A postgraduate qualification is a positive investment in your future. It is your opportunity to become more specialised in your chosen area, developing in-depth knowledge and expertise that can set you apart.

We offer a wide range of postgraduate courses and flexible study options, including part-time and online. You will be taught by world-leading academics who are at the forefront of groundbreaking research in areas of critical importance for the future.

Our partnerships, collaboration with industry and accreditations by professional bodies provide the opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge in real-world settings.

Invest in you with a postgraduate qualification at the University of Derby to further your prospects and transform your future.

_Top10 for Postgraduate Study Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2024

_Top15 for Teaching Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2024

_Top15 for Skills Development Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2024

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Courses:

BSc (Hons) Occupational Health Nursing (Top-up)

Course Highlights

• 100% online learning – study alongside your professional role and enjoy flexible access to structured learning materials to fit around shift patterns
• Course can be completed over 1-2 years, allowing registered nurses to top up their Diploma / Advanced Diploma in Nursing to a Bachelor’s degree whilst managing studies around their practice
• Develop specialist knowledge in Occupational Health, public health and long-term conditions
• Learn from expert academic and clinical lecturers
• Live, interactive online sessions scheduled to maximise accessibility
• Build practical, career-focused proficiencies aligned to Occupational Health practice
• Evidence-based curriculum informed by national OH and nursing guidance

Top up your nursing qualification online

BSc (Hons) Occupational Health Nursing (Top Up) is a flexible online degree designed for registered nurses working in Occupational Health (OH) who want to enhance their knowledge, gain a full honours degree and progress their career.

Depending on your previous qualification (Diploma or Advanced Diploma), you will complete either 60 or 120 credits to achieve your BSc (Hons) degree while continuing to work in your professional role.

Designed for working Occupational Health nurses

This programme has been developed specifically to meet the needs of registered nurses already working in Occupational Health. It provides a high-quality, industry-informed curriculum that supports professional credibility, workforce development and career progression.

The course complements existing professional routes such as:

• Postgraduate Occupational Health Practice programmes
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD) modules
• The Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN – Occupational Health) qualification
• The Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM) Diploma in Occupational Health Practice

These are often undertaken alongside, or following, employment in the specialty.

Evidence-based and industry informed

Although there is currently no statutory regulatory requirement for nurses to hold a specific Occupational Health qualification, this degree equips you with the knowledge, skills and confidence needed for effective practice in a wide range of OH settings.

The curriculum is informed by recognised national guidance, including:

• Educating Occupational Health Nurses (Public Health England, 2016)
• Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing Together (NHS England, 2023)
• Standards for Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (NMC, 2022)

This ensures a robust, evidence-based learning experience aligned with current professional expectations.

Supporting your professional development

Delivered entirely at academic level 6, the BSc (Hons) Occupation Health Nursing (Top Up) degree supports you to develop safe, competent and evidence-informed practice in Occupational Health. It is designed to meet the needs of both employers and practitioners, helping you build skills that are directly relevant to your role and future career progression.

Link to full details and application portal: https://www.derby.ac.uk/online/nursing-courses/occupational-health-nursing-top-up-bsc-hons-online/

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PG Dip in Occupational Health Practice

Course highlights

• Flexible online delivery designed to fit around professional roles
• Development of advanced knowledge and skills in Occupational and Public Health
• Structured learning materials accessible at your convenience
• Expert lecturers with extensive Occupational Health and clinical experience
• Live online sessions scheduled to optimise accessibility and learner support
• Industry-informed curriculum aligned to workforce needs
• Opportunity to tailor learning through optional module selection

A Specialist Qualification for Workplace Health

Occupational Health (OH) is a specialist field of health practice focused on promoting and maintaining the health, safety and wellbeing of people in the workplace. Occupational Health practitioners work proactively to prevent work-related injury and illness, promote health and wellbeing, and support employees and organisations to manage health effectively and ethically.

This Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Health Practice is designed for Registered Nurses and Midwives, Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), Doctors, and other suitably qualified practitioners who are considering, or are in the early stages of, a career in Occupational Health and wellbeing.

