AdvDip(CPD) Clinical Examination Skills (HE6)
Course Overview
Through this sector-focused professional development course, you'll have the chance to hone your skills in examining adult patients in a systematic and organised way. We'll help you learn to accurately identify abnormalities and pathological changes, link these changes to specific disease processes, and identify any need for a more detailed investigation or referral.We'll support you in learning to interpret clinical findings accurately, so you should already have a good understanding of anatomy, physiology and pathology.
The course is designed to improve your communication skills, so you can get qualitative information from patients and create appropriate action plans for focused clinical examinations.
Systems and examinations covered will include: cardiovascular, respiratory, abdominal, neurovascular, musculoskeletal, genitourinary, and ear, nose and throat.
PLEASE NOTE: The start dates given are for the week the course will commence. Please contact the module/programme leader for details of the day and times you will be expected to attend.
Highlights
- Our dedicated academic team brings extensive health and social care experience to the course content. Along with their passion for service excellence in health and social care settings, they're also currently engaged in highly relevant research, which means they can add valuable context and insight to your learning.
- The course is designed to provide the flexibility to fit in with busy home and working lives.
- As you study this course, we'll encourage you to develop the skills, values and behaviours popular with employers. These include action planning, personal impact and confidence, self-awareness, social and ethical responsibility, respect, and commitment to quality.
Key Features
- The University of Bolton has been offering high-quality courses designed to meet the health and social care sector's needs for over 30 years, so we have the knowledge and experience to anticipate and respond to changes in the health and social care sector.
- Our courses and programmes respond directly to the requirements of the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF), which is at the heart of the career and pay progression aspect of Agenda for Change.
- We review the course curriculum regularly to ensure we include and apply contemporary theories.
- When you successfully complete this course, the University of Bolton will award you an Advanced Diploma of CPD in Clinical Examination Skills worth 20 credits at Level HE6.
Entry Requirements
- You must have an appropriate health and social care related qualification; for example, registered nurse, assistant practitioner, allied health professional or paramedic.
- You'll need to have a good understanding of anatomy, physiology and pathology from your previous studies or professional experience. This will be assessed when you apply.
- You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
- If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
- Please note that this course is subject to the University's Fitness to Practice declaration.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Fees & Funding
Home/EU Fees
Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £900 for the academic year 2025/26.
International Fees
Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £900 for the academic year 2025/26.
Bursaries
Important note regarding tuition fees: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
How to apply
Home Applicants
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
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Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
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Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
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Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
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Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
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Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk
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Apply online: University of Bolton Advanced Professional Development in Clinical Examination Skills - 22 September 2025
International Applicants
International applications are not possible for this course
As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.
We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.
Teaching & Assessment
We use a variety of teaching methods that include a mix of lectures and practical sessions using patient simulators and peers to enable peer support and critique in a safe environment. We'll also expose you to pathological findings that cannot be readily identified in healthy people. Mock patients' notes are used to promote clinical reasoning skills by providing context to the examinations, and specifically designed forms are used to ensure consistent documentation of clinical findings.
Formal assessment will be undertaken via a written paper and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
- Clinical Examination Skills
Assessment methods
| Level | Assessment method |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Coursework 50% Practical exams 50% |
Learning Activities
| Level | Activity |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Guided independent study 75% Scheduled learning and teaching activities 25% |
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
