MRes/PGDip/PGCert Health and Social Care

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

• MRes (full-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): £12,600
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £27,300
• MRes (part-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): £6,300
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £13,650
• PGDip (full-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): £10,100
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £21,800
• PGDip (part-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): £5,050
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £10,900
• PGCert (part-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): £2,500
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £5,500

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.

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).

NIHR INSIGHT research master's degree studentships

Funded health and social care research master's studentships are available through the north-west regional programme of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) INSIGHT Inspiring Students into Research scheme.

For more information and details of how to apply, visit the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast website .

NIHR Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowships

NIHR Pre-doctoral Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowships can offer successful candidates backfill and fees to undertake MClinRes units and to prepare a Doctoral Clinical Practitioner Academic Fellowship application. You need to apply directly to NIHR for one of these awards.

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

• Critically assess and synthesise the evidence that underpins a selected area of clinical/health (MClin Res) or health and social care (MRes HSC) practice in order to formulate research questions or hypotheses as appropriate.
• Design and, under supervision, conduct a research project to investigate or test clinical/health (MClin Res) or health and social care (MRes HSC) related questions or hypotheses within a sound ethical and governance research framework.
• Generate a clinical/health (MClin Res) or health and social care (MRes HSC) research study dissertation that critically analyses the rationale, design, methodology, analysis and conduct of the study identifying implications for practice and further research.

The teaching and learning for this unit takes place over two semesters and will continue into the summer term – 51 weeks. Initially students will attend a face-to-face session which will introduce them to the unit. Each student will be allocated a dissertation supervisor from the beginning of the programme and for funded places a clinical mentor who will work with them initially to refine their topic area, design and methods for their project then oversee the execution of the project and the completion of the written dissertation Students will be required to engage with a range of on-line resources specifically designed to help them in the planning, refinement and execution of their study. Key milestones for achievement will be set out very clearly and students will be required to submit formatively assessed components of their developing project and present their developing ideas to academic/practice staff and peers through on-line discussion and face-face workshops (during the second campus based study school).

• Critically analyse and synthesise available evidence in order to formulate appropriate aims and objectives needed to guide a research project relevant to clinical/health (MClin Res) or health and social care (MRes HSC) practice.
• Critically evaluate and select an appropriate research design and methods in order to develop and design a research project to investigate or test a clinical/health (MClin Res) or health and social care (MRes HSC) question/hypothesis.
• Demonstrate an in-depth and critical understanding of the chosen research methodology and justify the application of this to the aims and objectives of the their research project within an ethical/research governance framework.

• Provide a clear and critical rationale for their choice of the research methodology used in their chosen research study.
• Defend their choice of methodology and approach through a process of peer and tutor evaluation.
• Critically appraise relevant ethical and governance frameworks pertinent to their study and draw on a range of strategies to ensure adherence to ethical/governance frameworks and codes of conduct for research.

• Develop, design and defend a sound written research proposal and protocol based on an in-depth and critical review of existing evidence and an in-depth knowledge of research methods, processes and ethical/governance requirements.
• Design and undertake, with an appropriate level of academic supervision, a research project which investigates or tests a clinical/health (MClin Res) or health and social care (MRes HSC) question/hypothesis, developing and submitting where required relevant research ethics and governance applications.
• Synthesise , collect, analyse and present data from a research study within a specified timeframe, in a manner which is acceptable for a dissertation and has the potential for dissemination to wider stakeholders through quality, peer reviewed academic journals and conferences.

• Critically reflect on their own academic performance and utilise a range of strategies to improve these and overcome any particular difficulties.
• Further develop and enhance skills in effective communication to a range of audiences in a variety of settings.
• Demonstrate skills in working collegiately and effectively with others as a member of a team.
• Effectively utilise information technology / health informatics.
• Utilise skills in systematic and creative approaches to problem-solving and decision-making in relation to complex issues.

Students will normally have the opportunity to receive feedback on formative work submitted prior to the summative assessment. Other feedback opportunities will also be available in class and online discussion boards. Online feedback is provided in Grademark. Provisional feedback based on internal marking will be made available prior to the Exam Board on the basis that these marks are yet to be ratified at the Exam Board and therefore may be subject to change. A standard feedback mechanism in Grademark is utilised across all postgraduate programmes within the School which provides detailed and constructive feedback on each component and aspect of assessment and identifies areas of strength and those aspects which could be enhanced.

Student feedback is obtained through open discussion forums on blackboard, in class discussions, via formal University unit evaluation forms and also qualitative, in house evaluations at the end of the unit.