Designed to strengthen the Occupational Health workforce

Delivered at academic level 7, the programme complements existing professional development routes such as Postgraduate CPD modules, the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) qualification, and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM) Diploma in Occupational Health Practice.

It provides an accessible pathway for those who may not yet be employed within an OH setting — addressing a key barrier to entry for many aspiring practitioners. The programme is particularly beneficial for small and medium-sized OH providers seeking to strengthen workforce capability without in-house educational provision.

A quality-assured, industry-informed curriculum offers reassurance to students, employers and the wider Occupational Health community.

Evidence-informed and professionally relevant

While there is currently no statutory requirement for health professionals to hold a specific qualification in Occupational Health to practise in the field, this programme provides the knowledge, skills and critical understanding required for safe and effective practice.

The curriculum is informed by key guidance and professional standards, including:

• Educating Occupational Health Nurses (Public Health England, 2016)
• Growing Occupational Health and Well-being Together (NHS England, 2023)
• Standards for Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (NMC, 2022)

It is robust, evidence-based and designed to support professional development, workforce sustainability and career progression.

Legal, ethical and professional accountability

Occupational Health professionals operate within a clear legal and ethical framework, including duties under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This requires employers and self-employed professionals to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that others are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

This programme develops your understanding of professional accountability, governance, risk management and safe practice within complex workplace environments.

Flexible, accessible postgraduate study

Delivered fully online, the programme offers flexibility for working professionals and self-funding students. The structure enables you to balance postgraduate study with employment and personal commitments while developing specialist expertise in Occupational Health practice.

Link to full details and application portal: https://www.derby.ac.uk/online/health-social-community-work-courses/occupational-health-practice-postgraduate-diploma-online/

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Post Graduate Diploma Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Occupational Health) –  September 2025 recruiting now!

• Gain a professional qualification in health visiting or occupational health nursing or school nursing
• Build your understanding of clinical practice, wider public health and leadership and management
• Develop specialist assessment, leadership and management skills.
• Develop and build on your existing knowledge to ensure that you meet the competencies set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and you’re eligible to gain a registrable qualification
• Become part of the OH public health workforce working toward improving people’s lives and their health outcomes
• Join with a degree at 1:1 or 2:1, having 120 credits at degree level or equivalent academic credits
• Previous study at level 6 in a previous module is necessary

This course is for NMC registered nurses who want to gain a professional qualification in health visiting or occupational health nursing or school nursing. If you have either a Diploma or Advanced Diploma in nursing studies this course can be studied at degree level to top up your qualification.

During this course you will:

• Develop the skills you need to become a practitioner in your own area of expertise, and work as a specialist public health nurse
• Learn how to share the core values of a practitioner with your colleagues to help them with their professional development
• Build up your skills in clinical practice, care and programme management, leadership, and public health, which will be essential when you become a practitioner
• Enhance your research skills that will help you to look at the quality of care in your current practice and suggest improvements
• Improve your understanding of professional roles and functions by networking, team building and communicating with other professionals.

Practice Assessment will encompass all the four domains of care, facilitation of learning, leadership and management, research and development.

We’re proud to say that our courses are closely mapped against the health and social care sector. This ensures that our curriculum is up-to-date, providing you with the assurance that your learning is current and relevant. This does mean that we do have to respond to national changes such as government policy. As a result, some of the information about our courses may change.

The Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Programme leading to Health Visitor or Occupational Health Nurse or School Nurse qualification accessed at Masters level gives you 120 credits at level 7 (Post Graduate Diploma).  You can undertake this full time (1year) or part time (up to 3 years). To complete the full MSC (Masters) you will need to gain funding or self-fund to undertake the additional 60 credits needed at level 7, which will take an additional year post HV/OHN or SN qualification. 

100%of students were satisfied with the quality of the course

Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2023

100%of students agreed that staff are enthusiastic about what they teach Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2023

100%students agreed that the course is intellectually stimulating Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2023

You will study modules such as:

• Introduction to Specialism and Clinical Practice (Occupational Health Nursing pathway)
• Public Health and Educating Communities
• Innovation, Leadership and Team Development
• Research Based Practice, Consolidating Specialism
• Mental Health across the Lifespan
• Fundamentals of Long-term Condition Management in Adults

Cost: £6408 for the full course (Please note fees normally increase in line with inflation and the University’s strategic approach to fees, which is reviewed on an annual basis.)

