Masters applications for 2023 entry are now closed.
Applications for September 2024 will open on Monday 25 September. Applications are now open for programmes with a January 2024 start. View our programmes »
| UCAS code |
1234 |
| Duration |
Over 18 months to 3 years
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| Entry year |
2025 (January start) |
| Campus |
Online
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| Discipline |
Healthcare and Medicine
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| Contact |
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| UCAS code |
1234 |
| Duration |
Over 2 years |
| Entry year |
2025 (January start) |
| Campus |
Online
|
| Discipline |
Healthcare and Medicine
|
| Contact |
|
| UCAS code |
1234 |
| Duration |
Over 1 year |
| Entry year |
2025 (January start) |
| Campus |
Online
|
| Discipline |
Healthcare and Medicine
|
| Contact |
|
Overview
- Study your MPH online. Delivery takes place via taught sessions, bespoke tutorials, and practical exercises, supported by online resources. Carefully selected tutors and guest lecturers will join you throughout the programme offering up-to-the minute insight, shared reflections and practical support for the duration.
- You will look at how public health decision-makers think through the kinds of challenging problems they encounter in their work
- We work closely with healthcare collaborators in the region, and across the globe, to ensure we are meeting the complex needs of a changing healthcare sector
- This course combines the expertise of our world-renowned public health experts with specialists in leadership and management in our outstanding Business School
- You will be equipped to work in interdisciplinary healthcare teams to tackle the exciting opportunities and challenges in public health across a wide range of careers
Our Public Health research is 11th in the UK for research power
Learn from world-renowned public health experts
Co-delivered with the Triple Accredited University of Exeter Business School
Our Public Health research is 11th in the UK for research power
Learn from world-renowned public health experts
Co-delivered with the Triple Accredited University of Exeter Business School
Entry requirements
We welcome applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds. You will have, or be predicted, at least a 2:2 Honours degree in a relevant subject such as Life, Health or Medical Science degrees, or intercalating medical students, with relevant public health work experience.
We will also welcome applications from people who can demonstrate evidence of significant Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) experience.
Entry requirements for international students
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.
Please visit our international equivalency pages to enable you to see if your existing academic qualifications meet our entry requirements.
International students are normally subject to visa regulations which prevent part-time study. It is recommended that international students apply for the level of the final award you intend to complete i.e. PGCert, PGDip or Masters, due to the associated cost and requirements for a Tier 4 student Visa.
Accreditation of prior learning for Masters courses in Healthcare and Medicine
Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) is a process whereby students, who have already gained relevant skills and knowledge prior to the start of their course, may be granted a partial credit exemption from their programme instead of unnecessarily repeating work. Find out more about APL
Entry requirements for international students
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.
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Entry requirements for international students
English language requirements
International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B2. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.
Course content
Public health is everyone’s business, now more than ever. In these rapidly changing times, where knowledge is created at speed and new health challenges are always on the horizon, visionary public health leadership is urgently needed. This programme aims to equip you with the competencies and capabilities to become one of those future leaders.
Informed by the increasing importance of a systems approach to health and social care, the programme examines distributive leadership and the need to develop compassionate and inclusive leadership attributes, making change through the use of quality improvement methodologies and the importance of collaboration and boundary spanning
This programme is internationally unique and focuses on moving from knowledge to action. One of the compulsory modules, Structuring and Solving Public Health Problems, focuses on how to ‘think in public health’, providing the foundation for the rest of your study and is the only public health module of its kind in the UK.
Programme structure
The Master of Public Health (MPH) is a part time programme of study, as appropriate. It is delivered at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 7.
The programme is divided into units of study called modules which are assigned a number of 'credits'. The credit rating of a module is proportional to the total workload, with 1 credit being nominally equivalent to 10 hours of work, a 15 credit module being equivalent to 150 hours of work and a full Masters degree being equivalent to approximately 1,800 hours of work. Therefore, for applicants who are working full time (or close to full-time), we recommend applying to complete the Masters degree over 2 or 3 years rather than 18 months.
See the MPH Online Schematic to see the programme structure.
