and chartered psychologists who have completed the required programme of training.

Entry requirements

Employer nomination: All applicants must be nominated by a local authority or other employer.

A first degree (minimum 2:2). In exceptional cases candidates without a first degree may submit evidence of their ability to study at postgraduate level - the Programme Director will assess this for suitability.

English language requirements

IELTS at 7.5 or the equivalent.

If you do not meet the IELTS requirement, and you have a UKVI approved IELTS, you can take a University of Bradford pre-sessional English course. See the Language Centre for more details. For further information on English Language requirements please see the dedicated international entry requirements page.

What you will study

All module information is for 2023 entry, and is subject to change. 

Learning and assessment

Teaching is focused on meeting clear learning outcomes for each module whilst maintaining an overall holistic approach to mental health and mental health practice. Small student numbers facilitate the creation of a safe and stimulating environment in which the students can learn, recognising and building on the rich contribution that students bring from their own professional experience.

An induction programme will provide an introduction to adult learning with an emphasis on developing critical analysis and reflection accompanied by guidance on what is expected of postgraduate level study by the University.

Learning will be directed and supported using a range of methods and approaches, combining a mix of direct teaching / lecture input with small group discussion, case studies and examples from practice. The use of appropriate audio-visual resources will be used to enhance learning in addition to the contribution of service users and carers / experts-by-experience.

Guest speakers and associate lecturers will also provide relevant input based on their own expertise and specialist knowledge. Collaborative learning and discussion with peers will reflect the emphasis in advanced professional practice where peer consultation and supervision are recognised as good practice.

Each 20 credit module represents approximately 200 hours study time including time spent on assessment and directed study.

Official programme specification

Fees, finance and scholarships

Tuition fee 2024

  • PGDip: £5,034 (120 credits)
  • MA Project: £TBC (60 credits)

Additional costs

There may be additional costs that you may incur as a student. Though these are not essential to your programme of study you need to be aware of them as a student of the University. A list of the sort of costs you might expect can be found on our fees and finance section.

Financial support

See our fees and financial support section.

Scholarships

Every year we award numerous non-repayable scholarships to UK, EU and international students on the basis of academic excellence, personal circumstances or economic hardship. For full details, visit our scholarships section.

Career prospects

On completion of the first five modules, you will be eligible for the Postgraduate Diploma in Mental Health Practice and eligible for approval as an AMHP by your employer.

The AMHP Programme is approved by the SWE, in line with their criteria for the approval of AMHP programmes.

Career support

The University is committed to helping students develop and enhance employability and this is an integral part of many programmes. Specialist support is available throughout the course from Career and Employability Services including help to find part-time work while studying, placements, vacation work and graduate vacancies. Students are encouraged to access this support at an early stage and to use the extensive resources on the Careers website.

Discussing options with specialist advisers helps to clarify plans through exploring options and refining skills of job-hunting. In most of our programmes there is direct input by Career Development Advisers into the curriculum or through specially arranged workshops.

This is the current course information. Modules and course details may change, subject to the University's programme approval, monitoring and review procedures. The University reserves the right to alter or withdraw courses, services and facilities as described on our website without notice and to amend Ordinances, Regulations, fees and charges at any time. Students should enquire as to the up-to-date position when applying for their course of study.