School of Health Professions

MSc Advanced Professional Practice in Physiotherapy

Duration

1 year
Course type

Full-time, Part-time route available
Study location Plymouth
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Are you a qualified physiotherapist looking to enhance your current skills and knowledge whilst developing a strong critical thinking ethos? This programme offers you the opportunity to review your current practice and evaluate new approaches, ensuring that you are equipped to meet the challenges of working in an ever changing physiotherapy profession with confidence.

Your career as a healthcare professional starts here

The first-class new home for our healthcare teaching and research providing students with skills to meet the needs of 21st century careers.

InterCity Place
InterCity Place
A unique new learning space where undergraduate and postgraduate students from the largest breadth of health disciplines in the South-West learn together under one roof, with expert practitioners.
Medical students using the Anatomage table clinical
Plymouth Integrative Health and Social Care Education Centre (PIHC)
Experience an interprofessional learning environment across our health programmes that will prepare you for life as a healthcare professional.
First choice for health
Become a healthcare professional of the future
Collaboration across the schools helps students to learn with, from and about each other, gaining the real-world experience employers seek.

Key features
  • Become an evidence-based practitioner equipped to manage and lead in dynamic settings.
  • Feel encouraged and supported by experienced and enthusiastic staff, who are recognised for their national and international research reputations.
  • Make use of blended learning techniques, combining short study blocks and distance learning technologies.
  • Train and practice your professional healthcare skills in an inspiring purpose-built environment, InterCity Place .
  • Explore a large range of continuing professional development (CPD) modules aligned to a number of specialities including neurology, musculoskeletal and respiratory.
  • Tailor your learning to your interests or workplace through module assignments and our physiotherapy focused supported independent study module.
  • Complete the programme in one year with the full-time study option or balance work and caring commitments by studying part time over a maximum of six years. The full-time route is suitable for international students, who will be supported to choose optional modules with non-clinical assignments.
Please note that when you enrol on this programme, you always enrol to study the master degree but we offer three exit awards: PgCert, PgDip and MSc.

Course details

  • Programme overview

  • Postgraduate Certificate
    To achieve a postgraduate certificate, you will need to obtain 60 credits. This must include the core module and the pathway specific module with the remaining 20 credits coming from an optional module of your choice.
    Core module
    ADV702 Applying Evidence to Practice 20 Credits
    Pathway module
    ADV751 Physiotherapy Practice: Supported Study 20 Credits
    Optional module
    Optional module 20 Credits
    Optional modules can be chosen from the masters level modules A-Z list . Please contact the Professional Development Unit Admissions Team to discuss your options.
    Postgraduate Diploma
    To achieve a postgraduate diploma, you will have first completed the PgCert and need to obtain an additional 60 credits (to give 120 credits in total). This must include one core module and two optional modules of your choice.
    Core module
    ADV715 Project Design for Research 20 Credits
    Optional modules
    Optional modules can be two 20 credit modules or one 40 credit - 40 Credits
    Optional modules can be chosen from the masters level modules A-Z list . Please contact the Professional Development Unit Admissions Team to discuss your options.
    MSc
    To achieve a full master degree, you will have first completed the PgDip and need to obtain an additional 60 credits (to give 180 credits in total). This must include the core module.
    Core module
    ADV716 Research Dissertation
The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.

Every postgraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the programme aims, the programme structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest programme structure and may be subject to change:

MSc Advanced Professional Practice Physiotherapy pathway specification_4474

Entry requirements
You’ll be required to have a first degree (BSc (Hons) at 2:2 or above or European first cycle equivalent) in physiotherapy. Non UK based candidates must be recognised as physiotherapists within their own country.
You may be a health or social care professional with a first degree or with a related academic degree. If you do not hold a degree but with appropriate experience related to the programme or to any of the chosen pathways you may be eligible to apply.
Evidence of competence in written and spoken English in accordance with the University’s Admissions Code of Practice – IELTS requirement is 6.5 average with a minimum of 5.5 in each category. If you need to improve your English language to get onto a degree programme at the University of Plymouth, you can book a pre-sessional academic English course . You’ll be assessed individually for your ability to study at this level and an interview may be necessary. You’ll normally be required to submit a short piece of writing as part of the admissions process.
Supplementary admissions form:
Applicants may be required to complete a supplementary admissions form as part of their admissions process.
AP(E)L:
Claims for credit for prior learning, whether certificated or experiential are accepted and will be assessed following University regulations and faculty procedures.
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS):
This programme is equivalent to 90 ECTS credits (second cycle) with 30 ECTS credits at postgraduate certificate, 60 credits at postgraduate diploma and 90 credits at masters degree. Each 20 credit module has the equivalent of 10 ECTS credits and assumes a notional student effort of between 200-300 hours.
Successful completion of this pathway does not lead to eligibility to apply for registration as a physiotherapist with the Health and Social Care Professions Council.
We welcome applicants with international qualifications. To view other accepted qualifications please refer to our tariff glossary .

