MA Healthcare Ethics and Law

Year of entry: 2024

Overview

Degree awarded
Master of Arts (MA)
Duration
1 year
Entry requirements

We require a UK bachelor's degree with a First or Upper Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline.

When assessing your academic record we consider your degree subject, grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.

Those applicants who do not satisfy the entry requirements for direct entry onto our MA course may wish to be considered for entry onto the Postgraduate Diploma course

Full entry requirements

How to apply

Apply online

If you would like to study this course 100% online, please check out the Healthcare Ethics and Law online learning page.  

Course options

Full-time Part-time Full-time distance learning Part-time distance learning
MA Y Y N N
PGDip Y Y N N

Course overview

  • Deep dive into healthcare ethics and law, and how the two disciplines interact.
  • Participate in a flexible and interdisciplinary course that allows you to pursue your ethical and legal interests.
  • Apply bioethical and legal theory to 'real world' scenarios.
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Open days

The University organises open days every year in June, September, and October.

These are an opportunity to find out about the course, meet students and staff, and tour the campus and facilities.

If you receive an offer, we will invite you to a visit day where you learn about the School, teaching and learning, study opportunities and student life.

Fees

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2024, the tuition fees are as follows:

  • MA (full-time)
    UK students (per annum): £15,500
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £28,500
  • MA (part-time)
    UK students (per annum): £7,750
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £14,250
  • PGDip (full-time)
    UK students (per annum): £10,333
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £19,000
  • PGDip (part-time)
    UK students (per annum): £5,167
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £9,500

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

There are several scholarships and bursaries that you may be eligible for.

Manchester Alumni Scholarship Scheme

The Manchester Alumni Scholarship Scheme offers a £3,000 reduction in tuition fees to University of Manchester alumni who achieved a first-class bachelor's degree and are progressing to a postgraduate taught master's course.

Manchester Humanities International Excellence Scholarship

The University of Manchester is proud to offer scholarship awards to exceptional international students.

Manchester Master's Bursary

The University of Manchester is committed to widening participation in master's study and allocates 75 awards of £4,000 each year.

Postgraduate loans for master's students

If you're coming to Manchester this year to begin postgraduate study, you could qualify for a loan from the UK government.

For more information on our awards, see fees and funding or search the University's postgraduate funding database .

Contact details

School/Faculty
School of Social Sciences
Contact name
School of Social Sciences Admissions Office
Telephone
+44 (0) 161 804 9198
Email
Website
https://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/law/
School/Faculty

Courses in related subject areas

Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview

We require a UK bachelor's degree with a First or Upper Second classification or the overseas equivalent, in any discipline.

When assessing your academic record we consider your degree subject, grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.

Those applicants who do not satisfy the entry requirements for direct entry onto our MA course may wish to be considered for entry onto the Postgraduate Diploma course

English language

Applicants whose first language is not English should meet the following language requirements:

  • IELTS Academic test score of 7 overall, including 7 in writing with no further component score below 6.5
  • TOEFL IBT 100 with 25 in writing and no further score below 22 in each section. TOEFL code for Manchester is 0757
  • Pearson Test of English (PTE) score of 76 overall, with 76 in writing and no further score below 70

Pre-Sessional English Courses

We will consider applicants who do not meet these scores but you will be required to complete a pre-sessional English language course at the University of Manchester prior to the start of the course.

To be considered for a pre-sessional English language course for this programme we require the following minimum IELTS (Academic) scores:

6 Week Pre-Sessional Course : IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and no more than one sub-skill of 6.0.

10 Week Pre-sessional Course : IELTS 6.0 overall with 6.0 or above in each sub-skill 

If you have not yet completed your current academic study and are interested in studying a pre-sessional course, you must hold an IELTS for UKVI (Academic) test certificate to ensure that you are eligible for a separate visa for the English language course.

English language test validity

Some English Language test results are only valid for two years. Your English Language test report must be valid on the start date of the course.

Applicants from Majority English-speaking countries

If you are a national of a   majority English-speaking country   (or have studied for a full bachelor's degree or higher from one of these countries) you may be exempt from submitting further evidence of English language proficiency.

Other international entry requirements

We accept a range of qualifications from across the globe. To help international students, the university provides specific information for many individual countries. Please see our  country-specific information page   for guidance on the academic and English language qualifications which may be accepted from your country.

Application and selection

How to apply

Apply online

If you would like to study this course 100% online, please check out the Healthcare Ethics and Law online learning page.  

Advice to applicants

Please note, due to the high volume of applications we receive the course may close before the advertised deadline and as such, early application is advised.

If you meet our entry requirements but we are unable to make you an offer you may be placed on a waiting list. Candidates on a waiting list will receive an offer only if places become available.

