Overview

Our programme has been designed to cater for a range of professionals with relevant experience and interest in working with people living with dementia. It has been designed to meet the needs of health and social care professionals and also professionals who are working for charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises.

It aims to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence of all its participants to lead, plan and deliver person-focussed care to people living with dementia particularly in relation to their changing care priorities as dementia advances.

Bringing together students with a wide range of personal and professional experiences enriches learning and insights from the real world practice provides a deeper understanding of professional and organisational issues.

Hear from some of our alumni

course highlights

This programme is designed to develop your expertise to lead high quality dementia care services.
Offers excellent teaching support and flexibility to fit around your work and home life.
Provides an opportunity to meet and learn with other professionals working and studying in this field.
Designed to be directly applicable to the workplace and to support you to develop your own and others’ knowledge and skills.
The team delivering this programme have national and international profiles in research and education related to both dementia care and older peoples’ studies and bring this experience into their teaching and learning activities.

More information

It has been designed to have particular appeal to health and social care professionals and also those professionals who are working in the third sector (i.e. for charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises) with older people living with dementia.

Successful completion of this programme will present opportunities to access employment as advanced practitioners, researchers, lecturers and practice development professionals. It is intended for an internationally diverse audience of health, allied health, and social care professionals particularly those who have experience in caring for older people living with dementia.

Teaching Expertise

The teaching staff work within the Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice within the University of the West of Scotland. The Centre and its staff have led a number of national and international projects including being responsible for delivery of the NHS Education Scotland / Scottish Social Service Council's National Dementia Champions Programme.

Top 20

in UK for Teaching Quality in Subjects Allied to Medicine

(The Times / The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019)

90%

Overall student satisfaction amongst UWS postgraduate students (iGraduate Student Barometer 2017-18)

93%

of UWS postgraduate students would recommend UWS to a friend (iGraduate Student Barometer 2017-18)

ALZHEIMER SCOTLAND CENTRE FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE

The staff teaching on this course are all part of the Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice (ASCPP). The mission of the Centre is to work collaboratively with people living with dementia, their carers, and the scientific and practice communities to advance evidence informed dementia policy and practice working in three key areas:

Applied research for policy and practice
Education to promote evidence informed practice
Influencing policy and its implementation

For more information on the Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice, click here.

You can follow the work of the Centre on Twitter @AlzScotCPP and Facebook .

The Centre staff in 2020 won an Advanced HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) for its ground-breaking ‘Class in a Bag’ programme, created by Adult Nursing Lecturers at UWS in collaboration with the ASCPP team and Alzheimer Scotland. Find out more about the CATE programme.

In 2020-21, they also published a series of six linked articles on caring for people living with advanced dementia in the UK journal Nursing Older People, which you can read here .

LEARN FROM A LIFETIME ACHIEVER

At UWS you will get the chance to work with staff at the forefront of their profession. One shining example of this is Dr Margaret Brown, Senior Lecturer and Depute Director of the Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice.

Margaret, who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at Scotland’s Dementia Awards 2016, is on hand to teach and support students studying at UWS across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate nursing programmes.

The award recognised Margaret’s outstanding commitment, over 40 years, to the field of dementia and mental health care for older people. It came shortly after she completed her doctorate at UWS.

Margaret’s doctoral research looked at ways to improve the quality of life for people with severe dementia. “I looked at six case studies to build up a collective picture of care, and ways we could improve it,” says Margaret. “While I found examples of really good care, deeper involvement of family and friends would enhance quality of life in the care home setting. A key finding is that there is a need for all staff to refocus and expand their knowledge about the fundamental aspects of care, such as eating and drinking and personal care. These are absolutely crucial, and become more and more important in the later stages of the disease.”

With caring for older people becoming an ever more essential part of a nurse’s job, and 850,000 people diagnosed with dementia in the UK, there is a great demand for the skills and competencies gained through the programmes we offer. And who better to learn from than Margaret and her colleagues?

