6.1 Attendance/Engagement
Monitoring Attendance (Engagement) and Wellbeing of Students
The programme director and teaching staff will monitor the work and attendance of students on the programme. This is for your benefit and helps to ensure you are coping with the work. Regular or a pattern of non-attendance and/or engagement will result in you being contacted by the School to meet with your programme director. Following this, further action will be taken if there isn’t a significant improvement in attendance.
For further information see:
Regulation XX Monitoring Attendance and Wellbeing of Students
The University offers a range of advice and support to students experiencing problems with attendance. Further information can be found in the Crucial Guide: www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/crucial-guide/personal-life/. You can also speak to your Programme Director or the MPH Admin Team.
For further information about attendance and engagement monitoring for PGT Students during the dissertation year, please refer to the Dissertation Handbook.
6.2 Programme Changes
Students may request to change their programme from full time to part time. They may also request to change from a Master level to a Diploma or Certificate. They may also request to change from the MPH to MRes, or vice versa. On the basis of performance students may be recommended or required to change their programme for example from a Masters to a Diploma.
Progressing from PG Certificate or Diploma to a Masters
Well performing PG Cert/PG Dip students can progress on to a Masters level programme if they meet or better the required academic performance for a Master award. Anyone wishing to consider this route should contact the programme administrator as soon as possible to discuss this (mph.admin@manchester.ac.uk).
Progressing from PHPD units to PG Cert, PG Dip or Masters in Public Health
If you have completed course units on the PHPD stand-alone unit scheme and would like to progress to the PG Certificate, PG Diploma or MPH programme, you must complete the online application form providing all supporting documents before the beginning of August. If you need any further information about this process, please contact the admissions co-ordinator (pgt.medicine@manchester.ac.uk).
6.3 Withdrawal from Studies
If for any reason you would like to withdraw from your studies, please contact the programme administrator for further guidance. You will be asked to give notification of your withdrawal in writing, and may be invited to speak to a member of academic staff before your withdrawal is processed. Please note that you may be liable for part or whole of the tuition fees due and/or an administrative charge if you decide to withdraw once teaching has started.
6.4 Managing your Studies as a Part Time Student
Our Part Time programmes in Public Health and Primary Care offer a flexible modular approach to learning, where students can manage their study time around other commitments. We have two semesters per year, starting in September and February, and different units run in each semester. Students are permitted to take up to 2 units per semester, but we also allow ‘Not Currently Studying’ semesters, where students can choose not to take a unit during that time, providing they still have enough time remaining to complete within the timeframe allocated to their programme. Taking too many semesters away from studying will not be accepted as grounds for extension to programme, and official interruptions must be sought if a student wishes to ‘stop-the-clock’ on their studies.
Figure 1 shows the total number of units required to complete each level of study across our programmes (students on the PHPD programme can complete up to 3 units):
| Number of Units | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Dissertation |
| PHPD | |||||||||
| PGCert | |||||||||
| PGDip | |||||||||
| MPH | |||||||||
| MRes |
Figure 1: Total number of units to complete each level of study
The maximum time limits on the period of study for each programme are as follows:
- PG Certificate – up to 2 years
- PG Diploma – up to 4 years
- MPH/MRes – up to 5 years
This section illustrates the ways in which a student can manage their study on the programme in order to gain a qualification. Each period of study/non-study can be shuffled, but the maximum number of ‘Not Currently Studying’ periods must be abided by (see below).
KEY
The following abbreviations will be utilised in this section of the handbook:
| NCST | Not Currently Studying (non-official interruption which counts toward programme time – does not ‘stop the clock’) |
| COMP | Student has completed the programme |
| Diss | Dissertation |
| Y1 S1 | Year 1, Semester 1 |
PG Certificate
Students must take 4 units to gain a PG Certificate, and have 2 years in which to complete their studies. This may be split in the following ways:
| Semester |
Y1 S1 |
Y1 S2 | Y2 S1 | Y2 S2 |
| Variations of numbers of units |
2 |
2 |
COMP |
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Figure 2: PG Certificate unit timings
Students can complete within 1 year when taking 2 units per semester, 1.5 years if a 2:1:1 split is taken, or 2 years if one unit per semester is taken. Students can take up to 2 semesters of ‘Not Currently Studying’, providing they have enough time remaining to complete their units.