MPH Online timetable 2024-25
Please note: This timetable is draft and subject to change.
Modules
The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
The MPH comprises 180 credits in total: taught compulsory modules worth 135 credits in total, one optional module (Masterclass) of 15 credits, and a Capstone Project worth 30 credits.
It is also possible to exit with a PGCert after completing 60 credits of taught modules or a PGDip after completing 120 credits of taught modules. The list of modules below shows which are compulsory.
The programme is delivered online via taught sessions, bespoke tutorials, and practical exercises, supported by online resources. Carefully selected tutors and guest lecturers will join you throughout the programme offering up-to-the minute insight, shared reflections and practical support for the duration.
Master of Public Health, 180 Credits; over 2 years
Master of Public Health (Online), 2 years part time
(a) It is expected that you will commence these modules in your first calendar year of study
(b) It is expected that you will commence these modules in your second calendar year of study
(c) These are specialism modules. Please see details below.
Master of Public Health (Pandemics) specialism:
This specialism requires that you select either:
HPDM122Z Planetary Health (15 credits) OR HPDM141Z Pandemics: Drivers, Preparedness and Response (15 credits)
HPDM124Z Principles of Health Protection (15 credits) should be selected as the ‘Masterclass’ option.
Your Capstone Project (HPDM126Z) must also be focused on a relevant topic related to pandemics, as agreed with HPDM126Z module leads. This specialism provides the opportunity to focus on public health topics related to pandemics.
Compulsory modules
| Code | Module |
Credits |
|---|
| HPDM118Z |
Structuring and Solving Public Health Problems (a) | 15 |
| HPDM119Z |
Analytics and Evidence based Public Health (a) | 30 |
| HPDM120Z |
Leadership, Strategy and Change (b) | 30 |
| HPDM121Z |
Epidemiology | 15 |
| HPDM123Z |
Behaviour Change (b) | 15 |
| HPDM125Z |
Integrative Policy and Practice Exercise (b) | 15 |
| HPDM126Z |
Capstone Project (b) | 30 |
Optional modules
All students must take the above compulsory modules.
*Plus ONE of HPDM122Z or HPDM141Z.
**Plus ONE 15 credit ‘Masterclass’ module from the remaining list of optional modules.
| Code | Module |
Credits |
|---|
| HPDM122Z |
Planetary Health (a/c) | 15 |
| HPDM141Z |
Pandemics: Drivers, Preparedness and Response (c) | 15 |
| HPDM124Z |
Principles of Health Protection (b) | 15 |
| HPDM127Z |
Principles of Primary Care (a) | 15 |
| HPDM136Z |
Evidence to Decision: Health Technology Assessment, Health Policy and Resource Allocation (b) | 15 |
| HPDM173Z |
Child and Adolescent Mental Health (b) | 15 |
| HPDM174Z |
Public Mental Health (b) | 15 |
PGDip in Public Health (Online) Modules: 120 Credits, over 2 years
120 Credits 2 years
(a) It is expected you will commence these modules in your first calendar year of study
(b) It is expected you will commence these modules in your second calendar year of study
Compulsory modules
| Code | Module |
Credits |
|---|
| HPDM118Z |
Structuring and Solving Public Health Problems (a) | 15 |
| HPDM119Z |
Analytics and Evidence based Public Health (a) | 30 |
| HPDM120Z |
Leadership, Strategy and Change (a) | 30 |
Optional modules
All students must take the above compulsory modules.
*Plus TWO of HPDM121Z, HPDM122Z or HPDM123Z.
