MSc Nutrition in Practice
Online, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2027
TUITION FEES
GBP 8,930 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for international students | for UK students: £8,930
Key Summary
About: Study the MSc Nutrition in Practice at Leeds Beckett. You'll analyse food and nutrition in disease, lifestyle impacts and food-industry interests, and develop skills to design interventions, secure funding and report findings. You can work face-to-face or virtually with community groups, integrate work experience to meet Association for Nutrition competencies and become a registered associate nutritionist. The course offers specialist facilities, bespoke virtual alternatives and a 4–6-week placement.
Career Outcomes: Graduates can work as a Nutritionist, Community development worker, Nutrition researcher or Food industry nutritionist. They can also enter public health, NHS, charity, consultancy, food product development or media.
As part of this course, you’ll:
- Study a constantly developing and diverse subject
- Analyse the role of food and nutrition in disease, how lifestyle affects food and nutrition, and the vested interests of the food industry
- Understand current issues in nutrition, enabling you to make a positive difference in a variety of nutrition-related roles.
- Develop a range of practical skills, including the ability to devise programmes for interventions, secure funding from commissioners and report your findings to wider audiences.
- Work either face-to-face or virtually with community groups to understand how to successfully engage with clients and influence behaviour change using websites, media presentations, workshops and social media.
- Integrate work experience alongside your academic study to enhance your employability and meet the Association for Nutrition competencies to become a registered associate nutritionist upon graduation.
- Have the choice to apply to study part-time via distance learning to fit your course around existing commitments.
Put your learning into practice.
Our links with employers in the field of nutrition will ensure you can practically apply your learning. You'll undertake a four to six-week placement either in the UK or abroad. A placement is an opportunity to gain significant work experience in areas such as food product development, weight loss and healthy lifestyles, and consultancy in either the private, public or charity sector.
Specialist facilities
If you choose face-to-face teaching, you’ll have access to our state-of-the-art biomedical science laboratories, clinical skills suite and kitchens, which will enable you to further develop your practical skills. If you study via distance learning, you’ll take part in bespoke virtual alternatives designed by experienced lecturers and online course designers.
Learn from experts
You'll be taught by an experienced team of professionals including Professor Louisa Ells, a leading expert in obesity, and Dr Maria Maynard, leader of the Migrant Health Research group. You'll also hear from other leading professionals in the field as we host regular guest speakers from nutritional practice, the food industry, public health departments, hospital settings and research.
Why study Nutrition in Practice at Leeds Beckett University
- Professionally accredited course
- Fantastic placement opportunities
- Specialist facilities
- Real-life projects
Teaching & Learning
Independent study is a crucial part of learning at university and you will be required to undertake many hours of self-directed research and reading, and preparation and writing of assessments. Your course is delivered through several modules, which will help you to plan your time and establish a study routine. Outside of your lectures, workshops and tutorials, a range of support is available to assist with your independent study. Our subject-specific librarians will be on hand to direct you to specialist learning and study-skill resources. You’ll also be assigned an academic advisor to give you tailored feedback and support.
Distance learning - Core Modules
What you'll learn
Enterprise in Public Health Nutrition
A population and lifespan-based approach to the nutritional needs of individuals and communities, addressing contemporary issues influencing these needs.
Food Systems & Policy
Study the food systems operating across the food chain in agriculture, processing, distribution, retailing, and food service. Increase your awareness of the properties and behaviour of food, and understand how various systems are managed and operated.
Lifestyle Disease & Social Context
Examine lifestyle conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Analyze the health, psychosocial, cultural, and socioeconomic determinants associated with the prevalence of these conditions.
Nutrition Advances in Practice
Explore the theory and principles of human nutrition with a focus on integrating nutritional science, clinical science, and food science. Develop skills to critically evaluate and integrate current research alongside theoretical learning.
Nutritional Epidemiology
Examine the role of nutrition in the aetiology and trends of nutrition-related diseases. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of nutritional epidemiological methods, design concepts, and the application of appropriate statistical methods.
Research & Practice Development
Undertake a small-scale piece of research and/or development that supports your health-related practice within nutrition.
Research Methods for Nutrition
Develop both theoretical and practical skills necessary for your dissertation module.
Professional & Collaborative Practice
Develop specific knowledge, skills, and competencies related to the role of a Public Health Nutritionist in practice. Topics include health inequalities, commissioning, the wider public health agenda, project management and planning, collaborative working, and reflection on your own continuing professional development (CPD).
Distance learning - Option Modules
What you'll learn
Nutrition Work Placement
An optional four-week work experience placement in a nutrition-related environment. Ordinarily, this would take place between June and September, but the time frame can be flexible to accommodate your needs and the needs of the placement provider (excluding university teaching and assessment time).
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Integrate, analyse and synthesise knowledge, theories and concepts from a range of disciplines in the analysis of food and nutrition, to determine ‘best practice’ in Nutrition according to the evidence and apply this knowledge to emerging, complex scenarios.
- Apply problem-solving approaches, critical evaluation, reflective and creative skills in the interpretation and evaluation of existing nutrition-related interventions, and demonstrate originality and creativity in developing novel nutrition interventions.
- Demonstrate effective communication techniques for a range of lay and professional audiences, through the application of communication/behaviour change techniques with developed presentation, facilitation and report writing skills, being flexible and reactive to unpredictable situations.
- Demonstrate the ability to analyse nutritional intakes, trends, and behaviours, evaluating complex data according to health, social and economic determinants, using relevant IT skills and statistical methods.
- Analyse, evaluate and synthesise a range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, applying your knowledge in evaluating the strength of the research base and in the design of original research which contributes to the evidence base.
- Demonstrate self-direction in establishing a professional approach to learning, through analysis, reflection, and evaluation of your development, and apply learning within the context of leadership, collaborative and cross-sector working.
There are ways you may be able to fund your course. Sometimes it is possible to get sponsorship from a government body in your country. There are many different options, so have a look through the links carefully to see if they apply to you.
- International Scholarships
- Chevening Scholarships
- US / Canada Direct Loans
You’ll be prepared for a variety of jobs upon completion of your course such as:
- Nutritionist
- Community development worker
- Nutrition researcher
- Food industry nutritionist
You’ll be able to follow your professional interests. You could work in nutritional research at a charity, in the food industry with a major retailer, or in international public health delivering nutrition programmes. Roles in public health departments, local government, the NHS, consultancy work, specialist service provision or in the media will be open to you.