Professional Doctorate (Health and Social Care)

Entry requirements

A good bachelors degree, normally 2.1 or above, and/or master's degree, with appropriate practice experience.

Months of entry

May, September

Course content

Professional Doctorates are linked intrinsically to your workplace. The DProf provides an excellent framework in which to develop a credible research proposal based on issues identified in a clinical or health-related environment. This course has been developed in collaboration with in-service professionals along the key themes of education for:

Personal strategies for practice development

Creative decision-making and risk-taking

Developing presence, influence and political know-how

Evidence-based practice and research

There are variable points of entry available for applicants who come in via the Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL/APEL) route - there are 3 to 3.5 year routes. For example, if your Master's qualification meets our APEL requirements you can undertake a three year research project during which you write up a thesis.

You will have two supervisors to support your research. We have experts across many disciplines, for example nursing, counselling, social care, public health, occupational therapy, radiography, physiotherapy to supervise your own area of expert knowledge. Developing personal support is one of the most important values informing the DProf programme. You might be a mature student having spent lengthy periods in the workplace; confidence around writing support is built into the programme.

Information for international students

English language requirements

International applicants will be required to show proficiency in English. An IELTS score of 6.0 (no element below 5.5) is proof of this.