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You are viewing a course in < Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care

Palliative Care MSc, PG Dip, PG Cert

Key information

Course type: Single honours Delivery mode: Classroom & Online Study mode: Full time, Part time, Distance Learning Duration: One year full-time or two years part-time; in person or distance learning. Credit value (UK/ECTS equivalent): UK 180/ECTS 90 Application status: Open Start date: September 2025

Course essentials

Delivered by King’s Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, in partnership with St Christopher’s Hospice, the course will give you the skills you need to evaluate research and evidence in issues of palliative care to inform your clinical practice and your service development. This course is multi-disciplinary and multi- professional. You will learn alongside palliative care professionals from across the world and from all disciplines at the Cicely Saunders Institute. We have students from a wide range of disciplines and professions including doctors, chaplains, nurses, social workers and physiotherapists. Most teaching takes place at the Cicely Saunders Institute; some modules include components taught at St Christophers Hospice.

Course Aims

• Our Palliative Care programme aims to improve competence and confidence to care for adults and children with advanced disease, and for their families.
• The programme enables participants to develop the skills to critically evaluate evidence of the effectiveness, appropriateness and acceptability of existing interventions and services, both medical and psychosocial.
• You will develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the many clinical, social, psychosocial, and ethical issues which surround palliative care, and how to assess and deal with them.

Entry requirements

UK applicants

• Standard requirements: A minimum 2:1 undergraduate Bachelor’s (honours) degree
• Programme-Specific Requirements: A degree in medicine, nursing or dentistry or a 2:1 degree in life sciences or social sciences. You must also have experience of working in palliative care or an associated area, eg clinical or social care research.

International applicants

• Equivalent International qualifications: Select a country to view equivalent qualifications
• English language requirements: English language band D

Teaching & structure

Teaching methods - what to expect

• Hyflex: The MSc, Diploma and Certificate programme in Palliative Care will be delivered via Hyflex. This means the course will be delivered both in person and online at the same time. As an in-person student, you will taught in the classroom on campus. You will also be joined by other students remotely wherever they are in the world.
• The taught components of our modules are delivered in two-week blocks, throughout the year, with time for self-directed learning in between. This is deliberately designed to fit around your commitments at home and at work.

Assessment

• Course Work: Your performance will be assessed by coursework. Forms of assessment may typically include written assignments such as essays, policy briefs and case studies.
• Research Study project: As an MSc student you will also complete a Research Study project. This is a substantial piece of work relevant to your field of practice, which will allow you to draw together key themes of learning developed through the course.

Structure

• If you are an MSc student, you will take a total of 180 credits. If you are a PG Dip student, you will take a total of 120 credits. If you are a PG Cert student, you will take a total of 60 credits.
• Required modules: Research Methods and Statistics in Palliative Care (30 credits)
• Optional modules: Assessment and Management of Symptoms in Advanced Disease (30 credits), Service Management and Policy in Palliative Care (30 credits), Applying Psychosocial, Cultural, Ethical and Spiritual Issues to Palliative and End of Life Care (30 credits), Applying Epidemiology in Palliative Care (30 credits)

Careers

Employability

• Many of our graduates have gone on to become leaders in their field, to make significant contributions to patient and family care and to influence palliative care policy locally, nationally and internationally.
• Many have used this course to progress their careers from specialist training registrars in palliative medicine to challenging and exciting consultant posts in hospital, hospice and community settings, and a growing number of clinical nurse specialists are now nurse consultants.

Fees & Funding

Tuition Fees

• UK: Full time: MSc - £13,500 per year (2025/26); PG Dip - £9,000 per year (2025/26); PG Cert - £4,500 per year (2025/26)
• International: Full time: MSc - £31,600 per year (2025/26); PG Dip - £21,067 per year (2025/26); PG Cert - £10,533 per year (2025/26)

Deposit

• Bursary Funding: The following scholarships are available for this programme: INSIGHT Scholarship, Burdett Trust Scholarship

Additional Costs

• Books if you choose to buy your own copies
• Clothing for optional course related events and competitions
• Library fees and fines
• Personal photocopies
• Printing course handouts
• Society membership fees
• Stationery
• Graduation costs
• Travel costs for travel around London and between campuses

Funding

• To find out more about bursaries, scholarships, grants, tuition fees, living expenses, student loans, and other financial help available at King's please visit the Fees and Funding section.