Entry requirements

What qualifications do you need?

We welcome Scottish, UK and international students and consider all applicants on an individual basis.

Don’t worry if your qualifications are not listed here, we take a range of factors into account when assessing your application and are happy to consider other alternative combinations of qualifications and experience

If you are applying with an EU or non-EU qualification, please check our Postgraduate & Post-experience Entry Requirements page which gives more information about country-specific entry requirements.

Academic Requirements

Normally, you are expected to hold an Ordinary bachelor's degree in a relevant subject.

Applications are welcomed from graduates from all relevant disciplines with experience and/or an interest in older people and their health and social care provision.

Applicants who have completed the UWS Graduate Certificate in Working with Older People will also be considered on an individual basis.

Students who have already gained credit at Level 11 may transfer this in certain circumstances; this will be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants may be considered through assessment of prior learning and prior experiential learning, again, on an individual basis.

English Language Requirements

English language requirements for most courses

For applicants whose first language is not English, the University sets a minimum English Language proficiency level. The qualifications below must have been gained within two years of the start of your course.

General English language requirements at UWS: International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training)

overall score 6.0
no sub-test less than 5.5

Exceptions to this level of IELTS scoring exist for some accredited or professionally-recognised courses (see section below for more details).

SOCIAL WORK DEGREES

For our BA (Hons) Social Work and MSc Social Work programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

overall score of 7.0
no sub-test less than 7.0

Common equivalent English language qualifications

All stated English tests are acceptable for admission for both home/EU and international students for this programme:

CAE (Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English): 176 overall; no sub-test less than 169
CPE (Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English): 176 overall; no sub-test less than 169
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English: ISEII with the minimum of a Pass in all sub-tests
PTE Pearson Academic English: An overall score of 59 to 64 with no element below 59 (for programmes that require IELTS 6.0 with no element below 5.5). An overall score 65 to 75 with no element below 65 (for programmes that require IELTS 6.5 with no element below 6.0)

IELTS Score Exceptions (Research degrees, Biomedical Science degrees, Nursing & Midwifery degrees with NMC registration, Certificate of Higher Education, etc.)

Research Degrees

For our research degrees (MRes, MPhil, PhD, DBA, DProf) applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

overall score of 6.5
no sub-test less than 6.0

Health & Midwifery Awards

For Health, Nursing & Midwifery courses that lead to, or require professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council, applicants are required to have an IELTS or Occupational English Test (OET)*.

For such courses, the IELTS score is as follows:

overall score of 7.0
score of at least 7.0 in reading, listening and speaking and no less than 6.5 in writing

* Note that the Occupational English Test (OET) will now be accepted in addition to IELTS as proof of a Nurse's English Language Competence (Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2019).

Biomedical Degrees

For our BSc (Hons) Applied Biomedical Science, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science and MSc Advanced Biomedical Science programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

overall score of 7.0
no sub-test less than 6.5

Certificate of Higher Education

For our Certificate of Higher Education courses, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

overall score of 5.0
no sub-test less than 4.5

TOEFL IBT

TOEFL IBT*: 78; no sub-test less than:

Reading: 17;
Listening: 17;
Speaking: 17;
Writing: 17

* Please note that TOEFL is still acceptable for admission to this programme for both home/EU and international students.
For international students, the Home Office has confirmed that the University can choose to use TOEFL to make its own assessment of English language ability for visa applications to degree level courses. We therefore still accept TOEFL tests taken in the last two years for admission to this programme.

West African Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE)

West African Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE) including acceptance of WAEC Scratchcard*

C6 or above in English

*UWS will accept a WAEC scratchcard confirming that an applicant has achieved C6 or above as evidence of meeting English language requirement from Nigeria if the student graduated within the last 5 years. After 5 years applicants would be required to provide the WAEC Certificate.

