Everything you need to know...
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What is the fee?
Home: £10,620 for the course
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How long will I study?
3 Years
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Where will I study?
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When do I start?
September 2025
Course summary
- Develop the skills you need to be a leader in health and social care.
- Gain essential, qualifications for senior positions.
- Learn to lead strategically – evaluating and improving services at both systems and service levels.
Leadership has consistently been shown to be key to the effective delivery of health and social care services. Indeed, lack of leadership has been cited as a major cause of most health and social care system failures. On this course, you will learn how to lead effectively and make sustainable improvements to health and social care services.
How you learn
We help you to develop the skills you need to successfully lead across the many facets of health and social care provision. Through engaging in learning and assessment tasks, you have the opportunity to actively improve service delivery throughout the programme.
You'll learn to understand strategic system level issues, solve organisational problems and devise, implement and evaluate successful service improvement initiatives. You'll also learn to strengthen teamwork, motivation, commitment and effort, and thereby improve service user outcomes.
You will learn through
- lectures and seminars
- workshop–style sessions
- live projects
- extensive independent reading and study
- self–reflection,
- peer and tutor engagement
- blended learning approaches
- online learning
- written assessments
- case studies
Applied learning
Live projects
As a student on our unique MSc programme you will maximise your learning by engaging in real world assignments. All course assessments centre on service delivery and improvement, giving you the opportunity to actively display and practice leadership. This means that you will not only gain enhanced knowledge of evidence–based management and leadership theories, but also develop the practical skills you require to lead more effectively in the workplace.
Future careers
This course prepares you for
- leadership and management positions in the NHS or other health or social care providers
- further studies
Where will I study?
You study at Collegiate Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.
Collegiate campus
Collegiate Campus can be found just off Ecclesall Road, a bustling student district.
Collegiate Campus map | Campus facilities
Collegiate library
Collegiate Library can be found just off Ecclesall Road. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.
Learn moreEntry requirements
All students
A first degree or an appropriate professional qualification considered to represent equivalence to a degree. N.B. In some circumstances experience of degree level study along with leadership/management experience will be considered.
Where English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.5 is required, with no individual element below 5.5.
Previous work experience of a professional role and management or leadership context that will support the work-based learning elements of the course and will enable you to learn in practice.
You will be considered on an individual basis and will be accepted if you can satisfy the course team that you have a commitment to completing your proposed pathway of study and you fulfil the specific admissions criteria.
You must be prepared to be intellectually challenged; to reflect upon your practice and to consider how this can be applied to improve your service and the experiences of your service users. This improvement will be based upon critical evaluation and application of theory and evidence and new understanding. You should be motivated, able to actively contribute to discussion and debate, and prepared to study independently to explore the policy, theoretical and research literature that underpins effective managerial and leadership practice.
Additional information for EU/International students
This course is not open to international students who require a Tier 4 (General) student visa to study in the UK. If you are an international applicant but do not require a Tier 4 (General) student visa, email our Admissions Team to find out whether you’re eligible to apply.
Modules
Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.
Year 1
Compulsory modules
Leadership In Practice
Leadership In Practice (Distance Learning)
Elective modules
Evaluating Service Improvement
Evaluating Service Improvement (Distance Learning)
Interprofessional Education
Interprofessional Education (Distance Learning)
Leadership In Context
Leading People And Teams
Managing People: Organisational Approaches
Planning Service Improvement
Planning Service Improvement (Distance Learning)
Year 2
Compulsory modules
Leading Change
Researching For Practice (Distance Learning)
Researching For Practice (Taught)
Systems Leadership
Elective modules
Evaluating Service Improvement (Distance Learning)
Interprofessional Education
Interprofessional Education (Distance Learning)
Planning Service Improvement (Distance Learning)
Final year
Compulsory modules
Dissertation 60 Credits
Fees and funding
Home students
Our tuition fee for UK students starting part-time study in 2025/26 is £10,620 for the course. The tuition fee displayed above is for the full course. If the full course is more than one year in duration, the fee will be divided into annual payments which will then be rounded. This may mean the total fee you pay is slightly higher than the fee stated above. If you take a break in study or have to re-take part of the course, you may also be charged an additional fee and will be notified of this at the time. Our tuition fee for UK students starting part-time study in 2025/26 is £3,540 per year.
If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.
Postgraduate student loans
Up to £12,471 is available in 2024/25 for home students on most masters courses.
Additional course costs
The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.
General course additional costs
Additional costs for Health and Social Care (PDF, 165.7KB)Legal information
Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.
