University College London (UCL)
Paediatrics and Child Health: Advanced Paediatrics MSc
London, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
5 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 36,500 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international students: full time £36,500 - part time £18,250 | UK students: full time £16,000 - part time £8,000. Additional fees may apply
This MSc program in Paediatrics and Child Health is designed for healthcare professionals who want to deepen their understanding of child development, health conditions, and clinical practices. It covers a wide range of topics, including the fluid and electrolytes management, infectious diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, and advancements in pediatric care. The course aims to develop students’ skills in both clinical assessment and research, preparing them to address complex health issues in children with confidence. It combines theoretical knowledge with practical applications, ensuring students can translate what they learn into real-world settings to improve patient outcomes.
The program offers flexible study options, allowing students to choose between full-time and part-time routes, which is helpful for balancing work and study commitments. It emphasizes critical thinking and evidence-based practice through a combination of lectures, seminars, and research projects. Students will also have the chance to engage with leading experts in paediatrics, gaining insights into current trends and innovations in child health. The curriculum is structured to support those aiming for careers in clinical practice, research, or policy-making, while fostering a collaborative learning environment that encourages peer interaction and shared experiences.
UCL Scholarships
There are a number of scholarships available to postgraduate students, including our UCL Master's Bursary for UK students and our UCL Global Master's Scholarship for international students. You can click the link below to search via the scholarships finder for awards that you might be eligible for. Your academic department will also be able to provide you with more information about funding.
External Scholarships
Online aggregators like Postgraduate Studentships, Scholarship Search, Postgraduate Funding and International Financial Aid and College Scholarship Search contain information on a variety of external schemes.
If you have specific circumstances or an ethnic or religious background, it is worth searching for scholarships/bursaries/grants that relate to those things. Some schemes are very specific.
Funding for disabled students
Master's students who have a disability may be able to get extra funding for additional costs they incur to study.
Teaching and learning
Throughout this programme, you will be taught subject-specific knowledge via a variety of methods, but not limited to, lectures, discussion groups and external reading.
You will assimilate practical and transferable skills via teaching, self-learning and assessments through the various modules provided by this programme. Between modules, you will have time to work on your dissertation.
Meet the academics currently leading this programme on the UCL GOS ICH website.
Your intellectual, academic, and research skills will be assessed through unseen examinations and coursework. Assessment is through a combination of multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions, essays, posters, presentations, reflective portfolios, and critical appraisal of the literature. For the full MSc, a research project and a dissertation are required.
Typical contact hours and hours of self-directed study for this programme (per 15-credit module) are: relevant lectures, seminars and tutorials (30 hours), reading hours (50 hours), engagement with online material (20 hours), revision (30 hours) and preparation for the final assessment e.g. coursework, essay (20 hours). Total 150 hours per module. Contact hours will vary depending on the choice of modules. The estimated time for dissertation supervision is around 30 hours (including group sessions and supervisor meetings).
Most modules are delivered as blocks of study, normally over four or five consecutive days from 9-5 pm. Modules outside of this pattern will have around three hours of contact time per week. Overall, we expect full-time students to study a full 35-hour week, with time outside classes spent in self-directed study. Part-time and flexible students study at a pro-rata rate.
Modules
Full-time
The programme is taken over one full academic year and comprises three compulsory modules and a dissertation, with an additional five optional modules (eight modules in total).
Two of the compulsory modules: Evidence-based Child Health and Applied Statistics for Health Research I are usually taken in the first term and provide the foundational skills for your dissertation.
Depending on your module choices, most modules are taught in one-week blocks dispersed throughout the year, and you must complete all components of the programme within one year unless extenuating circumstances are approved by UCL.
The dissertation is a major part of the programme, and this can be completed over the year, with the bulk of work usually taking place in the final term. It is submitted in early September.
You will take 180 credits, made up of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Part-time
This programme is available in a part-time mode of two years with eight taught modules plus the project to be taken in this period.
