MScHealth Research Methods

Source: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/courses/medicine/health-research-msc/ Parent: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/courses/

MSc Health Research Methods

MSc Health Research Methods

PgDip Health Research Methods

PgCert Health Research Methods

Why study MSc Health Research Methods at Exeter?

• Develop the skills and knowledge needed to enact meaningful change as an effective and confident healthcare practitioner.
• Designed for health researchers, academic clinical fellows, nurses, midwives, allied healthcare professionals and public health professionals.
• Also suitable for new graduates seeking a comprehensive grounding in health services research methods to develop your career as a health researcher.
• Study topics such as patient and public involvement, collaborative working, evidence-based practice, complex interventions, health economics, clinical trials and medical statistics.
• Taught by leading international experts and authors in complex interventions research methods.

Play a vital role in making health services better. Constant changes in healthcare means that highly skilled researchers are in-demand for developing, testing, evaluating and implementing evidence-based healthcare in highly complex situations.

By studying MSc Health Research Methods, you could help solve important problems to deliver better, safer and more accessible healthcare to the population.

Previous topics that students have chosen for independent study include:

• Exploring facilitators and barriers of patients’ trust in clinical pharmacists in Primary Care.
• Improving the physical health monitoring of patients taking Clozepine.
• Intravenous antimicrobial therapy in the home.
• Effectiveness of group psychological interventions in reducing the burden for caregivers of patients with dementia residing in the community.

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Select date of entry

Sept 2026

Select programme MSc 1 year (Full time) MSc 2 years (Part time) MSc 3 years (Part time) MSc full time (Intercalating) PgDip 2 years PgCert 1 year

Apply for Jan 2026 entry

Apply for Sept 2026 entry

Apply for individual modules 2026/27

Fast Track (current Exeter students)

Accreditation of prior learning (APL)

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Contact

Programme Director: Dr Antonieta Medina-Lara

Web: Enquire online

Phone: +44 (0)1392 72 72 72

This programme is delivered at our St Luke’s Campus, which is home to the University of Exeter Medical School. The campus is a short walk from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and offers a range of research facilities and equipment. Students will be able to access resources used by our Institute of Health Research.

Top 10 in the UK for our world-leading and internationally excellent Clinical Medicine research

Based on 4* + 3* research in REF 2021

Our Public Health research is 11th in the UK for research power

Submitted to UoA2 Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care. REF 2021

Major capital investment in new buildings and state-of-the-art facilities

Vibrant and active research student community supported by excellent pastoral and academic staff

Entry requirements

Normally a minimum 2.2 Honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline. Relevant clinical or professional experience may be taken into consideration as evidence of equivalency.  A personal statement, detailing your reasons for seeking to undertake this subject, will be required. 

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.

Please also see our guidance on essential documentation required for an initial decision on taught programme applications.

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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Please also see our guidance on essential documentation required for an initial decision on taught programme applications.

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 IELTS 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

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 one 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 1 year.\ \ To gain a Masters qualification, you will need to complete 180 credits at level 7.

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.

Contact days

Health Research Methods timetable 2025/26

(Please note: timetables are draft and subject to change)

The last contact day and assessment deadline for the programme will be earlier than the actual end date of your registration with the University, to allow a period of time at the end of your active studies for further support and mitigation, if needed.

The modules below 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.

Full time 1 year

Please note that the module information displayed here is from a previous year and is subject to change.

Compulsory modules

If you are a part-time MSc student, you will take the taught compulsory modules in your first year and your research module in your final year.

Optional modules

Part time 2 years

Please note that the module information displayed here is from a previous year and is subject to change.

Compulsory modules

The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme

MSc full time, 2 year part-time and 3 year part-time

Note: If you are a part-time MSc student, take taught compulsory modules in your first year and take your research module in your final year.

Optional modules

Part time 3 years

Please note that the module information displayed here is from a previous year and is subject to change.

Compulsory modules

The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme

MSc full time, 2 year part-time and 3 year part-time

Note: If you are a part-time MSc student, take taught compulsory modules in your first year and take your research module in your final year.

Optional modules

Choose either 45 credits or 75 credits of Recommended or Other** approved modules:

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Fees

2026/27 entry

UK fees per year:

• MSc : £12,200 full-time, £6,100pa part-time 2 years, £4,100pa part-time 3 years
• PgDip: £4,100pa part-time 2 years
• PgCert: £4,100

Standalone module fees: UK: £1,200 per 15-credit module

International fees per year:

• MSc: £28,900 full-time,  £14,450pa part-time 2 years, £9,650 pa part-time 3 years
• PgDip:£9,650pa part-time 2 years
• PgCert:£9,650

Standalone module fees: International: £2,650 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 offers a wide range of scholarships to support your education, with £7 million available for international students applying to study with us in the 2026/27 academic year, including our prestigious Exeter Excellence Scholarships *. We also provide awards for sport, music and other achievements, as well as regional and partner scholarships with organisations such as Chevening, The Beacon Trust and the British Council. For more information on scholarships and other financial support, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.

