Leadership Development MSc
Become a leader and act as an effective change agent within health and social care on a programme which enables you to specialise in clinical leadership, leadership and management, or medical leadership and management.
Overview
| Course length: | 3-4 years part-time |
|---|---|
| Start dates: | February 2025 September 2025 February 2026 September 2026 |
| Location: | Edge Hill University or Online study |
| Example offers: | 2:2 or above (or equivalent) in a health or social care related subject View full entry criteria |
| Subject(s): | Health and Social CareMedicine |
| Faculty: | Health, Social Care and Medicine |
| Department: | Medical School |
If you are working, or aspiring to work, in a position of influence across the wider health and social care community, this MSc is for you. This programme is delivered through a flexible, blended learning model. A mixture of in-person and online study, or entirely online study, is available. The programme is targeted at aspiring healthcare professionals who wish to apply for leadership and management positions within health and social care, as well as those already working as allied health professionals, clinical scientists, nurses or doctors. The course is also suitable for those working in a variety of non-clinical roles, for example commissioners, quality improvement managers, clinical auditors, risk management, team leaders, social workers, patient advocates, or in the voluntary sector.
Three specialist pathways are available which enable you to tailor the programme to meet your individual needs:
- MSc Leadership Development (Clinical Leadership) is ideal if you work as a clinician and wish to focus on clinical leadership
- MSc Leadership Development (Leadership and Management) is for those who are working, or aspire to work, in a leadership or management role
- MSc Leadership Development (Medical Leadership and Management) is suitable for doctors, offering bespoke modules which provide a medical content and a business focus.
What you'll study
The course will provide you with opportunities for in-depth self awareness, critical reflection on your own style of leadership, and the opportunity to develop the qualities and decision-making skills of an effective change-agent.
You will gain insight into your personality traits and type, influencing style, emotional intelligence, team role, learning style, resilience and how to use this understanding to build a team. Developing the skills and knowledge required to effectively implement change and inform your actions with an evidence base, you will gain a range of pragmatic tools to enable you to apply theory to practice.
There will also be an opportunity to learn about research methodologies and undertake a project utilising your leadership and change management skills.
Compulsory modules
You will study the following compulsory modules on any of the three pathways.
For more information about each module, including the dates and times of module sessions, please see our Continuing Professional Development Modules for Health and Social Care Practitioners pages.
Clinical Leadership pathway additional compulsory modules:
You will study the following additional compulsory modules on the Clinical Leadership pathway.
Clinical Leadership pathway optional modules:
You will also choose 40 credits of optional modules from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine’s professional development portfolio on the Clinical Leadership pathway. You may wish to choose two of the following optional modules as your elective choices:
Leadership and Management pathway additional compulsory modules:
You will study the following additional compulsory modules on the Leadership and Management pathway.
Leadership and Management pathway optional modules:
You will also choose 20 credits of optional modules from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine’s professional development portfolio on the Leadership and Management pathway. You may wish to choose one of the following optional modules as your elective choice:
Medical Leadership and Management pathway additional compulsory modules:
You will study the following additional compulsory modules on the Medical Leadership and Management pathway.
Medical Leadership and Management pathway optional modules:
You will also choose 40 credits of optional modules from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine’s professional development portfolio on the Medical Leadership and Management pathway. You may wish to choose two of the following optional modules as your elective choice:
How you'll study
The programme will be delivered through lead lectures, workshops, seminars, master classes, Action Learning Sets, group work and critical debates to provide a framework to underpin the development of critical thinking and sharing in the learning process. The approach will be flexible – blended learning based on a hybrid model of in-person and online synchronous (real-time) delivery. This means that you can attend the programme in-person or through distance learning online.
The aim across all pathways is to promote a values-driven, compassionate, inclusive and authentic approach to leadership and to develop effective change agents who are able to improve the quality of care. Throughout each pathway, reflection will be applied to determine the type of leader you are, the type of leader you aspire to be (and why), and the action that will be taken to further your leadership development. This will be supported by group work, debate, action learning sets, coaching, self-awareness tools, work shadowing opportunities, master-classes, coaching and student-led seminars. The aim is to create a learning community conducive to critical reflection.
The attendance is typically daytime, approximately three hours per week or six hours every other week, per module, however some modules incorporate additional online units of study. In addition we provide work shadowing and one-to-one coaching opportunities. The method of study can be flexible, blended learning based on a hybrid model of in-person and online study. The programme can be studied entirely online if required.