PG Diploma
Students must take 8 units to gain a PG Diploma, and have 4 years in which to complete their studies. This may be split in the following ways:
| Semester |
Y1 S1 |
Y1 S2 |
Y2 S1 |
Y2 S2 |
Y3 S1 |
Y3 S2 |
Y4 S1 |
Y4 S2 |
| Variations of numbers of units |
2 |
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Figure 3: PG Diploma unit timings
Students can complete within 2 years when taking 2 units per semester, ranging to 4 years when taking 1 unit per semester. Students can take up to 4 semesters of ‘Not Currently Studying’, providing they have enough time remaining to complete their units. The NCST periods can be taken at any point, so the patterns above are simply for illustration.
MPH
Students must take 8 units and a 60-credit dissertation to gain the MPH, and have 5 years in which to complete their studies. This may be split in the following ways:
| Semester |
Y1 S1 |
Y1 S2 |
Y2 S1 |
Y2 S2 |
Y3 S1 |
Y3 S2 |
Y4 S1 |
Y4 S2 |
Y5 S1 |
Y5 S2 |
| Variations of numbers of units |
2 |
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Diss |
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Figure 4: MPH unit timings
Students can complete within 3 years when taking 2 units per semester plus 1 year for the dissertation, ranging to 5 years when taking 1 unit per semester plus 1 year for the dissertation. Students can take up to 4 semesters of ‘Not Currently Studying’, providing they have enough time remaining to complete their units. The NCST periods can be taken at any point, so the patterns above are simply for illustration.
Students can only progress to the dissertation on completion of their 8 taught units. Students may start the dissertation from the second semester if they have completed their 8 taught units by the end of semester 1. Proposals will not be approved and supervisors will not be assigned until the MPH Admin team have verified that students are eligible to progress, and students have enrolled on the dissertation unit and arranged payment.
If you wish to complete the MPH is less than the recommended 3 year period, please contact the MPH admin team (mph.admin@manchester.ac.uk) and/or the Programme Director (mph.director@manchester.ac.uk) for advice/approval.
MRes
Students must take 6 units and a 90-credit dissertation to gain the MRes, and have 5 years in which to complete their studies. This may be split in the following ways:
| Semester |
Y1 S1 |
Y1 S2 |
Y2 S1 |
Y2 S2 |
Y3 S1 |
Y3 S2 |
Y4 S1 |
Y4 S2 |
Y5 S1 |
Y5 S2 |
| Variations of numbers of units |
2 |
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NCST |
Diss |
COMP |
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Figure 5: MRes unit timings
Similarly to the MPH, students can complete within 3 years when taking 2 units per semester plus 1 year for the dissertation, ranging to 5 years when taking 1 unit per semester, 2 semesters of NCST, plus 1 year for the dissertation.
However, on the MRes, students can take up to 5 semesters of ‘Not Currently Studying’, providing they have enough time remaining to complete their units. The NCST Periods can be taken at any point, so the patterns above are simply for illustration.
Students can only begin their dissertation on completion of 6 taught units. As the MRes dissertation has a higher credit bearing, we currently do not recommend that students take this in less than one full year, although students may discuss this with the dissertation lead (Roger Harrison) and Programme Director if they wish to complete the MRes dissertation in the second semester.
If you wish to complete the MRes is less than the recommended 3 year period, please contact the MPH admin team (mph.admin@manchester.ac.uk) and/or the Programme Director (mph.director@manchester.ac.uk) for advice/approval.
6.5 Progression to Dissertation (MPH/MRes)
MPH
In order to progress to the dissertation, MPH students must have completed 120 taught credits (or 8 taught units). Of these at least 90 credits (or 6 units) must be passed at Masters Level (i.e. 50%). The other 30 credits (or 2 units) must have marks that fall within the compensation zone for a Masters degree (40 – 49%) or higher. For full details about this please see section 4.4.
MRes
In order to progress to the dissertation, MRes students must have completed 90 taught credits (or 6 taught units). Of these at least 60 credits (or 4 units) must be passed at Masters Level (i.e. 50%). The other 30 credits (or 2 units) must have marks that fall within the compensation zone for a Masters degree (40 – 49%) or higher.
Once a student has completed the taught component for their programme and received their results, they should contact the dissertation tutor, Roger Harrison, to arrange to begin work on their dissertation.
6.6 Graduation
All students who successfully complete the PG Diploma, MPH, and MRes programmes are invited, along with their guests, to attend a graduation ceremony. The School will write to you confirming your award and the details for graduation. Further information about graduation can be found at:
http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/crucial-guide/academic-life/graduation/
All University of Manchester degree ceremonies are broadcast live on-line, and are also stored on the University website.