**Plus ONE 15 credit ‘Masterclass’ module from HPDM124Z, HPDM127Z or HPDM136Z
| Code | Module |
Credits |
|---|
| HPDM121Z |
Epidemiology | 15 |
| HPDM122Z |
Planetary Health (a) | 15 |
| HPDM123Z |
Behaviour Change (b) | 15 |
| HPDM124Z |
Principles of Health Protection (b) | 15 |
| HPDM127Z |
Principles of Primary Care (a) | 15 |
| HPDM136Z |
Evidence to Decision: Health Technology Assessment, Health Policy and Resource Allocation (b) | 15 |
| HPDM173Z |
Child and Adolescent Mental Health (b) | 15 |
| HPDM174Z |
Public Mental Health (b) | 15 |
PGCert in Public Health (Online) Modules: 60 Credits - over 1 year
60 Credits 1 year. All students must take the following compulsory modules:
Compulsory modules
| Code | Module |
Credits |
|---|
| HPDM118Z |
Structuring and Solving Public Health Problems | 15 |
| HPDM119Z |
Analytics and Evidence based Public Health | 30 |
Optional modules
Plus ONE 15 credit module from the following list of optional modules:
| Code | Module |
Credits |
|---|
| HPDM121Z |
Epidemiology | 15 |
| HPDM122Z |
Planetary Health | 15 |
| HPDM123Z |
Behaviour Change | 15 |
| HPDM124Z |
Principles of Health Protection | 15 |
| HPDM127Z |
Principles of Primary Care | 15 |
| HPDM136Z |
Evidence to Decision: Health Technology Assessment, Health Policy and Resource Allocation | 15 |
| HPDM173Z |
Child and Adolescent Mental Health | 15 |
| HPDM174Z |
Public Mental Health | 15 |
Master of Public Health (Pandemics):
Three specialisms are available to Masters students. These specialisms involve the content specified below. These specialisms provide opportunities for Masters students to focus their studies in one of three key areas of contemporary public health, and to gain a qualification indicating that specialism in parentheses.
Master of Public Health (Global Health)
This specialism requires that you follow the programme’s compulsory modules, plus one of the following as your ‘Masterclass’ optional module:
- HPDM033 Global Public Health and Environmental Change (15 credits)
- HPDM027 Contemporary Environment and Human Health (15 credits)
- NB: The other required module for this specialism is HPDM122 Planetary Health (15 credits). It is already a compulsory module on the programme.
- Your Capstone Project (HPDM126) must also be focused on a relevant topic in global health, as agreed with HPDM126 module leads. This specialism provides the opportunity to focus on public health topics in the domain of global health.
Master of Public Health (Pandemics)
This specialism requires that you select either:
- HPDM122 Planetary Health (15 credits) OR HPDM141 Pandemics: Drivers, Preparedness and Response (15 credits)
- HPDM124 Principles of Health Protection (15 credits) should be selected as the ‘Masterclass’ option.
- Your Capstone Project (HPDM126) must also be focused on a relevant topic related to pandemics, as agreed with HPDM126 module leads. This specialism provides the opportunity to focus on public health topics related to pandemics.
Master of Public Health (Public Mental Health)
This specialism requires that you follow the programme’s compulsory modules. You must also select the following optional modules:
- HPDM174 Public Mental Health (15 credits)
- HPDM173 Child and Adolescent Mental Health (15 credits)
- Your Capstone Project (HPDM126) must also be focused on a relevant topic in Public Mental Health, as agreed with HPDM126 module leads.”
Specialisms
Master of Public Health (Pandemics)
Specialising in Pandemics will give you the opportunity to focus on related public health topics. The ‘Masterclass’ optional module Principles of Health Protection (HPDM124Z) explores the ways in which this often needs to be dynamic and responsive to the evolving health needs of the population. This versatile field of study brings together specialist knowledge and skills from a broad range of specialities including PHE; environmental health departments; hospital microbiologists and infection and prevention control teams; GPs; community specialists and educational institutions. You will be introduced to a wide range of topics which may include outbreak management, global health, data collection and timely actions and epidemiology of infectious diseases.
You can tailor your programme according to your personal interests or career goals by selecting one of our optional modules. Planetary Health (HPDM122Z) will introduce you to medical sociology, environment and human health, social epidemiology and global health. You will learn how health in its widest sense and health and environmental inequalities are created, and the potential strategies for addressing them more effectively. Pandemics: Drivers, Preparedness and Response (HPDM141Z) will get you critically engaging with pandemics from the perspectives of science and technology studies (STS), health systems policy and delivery and social and behavioural sciences.