Re-applications

If you applied in the previous year and your application was not successful you may apply again. Your application will be considered against the standard course entry criteria for that year of entry. In your new application you should demonstrate how your application has improved. We may draw upon all information from your previous applications or any previous registrations at the University as a student when assessing your suitability for your chosen course.

Transfers

 The School of Law does not accept transfer students.

Course details

Course description

The MA in Healthcare Ethics and Law will provide you with expert knowledge and understanding of ethical and medico-legal theories, and the skills needed to apply them to real-world scenarios in a diverse range of contexts.

You will study a wide variety of ethical and legal subjects, including:

  • autonomy;
  • consent;
  • refusal of treatment;
  • confidentiality;
  • the moral status of the foetus;
  • resource allocation;
  • genetic testing;
  • HIV testing;
  • medical malpractice;
  • clinical negligence;
  • organ and tissue transplantation;
  • fertility treatment;
  • genetic manipulation;
  • research ethics;
  • stem cell research;
  • euthanasia.

Aims

The MA in Healthcare Ethics and Law covers a wide variety of ethical and legal subject matters in order to allow you to apply theory to real-world scenarios.

Teaching and learning

Teaching tends to defy the traditional boundaries associated with lectures and seminars.

Generally, each class in a course unit has a duration of 2 or 3 hours per week, and is split roughly between a formal, didactic period and a structured discussion period (most often based on the so-called challenge-response model).

Nevertheless, each class is considered a seminar or lecture, and attendance of all classes of a course unit is compulsory.

For course units of 15 credit value there will be 15 hours of face-to-face teaching throughout the semester, and 30 hours for 30 credit units.

Coursework and assessment

Assessment of all taught course units (to a total of 120 credits) is by assessed coursework in the form of essays of 4,000 words per 15 credit course unit and up to 6,000 words for the two 30 credit core course units. 

In addition, students who wish to complete the MA must submit a 10,000-12,000-word dissertation by independent research (60 credits); no dissertation is required for the PGDip or PGCert.

Part-time students undertake a supervised dissertation in the summer months of Year 2. You can extend your registration for an extra 3 months to submit your dissertations in December instead of September in Year 2 (you will be advised of the exact date during Year 2 on the course).

Those who do not successfully complete the MA may be considered for the Postgraduate Diploma.

Those who do not successfully complete the Postgraduate Diploma may be considered for the Postgraduate Certificate.  

The awards of the MA or Postgraduate Diploma are classified according to pass, merit or distinction. The Postgraduate Certificate is awarded unclassified.

Course unit details

Students will be required to complete 180 credits: 120 credits comprised of taught course units (each of 15 or 30 credits value), and an independent research element of the course worth 60 credits by way of a master’s dissertation of between 12,000 and 15,000 words, which is undertaken over the summer months of the course. The dissertation should be predominantly law-based.

On the full-time course, the 120 taught credits can be split in one of two ways: (1) 60 credits in each of the two semesters; or (2) 75 credits in semester one and 45 credits in semester two. 

Students registered on the MA in Healthcare Ethics and Law would need to select a majority of their optional courses from the ethics list (Ethics, Genetics and Genomics; Research Ethics). Global Health Law and Bioethics can count as an ethics or law course.

Details of all current course units available in the School of Law can be found on the Faculty of Humanities website.

Course unit list

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
Dissertation by Independent Research CSEP60012 60 Mandatory
Philosophical Bioethics CSEP60201 30 Mandatory
Research methods and methodologies for bioethics and law CSEP60022 15 Optional
Mental Health Law and Policy CSEP60102 15 Optional
Ethics & Genetics and Genomics CSEP60192 15 Optional
Medico-Legal Problems CSEP60211 30 Optional
Global Health Law and Bioethics CSEP60222 15 Optional
Research Ethics CSEP60312 15 Optional
Medicine, Law and Society CSEP60962 15 Optional

Scholarships and bursaries

The School offers a number of awards for students applying for master's study.

To find out more please visit our  master's funding opportunity search page .

What our students say

Meet some of our postgraduate students studying for a master's in International Law, Healthcare Ethics and Law and Financial Law in Student Spotlights .

Facilities

You will be supported by the first-class resources you would expect at a top law school.

In addition to the networked study spaces at the Williamson Building, you can access The University of Manchester Library , which houses a substantial collection of law books and periodicals, as well as texts to support all the degrees we offer.

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk

Careers

Career opportunities

You will be able to progress within a wide variety of roles in medical, legal and ethical fields.

Graduates from previous years have, for example, proceeded to specialise in medico-legal practice and academic careers, and the degrees have enhanced the careers of healthcare professionals.

The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate. At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help boost your employability.