Certificate of Proficiency in Hearing Aid Dispensing

This course is for qualified healthcare science practitioners in NHS audiology. It's suitable for you if you want to work in the private sector, or in both private and NHS settings.

Medical equipment used for audiology on a patient table

LevelShort courses and CPD

Duration8 weeks

Start dates9 February 2026

Fee£500

Course codeCID1596

Course summary

This course will help you learn about the role of the hearing aid dispenser in private practice. This includes registration requirements such as:

Standards of Conduct, Performance, and Ethics
Standards of Proficiency
Standards of Continuing Professional Development.

You'll gain an understanding of:

Business marketing and planning
Consumer rights and protection laws
Safeguarding
Health and safety legislation
Hearing aid and assistive device technologies.

You'll also explore quality assurance and improvement process. This relates to independent practice in hearing aid audiology.

We deliver this course online, but you'll join us at City Campus for an in-person exam at the end.

Why Sunderland for Short courses and CPD

Accreditations and approvals

The course is accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

What you'll study

Certificate of Proficiency in Hearing Aid Dispensing (10 credits)

This is a single core module course of 10 credits at Level 5. It meets the registration requirements for the HCPC for qualified audiologists. You'll learn the principles and legislation relating to the role of hearing aid dispenser in private practice.

How you'll learn

Our clinical academic staff teach this course. It's delivered online over six weeks through our Virtual Learning Environment. Each week involves two hours of pre-recorded lectures. This is alongside accessing directed self-study materials.

There'll also be six hours of live online group seminars. These include problem-based case studies. You'll also discuss the learning outcomes of the module in depth.

Formative assessments include case studies, group discussions, and multi-choice quizzes. You'll attend one in-person exam at City Campus at the end of the course. This will assess all learning outcomes.

Entry requirements

This course is for qualified NHS audiologists who want to register as hearing aid dispensers with the HCPC.

Qualifications we accept include:

BSc (Hons) Healthcare Science – Audiology
BSc (Hons) Healthcare Science Practice – Audiology
BSc (Hons) Audiology
BTEC MPPM plus BAAT (parts 1 and 2)
MSc Audiology (or equivalent), registered with the HCPC as a clinical scientist in audiology
Appropriate international audiology qualification, registered with the Academy of Healthcare Science (AHCS).

You need to have completed a logbook of clinical competence. This must be part of your initial audiology qualification. You must also have current practice in audiology.

You'll need to provide a copy of a current Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate.

We don't accept:

Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) or
Accreditation of Prior and Experiential Learning (APEL).

If English isn't your first language, you should have an IELTS (or equivalent) score of at least 7.0. You must score at least 6.0 in each part.

We assess admissions on a case-by-case basis. We may invite you to an informal interview/discussion.

Please contact the Programme Leader to arrange an informal discussion before applying. Email deborah.heatlie@sunderland.ac.uk(opens in new tab).

Fees and finance support

You may need to consider travel and accommodation costs for the on-campus exam.

We also accept self-funded applicants. If you'd like to explore your options, contact us at cpd@sunderland.ac.uk(opens in new tab).

Apply now

Contact our team for further information about applying for this course. Call 0191 515 3361(opens in new tab) or email cpd@sunderland.ac.uk(opens in new tab).