University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship

We are pleased to offer University of Exeter alumni beginning a standalone postgraduate programme in 2026/27 with us a scholarship towards the cost of your tuition fees. Full details can be found here.

*Terms and conditions, including deadlines, apply. See our website for details..

Find out more about tuition fees and funding »

Funding and scholarships

UK government postgraduate loan scheme

UK students studying one or two year variants of this programme may be eligible for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan. More information can be found on the government website.

Scholarships

There are various funding opportunities available including the Medical School's Global excellence scholarships for international fee paying students. For more information visit our Masters funding page.

Teaching and research

Our purpose is to deliver transformative education that will help tackle health challenges of national and global importance.

The taught component of this programme is delivered in the first two terms (one year programme) or five terms (two year programme). During this time you’ll also be helped to develop a dissertation project to be completed in the remaining six months.

Teaching and learning methods

All material is designed for Masters-level and will involve keynote lectures, case studies, seminars and group discussion. Within modules there is considerable scope for you to direct your learning towards fields of particular interest, especially through your choice of dissertation project and in your guided independent study.

Assessment

Short assessments are tailored to each module, with some assessment taking place in class, and others requiring electronic submission of assignments towards the end of a module.

Advice and support

One-to-one tutorials with module leads are timetabled into each of the four taught modules to ensure that you’ll receive personalised support. The Programme Lead is also available to help you with further guidance and advice.

Associate Professor Rob Anderson

Professor of Health Services and Implementation Research

Dr Julia Frost

Senior Lecturer Health Services Research

Rebecca Whear

Co-lead for the module "Systematic Reviews for Policy and Practice"

Associate Professor Rob Anderson

Professor of Health Services and Implementation Research

Rob is module co-lead for  the core module Fundamentals of Research Design. He is an applied health services researcher and implementation scientist with a particular interest in the evaluation and synthesis of evidence about health policies and complex health interventions, such as public health programmes and changes in service organisation and delivery. 

He has over 20 years' experience as a health services researcher, economic evaluator, and implementation science scholar in both the UK NHS and the Australian health system.

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Associate Professor Rob Anderson

Professor of Health Services and Implementation Research

Rob is module co-lead for  the core module Fundamentals of Research Design. He is an applied health services researcher and implementation scientist with a particular interest in the evaluation and synthesis of evidence about health policies and complex health interventions, such as public health programmes and changes in service organisation and delivery. 

He has over 20 years' experience as a health services researcher, economic evaluator, and implementation science scholar in both the UK NHS and the Australian health system.

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Dr Julia Frost

Senior Lecturer Health Services Research

Julia has been a medical sociologist since 1999. She is a Senior Lecturer in Health Services Research in the Third Gap research group. She undertakes research about health service delivery and patient experience, using qualitative and mixed methods. She is module lead for Qualitative Methods and Process Evaluationsand co-leads on Fundamentals of Research Design.\ \ She is currently qualitative lead on two NIHR funded studies: SAMUEL: Use of simulation and machine learning to identify key levers for maximising the disability benefit of intravenous thrombolysis in acute stroke pathways; and PARTNERS2: collaborative care for people with severe mental illness.

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Rebecca Whear

Co-lead for the module "Systematic Reviews for Policy and Practice"

Rebecca is a Research Fellow and co-lead for the module: Systematic Reviews for Policy and Practice. She has many years of experience in social and health related research. Latterly, she has mainly focused on systematic reviews but in the past has been involved with small pieces of quantitative and qualitative primary research.\ \ Her main areas of interest include improving healthcare for patients and the NHS, the mental health and behaviour of young people, and dementia and dementia care.

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Careers

This programme is designed for a wide range of participants. It will enable health professionals from a variety of disciplines to gain expertise and become a more effective and confident practitioner. It is suitable for health researchers, academic clinical fellows, nurses, midwives, allied healthcare professionals and public health professionals. It is also suitable for new graduates (e.g. Medical Science, Psychology, Sociology, Geography) who wish to gain a comprehensive grounding in health services research methods as a platform for developing a career as a health researcher.

Careers support

All University of Exeter students have access to Career Zone, where you’ll gain access to our 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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