PD Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care (Online)

• Normally, you'll have at least an upper second class honours degree (2.1) in a relevant subject or a master's degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject.
• You'll also possess credible and relevant experience in a health or social care profession or occupation. Examples of professions and occupations include doctors, nurses, medical/paramedical practitioners, allied health professionals, midwives, health and social care managers and health care educators.
• We welcome your application if you hold a degree awarded by an overseas institution. The University will assess the equivalence of your qualifications.
• You'll have an online interview discussion about your research interest and experience with the programme leader or admissions lecturer. You may also be asked to provide a portfolio of work.
• As this is an online course, you'll need access to a computer with the appropriate software. You'll also need basic IT skills. In particular, you'll need to be able to access and use the University of Bolton's virtual learning environment, Moodle. Please get in touch with the programme leader for details if you are uncertain that you'll be able to meet these requirements.
• We'll also consider applications where appropriate work experience can be demonstrated in lieu of, or in addition to, the published academic qualifications in line with the University’s Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) procedures.
• The University recognises prior learning, whether gained through academic credit and qualifications or through your professional and employment experience. Previous learning may be used towards meeting the entry requirements for this programme or for exemption from part of this programme. It is your responsibility to make a claim for recognition of prior learning, and each claim will be considered in accordance with the University’s policy and regulations for the recognition of prior learning.
• If English is not your first language, you will also need IELTS 7.5 with no less than 7.0 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

The University of Bolton's Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care (Online) is designed for a range of advanced health and social care professionals who are interested in enhancing their expertise through research in practice. Completing this programme will allow you to gain the high-level skills needed to generate new knowledge at the cutting edge of practice development. It will help to develop your career in leading and developing practice as you pursue excellence in your chosen field.

As a graduate of this programme, you'll be able to demonstrate a significant contribution to your professional area and possess a range of advanced skills such as research planning, use of research methods, research analysis, innovation, conference writing and presentation.

What can I do with this qualification?

Alternative career options

Graduates can also use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. Some of these roles may require relevant experience and/or postgraduate study. Possible careers include:

• Education
• Public sector health and social care services
• Third sector health and social care services
• Private sector health and social care services
• Industries allied to health and social care
• Publishing
• Political advisors
• Voluntary sector
• Mental health
• Occupational therapy
• Community education
• Journalism
• Policy development
• Nursing
• Consultancy

Home/EU Fees

Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £3,988 for the academic year 2025/26.

International Fees

Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £8,750 for the academic year 2025/26.

Bursaries

Click here for more information on our Master's Bursaries.

Important note regarding tuition fees: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

This online programme blends asynchronous online learning sessions and synchronous online group activities (workshops, demonstrations and application of theory to research practice), including collective and individual supervision sessions. We aim to build your confidence and competence in producing high-quality scholarly work and your ability to defend it independently. The whole programme incrementally guides you to develop draft sections of your thesis sequentially.

Our teaching and learning strategy uses a blended learning model that includes online asynchronous learning resources combined with live synchronous online workshops, tuition and supervision. We focus on building our student community through online activities that include discussion, networking, and presenting. The aim is to develop shared and peer learning that operates within our supervision framework. This education journey promotes your academic citizenship and helps you build relationships with peers in your discipline through active participation in communities regionally, nationally and internationally. It also helps you to develop the networking skills that will support your ability to engage in the global context of research enquiry and dissemination to make a positive impact.

During the taught synchronous elements of the programme, you'll be expected to attend online sessions that are designed to promote collaborative learning and student peer support. Being part of regular discussions and critiques should facilitate the development of your confidence and competence in producing high-quality scholarly work and your independent defence of it as attention moves towards developing impact and dissemination.

The teaching and learning philosophy for the fieldwork and thesis modules centres on promoting your individual development as an independent researcher. We'll guide and support you through supervision. As you undertake your research, regular supervision will support you in developing your researcher skills of critical analysis of ideas and problem-solving during each stage of your project. Knowledge transfer planning to make an impact in your field of enquiry will be promoted through developing scholarly submissions for publication and delivering presentations.

Formative and summative assessments are conducted periodically to determine whether you're meeting the programme's learning outcomes. The range of assessments includes written work, presentations and oral examinations. These are designed to build up sections of your final thesis, develop your skills of presentation and defence of your ideas (including a viva voce examination) and produce work of publishable quality to develop your impact in your chosen field of enquiry.

Please note that the viva voce examination will be conducted in accordance with the University's regulations.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

• Introduction to Doctoral Studies
• Research Design in Health and Social Care
• Contextualising Enquiry
• Research Methodology Methods and Analysis
• Fieldwork Project
• The Thesis

Assessment methods

Learning Activities

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.