MPH Public Health (Online)

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MPH (full-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): £12,000
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £26,000
• MPH (part-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): Year 1 £4,800, Year 2 £4,800, Year 3 £2,400
  International, including EU, students (per annum): Year 1 £10,400, Year 2 £10,400, Year 3 £5,200

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Cost of AP(E)L

The University permits applicants with comparable previous experience to submit an application for consideration of Accreditation Prior (Experiential) Learning (AP(E)L). The maximum AP(E)L is 15 credits to a certificate, 45 credits to a diploma and 60 credits to a master's.

If an AP(E)L application is successful, the University charges £30 for every 15 credits of AP(E)L. The overall tuition fee is adjusted and administrative charge applied.

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).

Equity and Merit Scholarships

We offer Equity and Merit Scholarships to academically excellent students. Please see the Equity and Merit website.

Manchester Alumni Scholarship Schemes

If you're a current or recent student at The University of Manchester and plan to start a master's course, you may be eligible for our Manchester Alumni Scholarship Schemes.

For the latest scholarship and bursary information please visit the fees and funding page.

An important aspect of public health practice is using evidence to inform changes in delivery, design and policy.  All public health professionals need to be able to confidently and competently access, appraise and apply different types of evidence.

This course will provide practical skills and theoretical understanding to help you develop evidence-informed practice. The first part of the course will develop your skills in finding research evidence to inform your professional practice. The second part of the course will develop your critical appraisal skills and the practical application of evidence into practice. 

This is an interactive online course. Students are expected to progress through the 11 weeks of taught course material at the same pace and engage in weekly discussions with their peers and tutors. 
 

To develop practical skills in searching for and appraising different sources of evidence and a theoretical understanding of perspectives on evidence-based practice.

On completion of this unit, successful students will be able to:

 

• Introduction to evidence based practice
• Defining the research question
• Finding the evidence
• Appraising the evidence
• Implementation in the real world

Distance/blended learning students only - Students on this mode of study will have the opportunity to study synchronously with the on-campus students and asynchronously via recorded sessions and online resources.

This is a mandatory course unit for all students. There will be written materials by the tutors guiding students through the course, illustrated with photographs and figures to illustrate the rich topic areas. Much of the content will be presented through reading, including peer reviewed journals (accessible through the University library), and multimedia, including videos. Students will be directed to a variety of relevant literature each week, but also encouraged to research and explore and find their own sources.  

There will be regular interaction with the tutors through scheduled seminars (which will be recorded for those on the web-based option) and online through the discussion boards. Students will be encouraged to use self-reflection to think about the ideas discussed, and take part in discussion board activities. Students should work through the unit in a logical sequence. The individual course unit timetables will guide what should be done and when. Participation in the discussion boards is greatly encouraged, and can help enhance your learning experience and prepare you for your assessment.

For all students - The majority of the course will be delivered through the virtual learning platform, which will include required and additional reading, self-tests and discussion boards.  

Web-based students - There will be webinars that will be recorded to allow synchronous and asynchronous learning. Web-based students may join webinars live, but it is not mandatory. Recordings will be made of all face-to-face activities and will be made available.

For on campus students - All face-to-face activities are mandatory. Attendance is monitored and an escalation policy is in place for non-attendance. The tutor-led sessions will be recorded and made available for all students as part of good pedagogic practice for accessibility, revision and consolidation. 

For all students - In line with guidance from the Office for Students and Quality Assurance Agency, the programme will be augmented by the Programme Director Seminar Series to deliver study skills, written English, academic writing, research skills, critical thinking and understanding arguments, careers and employability skills, revision/assessment/examination skills including time management. 

Be able to critically appraise common research designs and assess the published literature.

Understand how to apply evidence to inform professional practice and decision making. 

Find existing sources of evidence relevant to public health questions.

Understand the strengths and limitations of traditional concepts of evidence-based practice and how these relate to their own work or profession. 

Students will be provided with personalised feedback for their final summative assignment (2,500 words maximum) within 20 working days. 

Further opportunities for formative feedback (on non-assessed work) will also be provided during the course unit.

There is no set text book.

This unit is a core unit for the MPH, MRes, Postgraduate Diploma, and Postgraduate Certificate. It is expected that students will complete this module in their first semester of study.

This unit is also available as an optional unit to students studying on the Public Health Professional Development programmes.

For further information please watch this video from our Course Unit Leader: https://video.manchester.ac.uk/faculties/edfa2331ca0cd9a14d717cb1d233466f/66082c38-bb8d-4838-80b9-35dd55477c09

If you have any questions about the content of this unit, please contact the course unit leader, Paula Whittaker, via email at paula.whittaker@manchester.ac.uk. If you have any other queries, please contact the PGT programme administrators via email at shs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk.