• Home
• Study
• Study Information
• Modules
• Module Information

Advanced Professional Practice

Module title	Advanced Professional Practice
Module code	BEF2024DA
Academic year	2025/6
Credits	30
Module staff	Lindsay Badger (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	48 weeks over the year	48 weeks over the year	48 weeks over the year

Number students taking module (anticipated)	90

Module description

This module provides you with the opportunity to connect the concepts, approaches and theories which you have learnt throughout the degree apprenticeship and combine this with application in your workplace to enable you to advance your professional practice and facilitate your career development. Drawing upon academic guidance, professional development coaching and workplace mentoring you have a wealth of inspiration and advice to guide and support your own professional practice.

Exploring the advanced requirements of professional practice, you will develop and refine the skills you have built up over the course of the degree and consider your behaviours in relation to working as a Financial Services Professional. Based within professional codes of conduct and organisational policies and processes, you will develop your personal leadership approach to excellence in your role, identifying and building upon personal values, behaviours, skills, strengths and experience.

This module is a part of the formal process of portfolio building which contains work-based evidence that has been built up progressively through the apprenticeship and will illustrate the application of knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the level 6, degree apprenticeship standards for the Financial Services Professional. The personal and professional development that you undertake and the activities, assignments and reflections that you produce, all offer material for your final EPA professional portfolio and panel interview.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module offers a series of advanced activities aimed at equipping you to evidence and critically reflect on your development of the skills and behaviours required for practice in financial services. The module empowers you to think critically and helps you to recognise how you can advance your workplace through your own personal leadership.  It will also develop your ability to reflect on the impact resulted from your degree apprenticeship and work experience, plus the development and exhibition of your professional behaviours. 

The module is designed to pull together learning from research-inspired content and activities in support of proactively managing one’s own professional learning and development. Through constructive feedback from both academic and workplace mentors, you will critically reflect on your progress, developing and refining your skills and behaviours in order to establish yourselves as a Financial Services Professional. 

The module aims to equip you to demonstrate the skills and behaviours for your level 6 Financial Services Professional Degree Apprenticeship. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Describe specific workplace experiences and examples of work product to the requirement of the apprenticeship standard.
• 2. Apply the skills and behaviours required for practice in financial services (see appendix A for a list of these skills and behaviours)
• 3. Develop critical argument both of self and module related theories that support and deepen learning.
• 4. Analyse and evaluate learning, development and the use of skills and behaviours that are required for practice

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

Syllabus plan

Through a series of advanced online, research-inspired learning activities, applied exercises and reflective assignments finance professionals can expect to develop and refine their management and leadership skills, professional effectiveness and critical reflection. In addition, through portfolio building, they are expected to demonstrate and evidence the behaviours of honesty and integrity, adaptability, resilience and enthusiasm, innovation and creativity and attention to detail.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
76	224	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	28	Seminars (Master classes/Webinars) - Taking place during scheduled face-to-face masterclasses, there will be at least 28 hours of taught input.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	48	Online activities and PDP coaching - Ongoing PDP coaching throughout 48 weeks of the online module. Drawing upon academic guidance, professional development coaching and workplace mentoring.
Guided Independent Study	224	Applied Professional Practice and Development - Guided and independent learning which will be applied to the work context in consultation with a manager from the organisation. It will include a mixture of reading material, self-development exercises, online discussion forums, self-assessments, and videos.

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Continuous and embedded within module activities	Equivalent to 1000-1,500 words	1-4	Verbal feedback
Group work agreement including plan of action, meeting dates and roles/responsibilities	1000 words	1-4	Lecturer feedback

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Group presentation which explores the best practice of two areas of the apprenticeship standards skills and behaviours	30	15-minute presentation and a 500-word critical reflection	1-4	Lecturer will provide written feedback
Critical reflection on working in a team.	30	500-word critical reflection (equivalent to 1000 words with portfolio of work evidence)	1-4	Lecturer will provide written feedback
1,500-word personal brand “webpage”/document showcasing your skills and behaviours. Including work product/examples and witness testimony.		1,500 words (equivalent to 2,500 words with portfolio of work evidence)	1-4	Lecturer will provide written feedback

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Group presentation which explores the best practice of two areas of the apprenticeship standards skills and behaviours	Different from original due to the group work: Individual presentation which explores the best practice of two areas of the apprenticeship standards skills and behaviours (15-minute presentation, 30%)	1-4	Next re-assessment window
Critical reflection on working in a team.	As per original; 500-word critical reflection (equivalent to 1000 words with portfolio of work evidence) (20%)	1-4	Next re-assessment window
1,500-word personal brand “webpage”/document showcasing your skills and behaviours. Including work product/examples and witness testimony.	As per original; 1,500 words (equivalent to 2,500 words with portfolio of work evidence)	1-4	Next re-assessment window

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you have been deferred for any assessment you will be expected to submit the relevant assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be expected to submit the relevant assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 40%

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Key words search

Personal effectiveness, interpersonal effectiveness, self-development, personal development, career management, professional Development

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	5
Available as distance learning?	Yes
Origin date	26/02/2019
Last revision date	28/03/2025