Advancing professional practice

This module supports you in developing the knowledge and skills required to advance your scope of professional practice. Throughout your studies, you'll be required to explore the role of service improvement in health and social work practice. An integral aspect of the module assessment requires you to identify an aspect of quality improvement within your practice that you will investigate further through a critical literature review.

You'll critically explore the role of leadership in delivering quality improvement and undertake practice-based activities throughout the module to develop your skills and build a practice portfolio that will further embed your learning. During your studies, you'll develop advanced skills in the systematic and critical use of appropriate evidence that is relevant to your practice, enabling you to engage with stakeholders as you plan and deliver a service improvement project.

Register

Start	End	Fee
-	-	-	No current presentation - see Future availability
This module is expected to start for the last time in October 2029.

What you will study

Studying this module will provide you with the knowledge and skills to scope your advancing professional role in practice, systematically and critically use evidence in your practice, and plan for the implementation of a service improvement project.

In the first week, you'll be introduced to the four blocks of study and you will revisit some important knowledge that will help you complete the module.

Block 1: Service improvement – the big picture
This block explores the role of service improvement in health and social work practice. You will also start to focus in on your own practice, revisit the concept of critical thinking, complexity and change, service improvement models and professional implications in leading service improvement.

Block 2: Focusing in and scoping your practice
This block provides you with some tools to enable you to scope your quality improvement in practice and identify a topic area to investigate further as part of a critical literature review. It provides you with the knowledge and skills to create a review question on your chosen topic, plan and do a critical literature review.

Block 3: Doing a literature review
In this block you will be provided with support to conduct your critical literature review.

Block 4: Planning your service improvement
This block revisits some of the content you have covered in blocks 1 and 2 relating to planning service improvement and engaging different stakeholders. It builds on this and provides you with the knowledge to produce a service improvement plan.

This module will equip you with the skills to scope your quality improvement in practice, conduct a critical literature review, and plan your service improvement project for your area of practice. However, you will not be expected to implement your service improvement plan during the module.

You will be required to complete practice-based activities throughout your study which contribute to an e-portfolio to be submitted for assessment at the end of the module.

Vocational relevance

This module is suitable for registered health and social work professionals currently working in an area of practice.

Entry

To study this postgraduate module, you’ll need to:

hold an undergraduate degree from a UK university (or equivalent)
hold current registration with one of the statutory health or social work regulatory bodies as relevant to your profession (such as NMC, GPhC, HCPC, SWE, SCW, SSSC or NISSC)
be employed in a relevant practice area or have the opportunity for practice-based learning. It will not be possible to complete this module if you do not have access to practice-based learning in a health or social work environment.
have access to a suitably qualified and experienced supervisor during the module who is committed to supporting you to achieve the required practice learning and negotiation of additional learning experiences that will enable you to complete the requirements of the module.

Please be aware that your registration on this module is conditional until we have confirmed that you have met the above entry requirements.

If you plan to study Advancing professional practice (K805) as part of the below qualifications, please refer to the individual qualification descriptions for full details of their entry requirements:

How to apply

If you would like to apply to register for this module, please contact us for details on the application process, or for further guidance.

Preparatory work

Before your module begins, it may be useful for you to revise topics such as:

evidence-based practice
research methods and approaches
critical appraisal of evidence
critical thinking
service improvement models
stakeholder analysis and engagement methods.

Qualifications

K805 is a compulsory module in our:

MA in Social Work (F80)

If you have a disability

If you have specific learning support needs, you may be eligible to received printed or suitably adapted versions of the module materials.

To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our disability support pages.

Study materials

What's included

You will have access to a module website which includes:

a week-by-week study planner
course-specific module materials
video recordings
an assessment guide
access to online discussion forums
an electronic portfolio
interprofessional day schools
tutorials.

Computing requirements

Primary device – A desktop or laptop computer. It’s possible to access some materials on a mobile phone, tablet or Chromebook; however, they will not be suitable as your primary device.
Peripheral device – Headphones/earphones with a built-in microphone for online tutorials.
Our OU Study app operates on supported versions of Android and iOS.
Operating systems – Windows 11 or latest supported macOS. Microsoft will no longer support Windows 10 as of 14 October 2025.
Internet access – Broadband or mobile connection.
Browser – Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are recommended. Mozilla Firefox and Safari may be suitable.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You will have the support of a module tutor and will be required to engage with your tutor and peers through online discussion forums related to the module materials. There are two compulsory full-day schools, which are currently delivered online and you must attend these to pass the module. There is also a series of tutorials delivered by your tutor throughout your study.

Assessment

The assessment details for this module can be found in the facts box.

Professional recognition

Advancing professional practice is the final module studied in the MA in Social Work (F80). You will need to be a registered professional already to study.

Future availability

Advancing professional practice (K805) starts once a year – in October.

This page describes the module that will start in October 2025.

We expect it to start for the last time in October 2029.

How to register

We regret that we are currently unable to accept registrations for this module. Where the module is to be presented again in the future, relevant registration information will be displayed on this page as soon as it becomes available.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.

PG Postgraduate

Course facts

About this course:
Course code	K805
Credits	60
OU Level	Postgraduate
SCQF level	11
FHEQ level	7
Course work includes:
4 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs)
End-of-module assessment
No residential school