Doctor of Professional Practice in Health and Social Care

Advance your professional impact with a practice-focused doctorate designed for working professionals in health and social care. Study flexibly, research real-world challenges, and develop the leadership and research expertise to drive meaningful change. The Doctor of Professional Practice (DProfPrac) is designed for experienced professionals in health and social care who want to advance their careers, lead meaningful change and make a lasting impact. This practice-focussed doctorate allows you to research real-world challenges that you face in your professional role, enabling you to generate knowledge that benefits service users, your organisation and profession. You will develop advanced research, critical thinking and leadership skills that support progression in senior, strategic or consultancy roles. The programme is offered on a part time basis, making it possible to balance doctoral study with professional and personal responsibilities. You will be supported by academics with extensive research experience and join a community of practitioner-researchers who are committed to improving practice, policy and outcomes across health and social care. We also work with our amazing alumni and visiting scholars to ensure you receive high-quality practice-led insights that support your professional growth.

Applicants should normally meet the following criteria: Be able to demonstrate that you have achieved 180 credits at Level 7 (through Accredited Prior Certificated Learning). This will normally be in the form of a Masters degree in a cognate subject, completed within the 10 years prior to enrolment. Applicants holding a Masters degree completed more than 10 years prior to enrolment will need to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Programme Leader, updating of their knowledge and skills at the equivalent of Level 7 during the past 10 years. A minimum of 3 years relevant work-experience at an appropriate level (e.g., demonstration of leadership, autonomy or advanced practice). Due to the work-based nature of the award students should currently be employed in a suitable workplace environment to support learning and assessment on the programme. Please download the Research area form to submit alongside your application. We regret to inform you that we are unable to support Student VISAs for this course due to its part-time nature. However, international applicants holding other types of VISAs may be considered, provided their VISA permits them to engage in study. Find more information about applying for research study.

Minimum standard – IELTS 7.0 (or equivalent) for study at postgraduate level.

UK students: £2,750 per year

April 2026

No fixed deadline — apply as early as possible. Applications close when the course is full.

• Waterside Campus, Northampton, United Kingdom