How you'll be assessed
The assessment strategy will focus on the synthesis and critical application of theory to practice in relation to your current or future leadership role. A variety of assessment strategies will be utilised to provide balance including essays, presentations, portfolios, a leadership development plan, reflective diaries, seminars, online discussion and the undertaking of a project. You will be assessed both formatively to support your development and summatively to demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes.
Who will be teaching you
The programme team comprises staff from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, the Evidence Based Practice Research Centre and Edge Hill Business School, many of whom publish in international journals and present at national and international conferences.
An additional network of executive/senior professionals within health and social care will provide you with opportunities to learn from their experience through coaching and work shadowing opportunities.
Where your course includes optional modules, these are to provide an element of choice within the course curriculum. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by timetabling requirements. Some restrictions on optional module choice or combinations of optional modules may apply.
Entry criteria
Entry requirements (2025 / 2026)
To join this MSc you should ideally have a degree equivalent to UK first-class or second-class honours (2:2 or above) in a health or social care related subject, although other subjects may be considered.
If you are in full-time employment and have a minimum of five years’ experience working within health and social care, you may be able to access the course without a degree if you are able to demonstrate evidence of continuous professional development.
An interview forms part of the selection process.
English language requirements
International students require IELTS 6.5, with a score no lower than 6.0 in each individual component, or an equivalent English language qualification.
If your current level of English is half a band, one band, or one-and-a-half bands lower, either overall or in one or two elements, you may want to consider our Pre-Sessional English course.
How to apply
There is an online application process for this course.
Please choose the application form for your preferred intake date.
February 2025:
- Apply for MSc Leadership Development (Clinical Leadership): February 2025 Part-Time
- Apply for MSc Leadership Development (Leadership and Management): February 2025 Part-Time
- Apply for MSc Leadership Development (Medical Leadership and Management): February 2025 Part-Time
September 2025:
- Apply for MSc Leadership Development (Clinical Leadership): September 2025 Part-Time
- Apply for MSc Leadership Development (Medical Leadership & Management): September 2025 Part-Time
- Apply for MSc Leadership Development (Leadership and Management): September 2025 Part-Time
February 2026:
Should you accept an offer of a place to study with us and formally enrol as a student, you will be subject to the provisions of the regulations, rules, codes, conditions and policies which apply to our students. These are available at www.edgehill.ac.uk/studentterms.
There’s plenty of opportunities to come take a look around campus. Attend one of our open days to see what life at Edge Hill University is all about.
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Facilities
The Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine offers outstanding facilities for the education and training of health and social care professionals.
The contemporary teaching and learning resources include leading edge clinical skills facilities, an 860-seat lecture theatre, and a variety of teaching rooms and social learning spaces.
Where you'll study
Finance
Tuition fees
UK Part-Time
Typically £50 per credit
for the course
The University may administer a small inflationary rise in tuition fees, in line with Government policy, in subsequent academic years as you progress through the course.
EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as well as Irish nationals, may be eligible for the UK tuition fee rate.
Tuition fees
UK Part-Time
Typically £51 per credit
for the course
EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as well as Irish nationals, may be eligible for the UK tuition fee rate.
Financial support
Please view the relevant Money Matters guide for comprehensive information about the financial support available to eligible UK students joining postgraduate courses at Edge Hill University.
EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme may be eligible to apply for financial support. Irish nationals can ordinarily apply to Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). Please see our EU student finance page for further details.
Your future career
In an increasingly competitive health service, health and social care staff need to continually seek opportunities to add to their portfolio of qualifications in order to advance their careers. This is especially true for allied health professionals, clinical scientists, doctors, nurses and social workers where a postgraduate qualification is increasingly deemed desirable and essential.
For those students aspiring to work in leadership and management roles within health and social care, the programme will equip with you with essential transferable skills that will enable you to apply for a wide variety of roles within service improvement, project management, audit, governance, quality, commissioning, business operations, risk and patient safety.
This MSc Leadership Development programme will equip you with a range of leadership and change management skills. It provides a highly relevant qualification which demonstrates a commitment to continuous professional development and also gives you an advantage over your peers.
Course changes
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, however our courses are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may necessitate alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses.
Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of professional bodies, revisions to subject benchmarks statements, to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.
