By ASI Wise & The Sensory Project

NHS England Advanced Practice Framework (MPF 2025)

How our ASI Wise MSc Advancing Practice Pathway maps to this.

As the NHS advances its implementation of the Multi-Professional Advanced Practice Framework (MPF 2025), education providers are being asked to demonstrate how their postgraduate programmes align with the national standards for advanced-level practice.

At ASI Wise, we are proud to confirm that our postgraduate pathway in Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI), including the UUSI1–UUSI3 modules and Ulster University modules (OTH812, OTH814, PTH830), has been comprehensively mapped to the four pillars of advanced practice. This ensures that every therapist completing the ASI Wise MSc pathway develops the knowledge, skills, and professional behaviours expected of an Advanced Practitioner within NHS England’s framework.

Understanding the MPF 2025

The MPF 2025 sets out a clear structure for workforce development across health professions, defining capabilities at enhanced, advanced, and consultant levels. Advanced Practitioners are recognised as clinicians who can work autonomously, safely, and effectively across complex situations, integrating the four pillars:

1. Clinical Practice
2. Leadership and Management
3. Education
4. Research and Evidence-Based Practice

The framework emphasises capability rather than qualification alone, ensuring that both learning and role implementation are governed by organisational approval and professional regulation

ASI Wise’s Approach to Advanced Practice

Our MSc pathway is designed to meet and evidence these standards through a carefully structured combination of taught modules, clinical practice, supervision, and reflective portfolio work. Each element contributes directly to the development of advanced-level capability under the MPF 2025 framework.

1. Clinical Practice

Students develop competence in managing complex sensory integration cases through 300 hours of structured clinical practice across ASI modules. Assessment and intervention are observed, videoed, and evaluated using the ASI Fidelity Measure (ASIFM), ensuring adherence to evidence-based practice. Modules such as UUSI2 and UUSI3 provide tangible artefacts of advanced clinical reasoning, co-produced goal setting, and safe practice within a governance framework

2. Leadership and Management

Advanced practice is not only about individual expertise but also about influencing and improving services. Within our MSc pathway, leadership capabilities are embedded through:

• Peer supervision and tutor-led MDT simulations.
• Service evaluation and dissemination of findings.
• Proposal and project design activities in OTH812 and PTH830.
• Emphasis on resilience, inclusivity, and co-production with people and families.

These components directly meet the MPF 2025 leadership standards and equip therapists to take on roles that influence policy, service development, and workforce planning.

3. Education and Facilitation of Learning

Each module encourages reflective and peer-led learning, mentoring, and dissemination. Students create public-facing materials (blogs, leaflets, webinars) and present to peers, families, and MDTs — building advanced communication and teaching skills. These outputs demonstrate how ASI Wise graduates become educators and role models, capable of shaping the learning culture within their organisations.

4. Research, Innovation, and Evidence-Based Practice

Research capability is cultivated progressively throughout the pathway. Beginning with literature appraisal (OTH814), students progress to independent project work (PTH830), linking research directly to practice. Each stage aligns with the MPF 2025 requirement for clinicians to contribute to and lead research, drive innovation, and apply findings within their scope of practice.

The Portfolio: Evidence Across the Four Pillars

To ensure that learning translates into recognised capability, ASI Wise provides a comprehensive portfolio template. This portfolio requires students to upload and cross-reference evidence for each advanced practice standard, such as:

• Reflective commentaries and PDPs
• Assessment and intervention artefacts
• Peer and tutor feedback
• Service evaluation outputs
• Dissemination materials and research reports

This systematic approach enables both learners and managers to track progression, verify competence, and prepare for organisational mapping of roles to the NHS England Advanced Practice Framework.

The Role of Managers and Organisations

Our Manager’s Guidance Note clarifies that while completion of the ASI Wise MSc pathway demonstrates advanced capability, the title “Advanced Practitioner” can only be applied once the employing organisation formally maps the role to the NHS framework. Managers play a crucial part by:

• Supporting supervision and portfolio development.
• Reviewing evidence against the four pillars.
• Collaborating with workforce teams to map roles appropriately.
• Ensuring the correct and safe use of professional titles

This approach protects professional integrity, supports governance, and ensures the sustainability of sensory integration services within NHS structures.

Why this Alignment Matters

By embedding the MPF 2025 standards into every stage of learning, ASI Wise ensures that graduates are not only clinically excellent but also ready to lead, educate, and innovate within modern healthcare systems. This alignment provides:

• Assurance to employers and commissioners of training quality.
• Clarity for therapists seeking recognition through the HEE ePortfolio route.
• Strategic compatibility with NHS workforce development priorities.
• Pathways for professional growth from enhanced to advanced and consultant practice.

In Summary

The ASI Wise postgraduate pathway represents a fully mapped, evidence-driven route to advanced practice in sensory integration. By integrating academic excellence, fidelity to Ayres Sensory Integration theory, and co-production with people and families. Pur ASI Wise and Ulster University MSc Advancing Practice Sensory Integration graduates emerge as confident, reflective practitioners aligned with the highest national standards.

This integration of neuroscience, practice-based learning, and person-led care positions Ayres Sensory Integration as a model of advanced clinical practice within the NHS England MPF 2025 vision, connecting theory, embodiment, and participation in every aspect of professional growth.