As a part-time student, you will take the programme over two years. You can complete this in a variety of ways: taking all the taught modules in the first year or spreading them over the two years. The dissertation is usually completed in the second year.
Flexible
As a modular flexible student, you are able to complete the programme in anything up to five years. You can complete this in a variety of ways by spreading modules out over the five years, or even having a year when you take no modules. It is advisable to take the modules that provide the foundational skills for completing the dissertation, for example, Applied Statistics for Health Research, later in the programme if that is when your dissertation will be undertaken.
Compulsory modules
- Research Project Report
- Applied Statistics for Health Research I
- Evidence-based Child Health
Optional modules
- Respiration Through Life, Health and Disease
- International Child Mental Health
- Epidemiology for Child Health
- Immunisation and Communicable Diseases
- Safeguarding and Children in Society
- Child Public Health
- Nutrition, Growth and Physical Activity
- Leadership and Professional Development
- Molecular Biology of Normal Development and Birth Defects
- Clinical Genomics Genetic and Rare Diseases
- Specialist Paediatrics I
- Specialist Paediatrics II
- Molecular and Clinical Aspects of Childhood Cancers
- Adolescent Health Medicine
- Paediatric Critical Care (General)
- Stabilisation and Transport of the Critically Ill Child
- Cardiac Critical Care
- Ethics and Law for Paediatrics and Child Health
- Neonatal Intensive Care
- Conflict, Humanitarianism and Health
- Key Principles of Health Economics
- Collecting and Using Data: Essentials of Quantitative Survey Research
- Health Systems in a Global Context
- Regression Modelling
Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment, and module content and availability are subject to change.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Paediatrics and Child Health: Advanced Paediatrics. Upon successful completion of 120 credits, you will be awarded a PG Dip in Paediatrics and Child Health: Advanced Paediatrics.
What this course will give you
- Study a well-established and hugely popular paediatrics programme at one of the world’s top universities, ranked number one for research power and impact in medicine, health and life sciences (REF 2021), and 6th in the world for public health (ShanghaiRankings 2023).
- Learn through lectures, discussion groups and external reading with national and international experts in paediatric research and practice. We continually evolve the programme based on student feedback and changing demands in the health service and academic sectors.
- Gain insight into UCL’s world-leading paediatric research topics ranging across molecular genetics to population health sciences. UCL GOS ICH is a leading multidisciplinary research centre, committed to enhancing the understanding, diagnosis, therapy and prevention of childhood diseases.
- Benefit from our close links with GOSH, with much of our research and teaching carried out on a joint basis.
- Study and network with students from all over the world as part of an inspirational postgraduate learning environment.
- Study at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, in the heart of a London district famous for its cultural and educational institutions.
- Benefit from first-rate facilities in both laboratory and non-laboratory subjects, including the UCL GOS ICH library.
The foundation of your career
This Master’s degree will help you understand the core principles of evidence-based paediatrics and child health.
Many of our graduates have gone on to complete their specialist training, into careers as consultants in paediatrics or senior professionals in other related fields, including with the NHS, government health departments, ministries of health and NGOs all over the world.*
The programme also provides an ideal foundation for doctoral research in this field.
* Graduate Outcomes survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates in the cohorts 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22
Employability
By the end of your Master’s degree, you’ll have a valuable understanding of and academic skills in evidence-based acute and chronic paediatric practice to take with you into your career.
You’ll learn about current and future developments in paediatric medicine and child health and gain the skills necessary to critically appraise practice and policy, and carry out independent Masters-level research.
Networking
The Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health offers seven MSc programmes as well as an MRes in Child Health, encompassing a wide range of topics. Our students come from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, from the UK and overseas, providing great networking opportunities within and across programmes. We hold social events throughout the year for the whole student cohort to enable networking between students. Students on the Master's programmes have the opportunity to join UCL GOS ICH events such as the Otto Wolff lectures hosted by the research and teaching departments. These cover a variety of topics and provide an opportunity to hear from national and international experts and to network at the social event that usually accompanies these events.