Data Science for Health and Social Care (Online Learning) MSc

Make a difference and boost your career with the MSc Data Science for Health and Social Care, where you will learn how to use data to improve lives, strengthen systems, and shape policy in the health and social care sectors. Whether you are starting out, changing direction, or advancing your current role, we will help you build the skills you need to deliver powerful, data-driven solutions that create lasting impact.

This is a part-time programme taught over three years and is fully online.

Through a powerful blend of theory and hands-on practice, this programme gives you the tools to leverage data for smarter decision-making and design evidence-based solutions that make a real impact.

You will build a strong foundation in the core principles of data science while developing the practical skills to interpret, analyse, and interrogate complex datasets. Learning is shaped around the needs of modern health and social care, preparing you to turn data into meaningful insights that can improve services, systems, and outcomes.

Study Options

You can exit the programme after:

* Year 1 with a Postgraduate Certificate

* Year 2 with a Postgraduate Diploma

* Year 3 with a Master of Science degree

Alternatively, you can also study standalone courses as postgraduate professional development (PPD).

Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) - Stand-Alone Courses

PPD is aimed at working professionals who want to advance their knowledge through a postgraduate-level course(s), without the time or financial commitment of a full Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate.

You may take a maximum of 50 credits worth of courses over two years through our PPD scheme. These lead to a University of Edinburgh postgraduate award of academic credit.

Alternatively, after one year of taking courses, you can choose to transfer your credits and continue on to studying towards a higher award on a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, or Masters programme.

Any time spent studying PPD will be deducted from the amount of time you will have left to complete a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme.