Leadership in Healthcare MSc - 2026/7
Awarding body
University of Surrey
Teaching institute
University of Surrey
Framework
FHEQ Level 7
Final award and programme/pathway title
MSc Leadership in Healthcare
Subsidiary award(s)
| Award | Title |
|---|---|
| PGDip | Leadership in Healthcare |
| PGCert | Leadership in Healthcare |
Modes of study
| Route code | Credits and ECTS Credits | |
| Part-time | PTA61113 | 180 credits and 90 ECTS credits |
QAA Subject benchmark statement (if applicable)
Other internal and / or external reference points
NHS Leadership Academy (2022-23) The Healthcare Leadership Model. Available at: https://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/healthcare-leadership-model/explore-the-healthcare-leadership-model/
Faculty and Department / School
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - School of Health Sciences
Programme Leader
WARD Hayley (Health Sci.)
Date of production/revision of spec
18/12/2024
Educational aims of the programme
- Support students to become critically reflective in their analysis of themselves, thus enabling them to formulate plans for their own professional development and foster resourcefulness and resilience in themselves.
- Enable students to support or create workplaces where staff thrive and collaborate, enabling patients and users of health and social care services to feel safe and supported.
- Challenge students to explore the complexity of the internal and external organisational environments; recognising and analysing the key strategic factors required to successfully meet organisational aims and purpose, ensuring sustainable organisations of the future.
- Encourage students to continually evaluate practices and processes, identifying and challenging areas of potential risk to ensure the safest, high quality environments for staff, users of our services and the wider community.
- Create innovative thinkers able to recognise the need for, implement and re-evaluate change, successfully transforming services within health and social care.
- Support students to develop digital competence and capability, by adopting new technologies and creatively engaging with digital enhancements, providing innovative opportunities for sustainable and resourceful solutions to health and social care challenges.
- Empower students to develop global and cultural capabilities through practice that is inclusive of the uniqueness and diversity with the workforce, and the population accessing health and social care services.
- Enable students to apply an advanced awareness of ethical and professional best practice when making personal and strategic decisions.
- Equip students to apply a comprehensive knowledge of techniques and methodologies within research design to facilitate a positive change through their final year research project; key skills which they will be able to apply to any future career in healthcare, thus improving employability.
Programme learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | Awards | Ref. | |
| Ability to critically evaluate self and formulate plans for ongoing professional development. | CPT | PGCert, PGDip, MSc | |
| Demonstrate care, courage and compassion to ensure inclusive, ethical, and professional leadership of people. | KCPT | PGCert, PGDip, MSc | |
| Critically evaluate the competing elements within complex organisational structures and apply this to strategic decision making, giving confidence to support and drive positive change. | KCPT | PGDip, MSc | |
| Become competent and confident health and social care leaders with the ability to design, deliver, assess and evaluate innovative solutions. | KCPT | PGDip, MSc | |
| Thrive with digital capability, utilising complex information, problem solving and innovative approaches within own practice. | KCPT | PGCert, PGDip, MSc | |
| Develop confidence and competence in the critical appraisal of literature (inclusive of national policy and research) to evaluate the evidence, showing appreciation of research design and methodologies. | KCPT | PGCert, PGDip, MSc | |
| Ability to apply research design knowledge and techniques to develop practice through final year research project. | KCPT | MSc |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Programme structure
Part-time
This Master's Degree programme is studied part-time over three years four months to five years, consisting of 180 credits at FHEQ level 7. All modules are worth 15 credits with the exception of project, practice based and dissertation modules.
Possible exit awards include:
- Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits)
- Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)
Parts of this programme may be studied outside of the standard University structure and may be subject to professional body requirements.
Programme Adjustments (if applicable)
N/A
Modules
Unstructured (3 years 4 months -5 years) - FHEQ Level 7
Module Selection for Unstructured (3 years 4 months -5 years) - FHEQ Level 7
The programme encourages student flexibility and choice with regard to module flow, however choice module selection may be subject to individual module pre-requisites.
