AdvDip(CPD) Bereavement and Loss (HE7)
Course Overview
High-quality bereavement care requires a proactive, compassionate approach driven by research-based best practice. It continually strives to deliver patient and family-focused care that centres on meeting the unique needs of each individual and their loved ones. This professional development course looks at all the issues involved, drawing on our team of health tutors and practice partners' long-standing experience, expertise and up-to-date research skills.Our experienced team will focus on models of bereavement and loss that highlight the need to provide excellent, individualised end-of-life and bereavement care for every patient and every family, every time. The course explores best practice for managing bereavement and loss to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing loss, death and dying.
We'll support you in gaining a systematic understanding of bereavement management by critically evaluating the knowledge and skills required for effective service delivery and support of the bereaved. We'll cover areas such as verification of death, do not attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR), family support, police and forensic intervention, and the coroner's role.
We'll also focus on helping you develop a deeper understanding of the importance of inter-professional, multidisciplinary and multi-agency working, which is crucial in effective bereavement management. Skills in this complex and sensitive area of contemporary health and social care are in increasing demand. This module will enable you to develop a systematic understanding of the key concepts of bereavement management and to critically evaluate the knowledge and skills surrounding effective service delivery when supporting the bereaved.
Highlights
- The course is delivered by a variety of professionals with a wealth of knowledge of current practice from health and social care backgrounds.
- The course is flexible and designed to fit in with busy home and working lives.
- As you study this course, you'll be encouraged to develop employability skills, values and behaviours with a particular emphasis on problem-solving and effective communication.
Key Features
- We've been offering high-quality courses specifically designed to meet the needs of the health and social care sector for over 30 years.
- The course curriculum is regularly reviewed to ensure that contemporary theories are adopted.
- Your employer may give you financial support to undertake this course, or you may be self-funded.
- When you successfully complete this course, the University of Bolton will award you an Advanced Diploma of CPD in Bereavement and Loss worth 20 credits at Level HE7.
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 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 7.0 with normally no less than 6.5 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 of Bolton's Fitness to Practise procedure.
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.
Career Opportunities
This course offers academic progression in the specialist field of bereavement and loss.
Fees & Funding
Home/EU Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
International Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
Bursaries
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2025-26 academic year: 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 Bereavement and Loss (HE7) - 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
This programme adopts a blended learning and teaching style, including online delivery and engagement where appropriate. We'll use strategies for teaching and learning that reflect your experience and role, building on your previous knowledge and experience. We'll encourage you to engage in reflective learning by analysing experiences from the working environment. You'll also have the opportunity to receive in-class tuition from guest speakers from a variety of practice settings. Your studies will be further supported by accessing learning resources and websites via our virtual learning environment, Moodle.
Our coursework-based assessments will allow you to demonstrate that you've met the course's intended learning outcomes. We'll expect you to develop a portfolio that evidences the understanding of the key elements, principles and approaches to bereavement and loss that you've developed through critical reflection.
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.
- Bereavement and Loss
Assessment methods
| Level | Assessment method |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Coursework 100% |
Learning Activities
| Level | Activity |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Guided independent study 79% Scheduled learning and teaching activities 21% |
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.
