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Education for Health Professionals - MEd/PGDip/PGCert

Start date
Contact the School directly
Duration
PGCert: 1 year part-time, Diploma: 2 years, MEd: 3 years
Course Type
Postgraduate, Taught
Fees

2024/25 (per year):
PGCert - £4,590
PGDip - £4,590
MEd - £4,590 (Home); £9,780 (International)

This suite of three year-long part-time programmes is for all health professionals involved in the education and training of undergraduates and postgraduates.

Scholarships for 2024 entry

The University of Birmingham is proud to offer a range of scholarships for our postgraduate programmes. With a scholarship pot worth over £2 million, we are committed to alleviating financial barriers to support you in taking your next steps.

Each scholarship has its own specific deadlines and eligibility criteria. Please familiarise yourself with the information on individual scholarship webpages prior to submitting an application.

Explore our scholarships

Each year is self-contained and a qualification is obtained after each year: Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PG Cert) in year one, Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) in year two, and Masters (MEd) in year three.

This part-time programme is designed for health professionals involved in teaching at all levels, the PGCert allows you to develop your knowledge of theory and practice in teaching and learning. The PGDip and MEd focus on your skills as a researcher in education.

Modules

PGCert (Year 1)

This course is for health professionals who are involved in education and training. It provides opportunities to explore the theory underpinning current practice and enables you to apply this to your own education and training context. It is structured round the UK Professional Standards Framework and has been accredited by the Higher Education Academy since 2009.

There are two parallel one year part-time Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) courses that cover similar materials in slightly different ways. The multi-professional course is for doctors, dentists, nurses and other health professionals; teaching on each module is led by a clinician and an educational expert. The other course is a partnership between the Health Professional Education and Research Unit (HPERU) and the Medical School with team teaching from both; it is specifically for Clinical Teaching Fellows involved in the education of undergraduates from the University of Birmingham.    

Module 1: Teaching and Learning for Health Professionals

Module 2: Assessment for Health Professionals

Module 3: Developing and Sustaining a Curriculum for Health Professionals

PGDip (Year 2)

Successful completion of an additional three modules part-time over one year, leads to the award of a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Education for Health Professionals.Your research skills and theoretical understanding will develop through engaging with literature, then designing and undertaking a small project focused on an educational topic of your choice.

Module 1: Reviewing Education for Health Professionals 

Module 2: Researching Education for Health Professionals 

Module 3: Project in Education for Health Professionals

MEd (Year 3) 

The PGDip can be extended to a Masters (MEd) qualification by completing a 15,000 word dissertation based on an educational research project of your choice. 

Education for Health Professionals - Dissertation

Fees

Fees 2024/25 per year 

Home/International

  • Code 6475 PGCert £4,590 (Multi-professional)
  • Code 168A PGCert £4,590 (Education Fellows only)
  • Code 8010 PGDip £4,590

Home

  • Code 8447 MEd £4,590

International

  • Code 8447 MEd £9,780

The fee shown above is the annual fee for students starting their courses in September 2023. Please note that the annual fees for subsequent years on the course may increase due to inflation.

Learn more about fees and funding

For further information contact the School directly or the Student Funding Office via online enquiries

How To Apply

7 May 2024 is the application deadline for international students applying through the student route who wish to study in the United Kingdom. We are not able to consider applications for 2024 made after this date. The deadline for Home students is 30 August 2024.  

How to apply

To apply for a postgraduate taught programme, you will need to submit your application and supporting documents online. We have put together some helpful information on the taught programme application process and supporting documents on our how to apply page. Please read this information carefully before completing your application.

Apply now

Our Standard Requirements

You need a first degree or equivalent professional qualification and proficient English. One satisfactory academic reference is required for all applicants except Education Fellows applying for 168A who do not need to provide a reference. 

Those who apply are normally employed in the health service or otherwise involved with the training of health professionals. To undertake the Diploma, satisfactory completion of the Certificate or an equivalent course is required. Similarly, entry onto the Masters requires completion of the Diploma or equivalent. Please contact us if you think you may have equivalent qualifications.

Learn more about entry requirements 

International students

We accept a range of qualifications, our country pages show you what qualifications we accept from your country.

English language support - before your course starts

The University offers Presessional English courses for students whose IELTS score does not meet the entry requirements. If you successfully attend one of these courses you won’t need to retake IELTS.  

English language support - during your studies

BIA provides free English language services to international students who are currently studying on undergraduate or postgraduate courses at the University of Birmingham.  Services include Open-access English classes, online self-assessment, online materials through CANVAS, email answers to quick questions and individual one to one tutorials.  For a small fee, BIA also offers classes for partners of international postgraduate students and staff, social events including day trips and HOST visits.   

International Requirements


In the PG Certificate, you will experience numerous approaches including presentations, plenaries and small group discussions. Your active engagement is strongly encouraged e.g. teaching someone a practical skill and presenting a poster at the Birmingham Conference. As is usual at Masters level, considerable self-study time is required outside the teaching days. The first two modules of the Diploma are similar with active participation from students. The third Diploma module and Masters are based on self-study to undertake your own research. Tutorial support is largely one-to-one meetings and emails, although group seminars are also included in the programmes.

 

Students are usually already employed in the NHS or other health organisations such as universities and the military. The PG Certificate is HEA accredited, so on successful completion of the course, students are able to apply for professional recognition as Fellows of the Higher Education Academy subject to fulfilling some additional HEA requirements that are explained in the programme handbook. Currently the HEA are charging for this widely recognised teaching qualification. The Diploma and Masters are research-based so suitable for those who would like to develop an academic component to their work.