MSc Leadership in Health and Social Care
To achieve the principle award of MSc Leadership in Health and Social Care a student must complete 180 credits with a minimum of 150 credits at FHEQ Level 7, with the remainder at FHEQ Level 6.
15 credits of choice modules (selected either from the School CPD catalogue, subject to availability OR consideration will be given RPL of externally gained credits that are applicable to the Programme Aims. Please see RPL regulations for further guidance.
Dissertation (Research Project) (60 credits)
Two subsidiary awards are available within this programme:
Post Graduate Diploma Leadership in Health and Social Care
To achieve the subsidiary award of PGDip Leadership in Health and Social Care, a student must complete 120 credits with a minimum of 90 credits at FHEQ Level 7, with the remainder at FHEQ Level 6.
15 credits of choice modules (selected either from the School CPD catalogue, subject to availability OR consideration will be given RPL of externally gained credits that are applicable to the Programme Aims. Please see RPL regulations for further guidance).
Postgraduate Certificate Leadership in Health and Social Care
To achieve the subsidiary award of PGCert Leadership in Health and Social Care, a student must complete 60 credits from the programme core modules list, a minimum of 45 credits at FHEQ level 7 with the remainder at FHEQ level 6.
Opportunities for placements / work related learning / collaborative activity
| Associate Tutor(s) / Guest Speakers / Visiting Academics | Y | |
| Professional Training Year (PTY) | N | |
| Placement(s) (study or work that are not part of PTY) | N | |
| Clinical Placement(s) (that are not part of the PTY scheme) | N | |
| Study exchange (Level 5) | N | |
| Dual degree | N |
Other information
The School of Health Sciences is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This programme is specifically designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas, enhanced detail is provided within each module specification:
Digital capabilities: Students will develop their digital capabilities by the critical use of information, problem solving and innovative approaches, such as technology enhanced learning. These skills will be transferable to their professional role, whilst working in a dynamic, modern health or social care environment, currently driven by the need for innovation in digital health and transformation of services. Within the Dissertation (Research Project) module, students must use digital technologies to search electronic databases to identify contemporary relevant literature within their area of focus, and utilise appropriate technologies to support the undertaking of their research project. For many mature students returning to education, this can be a new skill, that ultimately supports their ongoing professional development.
Employability: All students on the programme will be employed professionals working within a health or social care setting. The motivation for following the programme of study will be personal and professional development, each element of the programme has been designed to develop strong healthcare leaders of the future, and the individual student to develop their future career aspirations and employability. By ensuring modules such as Transforming Services for Change, and Implementing Change in Practice, are rooted in real-world applicability, gives students the opportunity to bridge the theory-practice gap and put their ideas into practice; this experience of implementing innovations provides students with experience that supports future employability.
Global and cultural capabilities: To mirror the diversity within Health and Social care environments, the programme incorporates perspectives and practices from a range of cultures, thus enabling students to diversify their knowledge and reflect on different experiences in a healthcare setting. The importance of equity, diversity and inclusion, is core to this pathway. The heart of the Leading People in Health and Social Care module is about compassion, equity, diversity and understanding. Through the exploration of creating safe working environments, students will be empowered to question and challenge any behaviours that are not supportive and inclusive.
Resourcefulness and Resilience: Throughout the programme students are guided to develop the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt, and respond flexibly to ever changing needs of health and social care practice. This pillar, and an understanding of self is fundamental to the development of safe and effective healthcare professionals. Commencing the programme with HCR3018 Developing Yourself Personally and Professionally, allows the student the opportunity to assess, evaluate and develop their personal resourcefulness and resilience from the outset.
Sustainability: Throughout the modules, from Developing Yourself Professionally and Personally to the Dissertation students are encouraged to recognise and respond to the need for sustainable health and social care provision, driven by strong leadership. Core principles of the programme include sustainable leadership of workforce, resources, and services within organisations, that align with environmental and societal well-being.
Quality assurance
The Regulations and Codes of Practice for taught programmes can be found at:
Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.