This course requires you to be employed in a suitable OH Practice area with 2 SCPHN Part 3 OH Registrants to act as your supervisor and assessor. Suitable placement areas will also need to meet these requirements. (Advice may be given to help applicants to find a suitable placement for the duration of the course).

Link to full details and application portal: https://www.derby.ac.uk/postgraduate/nursing-health-care-practice-courses/specialist-community-public-health-nursing-pg-dip/

For more information please email: n.loach@derby.ac.uk

This course will also run in September 2025 as an Apprenticeship

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Want to become a Practice Teacher?

Postgraduate Certificate Leading Interprofessional Practice –  September 2025 recruiting NOW!

• This unique online course is accredited by Advance HE, formerly the Higher Education Academy (HEA), as meeting the Professional Standards Framework (PSF) for teaching and supporting learning, meaning you will be eligible to apply for Associate Fellowship or Fellowship of Advance HE when you graduate from the course
• A postgraduate qualification that enables you to develop your skills and knowledge in education within your practice setting, putting you at the forefront of professional practice education
• The course can be completed in one or two years of part-time online study, making it ideal for your professional development and career advancement
• You’ll benefit from learning alongside a range of health, social care and allied health professionals to help you to develop the interprofessional academic and personal skills needed in future-focused educational practice
• This course provides the opportunity to develop leadership skills and specialise in the teaching and support of undergraduate and postgraduate learners towards, during and following assessment, through constructive feedback
• You’ll develop the ability to support diverse groups of learners with an ‘anti-exclusionary’ approach underpinned by a sound understanding of equality and accessibility
• Increase your digital capabilities through online study, while demonstrating digital technologies in the facilitation of learning, the promotion of independent learning skills and other teaching techniques

The University has 20 years of experience of successfully delivering this programme under a variety of iterations, to meet the needs of the evolutionary Health and Social Care landscape

This online Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) Leading Interprofessional Practice Education (LIPPE) programme is for registered health and social care professionals who are supporting higher education learning, teaching and assessment across acute and community service provision, within their role.

Many post-registration specialist and advanced practitioners will, once qualified, work autonomously. Whilst training and preparing for their role, they require thorough support to facilitate a range of on-the-job learning opportunities and advanced assessment of their ability to undertake complex assessment and form judgements while making decisions.

This course aims to prepare you with the knowledge, skills, values and behaviours required to reflexively facilitate such learning and development across the broad experiential range and academic scope of the health and social care provision.

This is a long-established programme now available as an online course. It has evolved over the years to reflect the changing requirements of educators working across the broad spectrum of Health and Social Care Services.

Core Modules:

7NU617 – 20 credits (20 hours of teaching is required and 40 hours of Associated Activity)

Innovating learning, teaching and assessment toward enhanced professional practice

This module focuses on how teaching and assessment in the Health and Social Care context supports learning in diverse professional and academic settings. (This is the Practice Teacher module equivalent)

7NU618 – 40 credits (40 hours of teaching is required and 80 hours of Associated Activity)

Leading and Evaluating the Curriculum

In this module you will begin to demonstrate agency and leadership in academic professional practice, at a level appropriate to your role, by designing curriculum and/or delivering active learning innovations in interprofessional Health and Social Care practice education.

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Other courses you might like

• Innovating Learning, Teaching Assessment Toward Enhanced Professional Practice Certificate of Credit (Online)
• Advancing Integrated Urgent Care Practice Postgraduate Certificate
• Clinical Supervision Postgraduate Certificate
• Doctorate in Health and Social Care Practice
• Leading Interprofessional Practice Education-Academic Professional Apprenticeship

• Understanding Autism, Asperger’s and ADHD (online)
• Principles of Long Term Condition Management
• Practice Certificate in Non-Medical Prescribing for Nurses and Midwives (V300)

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