Your Capstone project (HPDM126Z), which will focus on a relevant topic in pandemics, provides you with an opportunity to consolidate your learning and transfer your new analytical and critical thinking skills to the design and execution of a research project which reflects your professional interests.
Fees
2025 entry
UK fees per year:
- MPH £5,800pa part-time 2 years
- PGCert £3,900 part-time 1 year
- PGDip £3,900 part-time 2 years
Standalone module fees: UK: £1,100 per 15-credit module
International fees per year:
- MPH £13,750pa part-time 2 years
- PGCert £9,250 part-time 1 year
- PGDip £9,250 part-time 2 years
Standalone module fees: International: £2,500 per 15-credit module
Find out more about tuition fees and funding
Fee information
Fees can normally be paid by two termly instalments and may be paid online. You will also be required to pay a tuition fee deposit to secure your offer of a place, unless you qualify for exemption. For further information about paying fees see our Student Fees pages.
Scholarships
The University of Exeter has many different scholarships available to support your education, including £5 million in scholarships for international students applying to study with us in the 2025/26 academic year, such as our Exeter Excellence Scholarships*.
For more information on scholarships and other financial support, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
*Terms and conditions apply. See online for details.
Teaching and research
Our purpose is to deliver transformative education that will help tackle health challenges of national and global importance.
Teaching
Modules include immersive learning at the start and end of the taught components of the programme.
The programme is delivered online via taught sessions, bespoke tutorials, and practical exercises, supported by on-line resources. Carefully selected tutors and guest lecturers will join you throughout the programme offering up-to-the minute insight, shared reflections and practical support for the duration.
Content for the programme will be made available online via our dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to allow maximum flexibility in when you study to fit around your other commitments. We will provide a range of rich online materials, a variety of learning activities and encourage you to participate in learning communities. Each module will set out the key expectations and requirements at the start of teaching and you will receive timely feedback on your progress throughout the duration.
Learning
The approach to teaching includes synchronous and asynchronous online sessions, self-directed online learning, peer supported learning groups, facilitated chat rooms, and personal learning logs.
Teaching methods on the Masters course include:
• case-based discussion
• simulation and problem-based learning
• seminars
• group discussions
• reflection sessions
• buzz groups
• chat backs
• interactive workshops
You will be allocated an academic tutor who will remain with you throughout the programme. Academic tutors are able to provide guidance and feedback on assessment performance, guidance in generic academic skills and pastoral support. They are also able to refer you to more specialist support services, both within the College and elsewhere across the University.
Support
You will be allocated an academic tutor who will remain with you throughout the programme. Academic tutors are able to provide guidance and feedback on assessment performance, guidance in generic academic skills and pastoral support. They are also able to refer you to more specialist support services, both within the College and elsewhere across the University.
Research
Underpinned by the themes of complexity, leadership and decision-making, this MPH couples reflective learning and practice with research-led teaching from world-leading academics to balance transdisciplinary learning about public health with ‘real-life’ skills and tools.
At the University of Exeter, our research is globally recognised and our partnerships with healthcare providers, industry and above all, the public, mean that this work is constantly at the cutting-edge of innovation in improving lives.
Our research is organised within in two Institutes:
Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science
Institute of Health Research
Explore some of the many highlights of our research on our research impact page.
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Professor G J Melendez-Torres
Programme Director
Dr Jenny Lloyd
Senior Lecturer
Dr. Gary Abel
Dr. Kristin Liabo
Professor Richard Smith
Professor Sarah Dean
Professor G J Melendez-Torres
Programme Director
G J is the Programme Lead for the MPH and teaches on a number of modules.
He arrived at the University of Exeter in March 2019 to take up a personal chair in clinical and social epidemiology. As part of this, he leads the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group (PenTAG), one of nine research units in the UK providing expert advice on the clinical and cost effectiveness of new drugs to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. His interest in health technology assessment stems from an enjoyment of the kinds of knotty methodological problems, both statistical and conceptual, that this area can present.
