MSc

Health and Public Service Management

During the MSc Health and Public Service Management, you will examine the challenges facing healthcare and related public service areas, making strong links between academic theory and management practice to create a relevant context. You will also specialise in a key area through your chosen dissertation topic.

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Key Course Details

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £10,800*

  • International students

    £16,900*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £1,200*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

The University has a long tradition of providing high quality healthcare management courses and has successfully delivered similar postgraduate programmes for over 20 years.

DESIGNED FOR

The MSc Health and Public Service Management course has been designed for professionals working in healthcare organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Careers

  • Management in healthcare
  • Management in public services

We make a difference in practice, not just on paper. Our courses are designed by people who offer jobs - and taught by people who have real work experience.


Module Overview

You will study 180 credits over the duration of the MSc Health and Public Service Management course. The modules you will study are:

MSc
You will complete a 60 credit dissertation on a topic you have selected.

Postgraduate Diploma

  • Health Policy and Innovation (20 credits)
    Develop an awareness of different theoretical approaches to health and policy making and the ability to promote reflective thinking around public service innovation
  • Academic and Professional Skills (20 credit)
    Will develop your reflective skills to write postgraduate-level coursework and alternatives in media platforms while maintaining academic integrity, and effectively enhance key professional attributes, including communication and IT skills.
  • Managing People and Organisations in the Public Sector (20 credits)
    Analyse key concepts in organisational behaviour and management and evaluate these in a public sector context.

Postgraduate Certificate

  • Managing Resources and Projects (20 credits)
    Develop the capability of dealing with current issues associated with resourcing the UK public sector.
  • Strategy and Leadership (20 credits)
    Critically evaluate various approaches to strategy and leadership in the public service context and gain the practical skills to lead and manage services effectively.
  • Conducting Research (20 credits)
    Develop your ability to plan, execute and write up a piece of research whilst gaining a critical understanding of the nature of social and policy research.

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

During the MSc Health and Public Service Management course you will be taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Leaders from the public sector are regularly invited to deliver guest lectures on topics embedded within the course, so you will benefit from their wealth of experience.

Full-time study involves completing the six taught modules and a dissertation over one full academic year. You will have 12 class contact hours over two days each week – Wednesdays and Thursday between 11am and 6pm.

For part-time students, the taught component is delivered over two academic years, with a commitment of around six hours on one day each week. You can expect to complete the course over three academic years (dissertation in year 3), but the flexible modular structure allows you to progress at your own pace and combine study with work and/or personal commitments. During the first year of the MSc you will study on Wednesdays between 11am and 6pm. On your second year you will study on Thursday’s between 11am and 6pm.

You will be assessed by coursework for each module, usually through work-based assignments that involve the application of academic theory to work practice. Coursework can range from reports to poster presentations, and even speeches.

Course Leader - Dr Ehsan Kabir

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

This MSc Health and Public Service Management course will develop your understanding, competence and confidence if you are a manager, or aspire to a position of significant managerial responsibility, in healthcare and related public service areas.

Your studies will help develop and refine your management techniques in the context of the healthcare sector. Therefore, upon graduation, you will be equipped with a broad management skill-set that can be applied throughout a range of public services but will also enable you to specialise in a healthcare profession.

Careers support

As a USW student, you will have access to advice from the Careers and Employability Service throughout your studies and after you graduate.

This includes: one-to-one appointments from faculty based Career Advisers, in person, over the phone or even on Skype and through email via the "Ask a Question" service. We also have extensive online resources for help with considering your career options and presenting yourself well to employers. Resources include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, interview simulator and application help. Our employer database has over 2,000 registered employers targeting USW students, you can receive weekly email alerts for jobs.

Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find relevant placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Typical qualification requirements

You will usually be expected to have an Honours degree of class 2:2 or above in any discipline.

For applicants who do not possess a degree, a minimum of two years’ middle management experience, with associated training may be taken into account via the Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)/Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) mechanism (University regulations will apply). If you have relevant prior qualifications, you could obtain exemptions from certain modules.

The course welcomes international applicants and requires an English level of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component or equivalent.

Additional requirements include:

All applicants are required to attend an interview. For further support on preparing for interview and what to expect at interview, please read our application advice. One satisfactory reference from someone who is able to comment on your attitude and approach to learning in a professional or academic sense.  An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on the Child & Adult Workforce and Child and Adult Barring Lists and subscription to the DBS Update Service. A satisfactory medical will be required once an offer has been made. We will contact you closer to your start date with details of how to obtain these.

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Fee

£10,800

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£16,900

per year*
UK Part-time Fee

£1,200

per 20 credits*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Busaries Alumni Discount

Additional Costs

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.

Cost: £250 

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.


Studying at USW

Our courses are designed with industry leaders and provide the practical skills and experiences industry demands. Our flexible courses reflect the need for life-long learning. If you value education in practice, not just in theory, then USW is for you.

How to apply

There is an online application process for this course. Please choose the application form for your preferred start date and mode of study (i.e. full-time or part-time).

International admissions

Please see our international admissions advice for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.