Pre-sessional courses

Applicants who do not meet the minimum English language requirements have the option to study one of our preparatory and pre-sessional English courses. The UWS courses available are:

10 week pre-sessional - entry criteria UKVI IELTS 5.0 with no element below 4.5.
5 week pre-sessional - entry criteria UKVI IELTS 5.5 with no element below 5.5.
English Language for University Study - entry criteria UKVI IELTS with score of 4.0 in all elements (10 month course), or 4.5 with no score below 4.0 (7 month course).

Find out more about our English language courses.

Course details

The MSc in Dementia Care comprises of three stages:

Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert) - involves three, 20-credit modules (total 60 credits)
Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) - a further three, 20-credit (total 120 credits)
MSc Dissertation 60-credit module. This takes the form of a rigorous research proposal on a topic of the your choice. This allows you to develop essential skills for research, practice and career enhancement (total 180 credits)

The MSc can typically take between three and five years to complete on a part-time basis.

Postgraduate Certificate

All students will undertake the following core modules:

Dementia Care Principles (core, 20 credits)
Contemporary Advanced Dementia Care (core, 20 credits)

Plus, a further one optional 20-credit module:

Complexities of Pain (optional, 20-credits)
Delivering Compassionate Care (optional, 20-credits)
Frailty in Later Life (optional, 20-credits)
Assessment of Capacity (optional, 20-credits)

Postgraduate Diploma

All students will undertake the following three core modules:

Research for Health & Social Care (core, 20 credits)
Rights, Risks & Ethics in Advanced Dementia (core, 20 credits)
Achieving Change in Advanced Dementia Care (core, 20 credits)

MSc

Successful completion of the MSc Research & Enquiry Dissertation module is required. In this, you will develop a rigorous research proposal with a high level of critical appraisal which demonstrates knowledge of research and enquiry in an area of relevance to the care of people living with dementia (60 credits).

Teaching & Assessment

The University's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will be used for additional learning, teaching and assessment.

Online learning approaches include:

Group discussion
Seminars
Lectures from experts in the field
Videos
Podcasts
Enquiry based learning using studies of the older person’s experiences

LEARNING AND TEACHING

Independent Study: 70%
Scheduled Learning: 30%

ASSESSMENT

Coursework: 85%
Practical: 15%

Coursework will normally include essays, reflective pieces of work and your dissertation. Practical assessments will normally include presentations. Our assessment strategy ensures there are multiple points to access formative and summative feedback to enable you to improve your academic skills as the module and course progresses.

Course Structure

Find out more about the structure, learning outcomes, compulsory and optional modules in this course.

MSc Gerontology with Dementia Care Course Structure

Mental Health Nursing | Nurse with male patient

Career Prospects

Our aim is to provide an enjoyable and intellectually stimulating course of study that will prepare you for a successful career as a healthcare specialist committed to working with older people and caring for people with dementia in a variety of health and social care settings.

There are opportunities to become advanced practitioners, work within practice development or quality improvement or go onto become an educator or researcher. Graduates also have the opportunity to continue to doctoral level study.

Postgraduate Tuition Fees (Academic Session 2022/23)

Academic Session 2022/23 Tuition Fees for MSc Dementia Care 20-credit Modules (Online)

Scottish

£1,000 Cost per 20-credit module of study

Rest of UK (English, Northern Irish, Welsh)

£1,610 Cost per 20-credit module of study

Republic of Ireland

£1,610 Cost per 20-credit module of study

International (EU/EEA & non-EU/EEA)

£2,070 Cost per 20-credit module of study

Check Your Tuition Fee Status

Postgraduate Tuition Fees (Academic Session 2023/24)

Tuition Fees for 20-credit Modules (Online)

Scottish

£1,070 Cost per 20-credit module of study

Rest of UK (English, Northern Irish, Welsh)

£1,680 Cost per 20-credit module of study

Republic of Ireland

£1,680 Cost per 20-credit module of study

International (EU/EEA & non-EU/EEA)

£2,180 Cost per 20-credit module of study

Check Your Tuition Fee Status

Additional Costs & Sources of Funding

The cost of attending university is an investment in your future career.