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Dr Jenny Lloyd
Senior Lecturer
Jenny is an exercise and health psychologist, specialising in the development and evaluation of complex behavioural interventions to address obesity, wellbeing and the social and emotional development of children. She works with a range of charities and organisations (e.g. Action for Children, The Education Endowment Foundation, Obesity UK) to co-create interventions taking account of both psycho-social factors and systems theory.
She teaches across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, convening the undergraduate Clinical Trials and postgraduate Public Health Behaviour Change Modules. Jenny is interested in further exploring and developing new ways of conceptualising and responding to so called ‘wicked’ public health problems of the 21st century, namely obesity, loss of wellbeing and health inequality, by working with multi-disciplinary teams across health and social care, education and the humanities.
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Dr. Gary Abel
Senior Lecturer
Gary is a statistician working within Primary Care at the University of Exeter Medical School and co-lead for the module called Analytics and Evidence based Public Health. He has a strong interest in routine data, both derived from primary care and other healthcare settings. This interest spans two approaches, which are: 1) using routine data to explore a variety of health research questions and 2) understanding the limitations of, and the interpretation of, routine data used to inform health service delivery.
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Dr. Kristin Liabo
Senior Research Fellow
Kristin is part of the Patient and Public Involvement Team in the Third Gap team at the Medical School, and within PenCLAHRC. The team supports researchers to involve patients and members of the public in their research.
Kristin co-leads the module called Planetary Health. She has worked collaboratively with service users, patients and members of the public since she started out in research with Barnardo's, the children's charity.
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Professor Richard Smith
Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor and Professor of Health Economics
Richard is inaugural Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for the University of Exeter Medical School, and Professor of Health Economics. He was previously at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he served as Head of the Department of Global Health & Development from 2008-2011, and as Dean of the Faculty of Public Health & Policy from 2011-2018.
Richard has experience with a wide range of economic methods, including micro-, macro-, behavioural-, and political-economic techniques, applied to various areas, from health outcome assessment to antibiotic resistance. In the last decade he has especially pioneered the macro-economic modelling of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and the economic analysis of the impact of trade and trade agreements on health and health care across a range of areas.
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Professor Sarah Dean
Professor in Psychology Applied to Rehabilitation and Health
Sarah has extensive experience of working in interdisciplinary environments for both teaching and research at the Universities of Southampton, Otago (New Zealand) and including her current role within the South West Peninsula Applied Research Collaboration (PenARC) and at the University of Exeter Medical School.
She has a dual professional background as a Chartered Physiotherapist and a Chartered Psychologist with two higher degrees in Health Psychology. She worked clinically in both the NHS and private sector, specialising in musculoskeletal rehabilitation, particularly exercise therapy for sports injuries and cardiac rehabilitation. She co-leads the module: Behaviour Change.
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Careers
Who is this course for?
The programme offers a collective learning environment in which professionals of all disciplines in healthcare study together to develop public health competencies.
The programme suits graduates who are planning or already undertaking a career within public health, health promotion, environmental health and protection, occupational health, workplace wellbeing or social enterprise.
Employer-valued skills this course develops
Through developing the skills to promote the health of populations by influencing lifestyle and socio-economic, physical and cultural environment and exploring the complex inter-relationship between health and the environment, you will develop the research-facing skills needed by contemporary leaders in public health. This programme supports your development as a Public Health leader through phased engagement with both fundamental and more advanced concepts, in the context of the delivery of healthcare at team and system levels to understand organisational complexity and making change at large scale.
Our interdisciplinary module Planetary Health will also help you to develop and understanding of key health issues facing populations around this world in multidisciplinary ways. The Leadership, Strategy and Change module will focus on taking public health knowledge and transforming it into public health action through expert and compassionate leadership.
Career paths (graduate destinations)
You will be equipped to work in interdisciplinary healthcare teams to tackle the exciting opportunities and challenges in public health across a wide range of careers. Careers include working in the health and pharmaceutical industry, supporting local commissioning, local authority public health, and work at the frontlines of health policy.
Careers support
All University of Exeter students have access to Career Zone, which gives access to a wealth of business contacts, support and training as well as the opportunity to meet potential employers at our regular Careers Fairs.
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