Fees, costs and funding
Student 2024-25 2025-26
Home £11,000 £11,350
International £19,000 £19,550
Part time (Home) £1,220 per 20 credit module £1,260 per 20 credit module

*This fee is based on undertaking 180 credits in a single academic year of full time study. Please note that some of the optional modules for this programme are specialist modules and therefore may have different fees. Module fees can be found on the individual module webpages .
Full-time fees shown are per annum. Part-time fees shown are per a number of credits. Fees are correct at the time of publication and may be subject to change.
Students applying for a postgraduate loan will be subject to stipulations regarding the duration of the programme. Please contact the pathway lead for advice before applying.

Additional costs

Please be aware that there may be additional costs to undertaking your studies relating to printing of course materials, parking charges if you are studying at PAHC, and requirement for an initial outlay for travel and accommodation in respect of practice placement. If you have any questions regarding these costs please contact pduadmissions@plymouth.ac.uk.

Postgraduate Merit Scholarship for international students

Scholarship value: £2000 off your tuition fees in year one.
You may also receive:
  • 10% off the successive years tuition fee if an overall grade of 60% or above is maintained.
To be eligible you must:
This scholarship will be offered automatically, providing you meet the eligibility criteria. A separate application will not be required.
In order to cater for the needs of the NHS workforce, this full-time programme is also available as a part-time programme, which is flexible in nature and allows up to five years for students to complete the full MSc. For this reason, students on the programme are unable to claim support via the Student Loans Company Postgraduate Loan. The SLC stipulates that only full-time programmes without a part time equivalent can be funded. If you think that you will have trouble funding your place on the programme, we would recommend a discussion with your employer to see whether any financial support can be granted.

Tuition fee discount for University of Plymouth graduates

If you studied your undergraduate degree at Plymouth, you may be eligible for a fee discount if you complete your postgraduate studies here as well.
  • 10% or 20% discount on tuition fees for home students
  • For 2024/2025 entry, a 20% discount on tuition fees for international students (International alumni who have applied to the University through an agent are not eligible to receive the discount)

How to apply

Apply online

Applying for this programme
Applications for the full-time or part-time programme starting September 2025 need to be completed via the link above.
Applicants for the part-time programme (starting before September 2025) need to complete the application via the Postgraduate Application Form. You will also need to provide a copy of your degree (or higher) certificate(s). Please return the form and certificate(s) copies to pduadmissions@plymouth.ac.uk
Any questions please contact:
Professional Development Unit
4th floor, Rolle Building
University of Plymouth
Drake Circus
Plymouth, PL4 8AA
What happens after I apply?
After your application is received, it will be processed and sent to the Programme Lead for a decision to be made on your suitability to study. You may be asked to provide additional information or to take part in an interview (for overseas students this may be by telephone or video conference). Once this decision has been made, you will be sent an email either confirming your place on the programme, or rejecting your application and giving the reasons for this decision (you may request further feedback in order to improve your chances of selection at a later date).
Please note that you will be enrolled on the full MSc programme. You may choose to exit with the qualification of PgCert upon completion of an appropriate 60 credits, or a PgDip upon completion of an appropriate 120 credits. More information is contained within the programme specification.
For applicants with disabilities
If you have a disability and would like further information about the support provided by the University of Plymouth, please visit our Disability Services webpage.

Update: application process

Please note that there has been an update to the application process for our masters programmes.
Any part-time applications for programmes starting before September 2025 need to continue to use the Postgraduate Application Form and any additional information forms as required. Full details can be found on our admissions homepage .
Part-time applications for September 2025 and beyond need to apply online via the link on the relevant programme page.
Any full-time applications for programmes starting in September 2025 need to apply online via the link on the relevant programme page.
 

Welcome to the MSc Advance Professional Practice in Physiotherapy

Pathway lead Sue May highlights the benefits of the programme.
Sue is a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (MCSP) and the Health Professions Council (HPC).

People

What our programme offers

Find out more about how studying the MSc Advanced Professional Practice in Physiotherapy at Plymouth can benefit you.

Signpost in the mountain at sunset

MSc Advanced Professional Practice pathways

Both the School of Health Professions and the School of Nursing and Midwifery offer the MSc Advanced Professional Practice programme; together we offer a wide range of specialist and generic pathways to meet the educational needs of all health and social care professionals.
 
Plymouth Hoe

English Language Centre

We offer a range of courses to help you develop your academic English language skills.
These include pre-sessional academic English courses for undergraduates, taught postgraduates and research students along with insessional language classes, tutorials and activities to support students who have English as a second language.