In addition to tuition fees and living expenses, some courses involve extra costs like study materials, field trips, equipment and uniforms.

Fortunately, there is a great deal of financial support available to help students meet the cost of their study. This ranges from:

statutory government loans to pay for tuition fees
scholarships for Scottish, EU and International (non-EU) students
bursaries to help towards living expenses

The sections below provide details of additional costs that your course may involve along with any financial support that may be available.

You can also find additional information in our Postgraduate Money, Fees & Funding section.

Additional Costs

Students on certain degrees will incur some additional costs not covered by their tuition fees. These could be for things like specialist equipment, study materials, work placements, graduation, membership of relevant organisations or costs related to carrying out fieldwork.

For students on course with an element of fieldwork, there may also be extra costs for travel and accommodation.

Please contact the course leader for details of the additional costs associated with this course.

Tuition Fees & Living Cost Support

Tuition Fees & Additional Costs

Tuition fees are calculated based on where you are from and what you are studying. Some courses also involve additional costs, such as mandatory field trips, equipment or studying abroad.

Find out how much it will cost you to study at UWS as a postgraduate student.

Funding for Scottish Students

Scottish students studying at postgraduate level at UWS are entitled to various funds and support towards tuition fees and living costs.

Find out more.

Funding for English, Welsh & Norther Irish Students

English, Welsh and Northern Irish students studying at postgraduate level at UWS are entitled to various funds and support towards tuition fees and living costs.

Find out more.

Funding for EU Students

EU students studying at postgraduate level of UWS may be eligible for SAAS funding, as well as support to meet the costs of childcare and various sources of additional funding.

Find our more.

Funding for International Students

There are several scholarship and incentive schemes available to international students studying at postgraduate level at UWS, as well as support to meet the costs of childcare and various sources of additional funding.

Find out more.

Other Financial Support

Discretionary & Childcare Funds

UWS administer a range of discretionary and childcare funds. These are designed to support students who are experiencing financial difficulty or struggling to meet the costs of childcare.

Find out more.

Benefits & Tax Credits

Becoming a student can have an impact on your entitlement to certain benefits. It may mean you are no longer eligible to claim a benefit you have been receiving, or your new income from student funding may affect the amount you are able to receive.

Find out more.

Additional Financial Support

If there isn’t a statutory source of funding for you or your course, or you are in need of additional financial support, you may wish to consider more alternative sources of funding such as trust funds and scholarships.

Find out more.

WEST Scholarship Programme

At UWS, we believe financial restrictions should never be a barrier to your education.

The WEST (Widening Education and Supporting Talent) Scholarship Programme aims to remove the financial barriers that stop talented students from progressing throughout their degree to graduation.

Find out more.

Money & Debt Advice

Choosing to become a student can have a big impact on your budget and you may need to reassess your spending to account for a reduced income. We’ve put together some guidance to help you manage your money and make the right financial choices for you and your family.

Find out more.

How to apply

Postgraduate courses (MA, MSc, MEd, MBA, DBA, PG Cert, PG Dip, etc.) & some Post-experience courses (CertHE, BA, Grad Cert, Grad Dip, etc.)

All students should apply directly to the University through our online application system. Before you apply, you should check that you meet our entry requirements and you should have all your supporting documents ready.

The first stage of the process is to create a profile; you don't have to complete the application in one session - you can complete it in stages by saving each section and return to complete it at a later date.

You will need to upload documents with your applications, which may include transcripts and degree certificates.

Most courses don't have a formal closing date, but they will close when they are full; apply early to avoid disappointment. There may also be funding deadlines that apply to you. Please be aware that programme fees are subject to increases each year.

Before you begin your application, it is important to read the Postgraduate & Post-Experience application step-by-step guide for a smooth process.

An ATAS certificate is not required for overseas students applying for this course.

Get in touch

Do you have a question about applying for this course? Get in touch. We are here to help!

Open Days

07 Jun