Overview
Do you have a good first degree in Nursing or Midwifery and are ready to study at post-graduate level? Are you a UK Nurse or Midwife registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and looking for your next career step.
Would you like to progress into a more autonomous role in a community and public health-based role, where you'll use your leadership skills to influence and facilitate change in public health?
The PgDip is accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), leading to Registration on Part 3 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (UK) register.
On successful completion of the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing PgDip (120 credits), you'll be eligible to apply for Specialist Community Public Health Nurse posts within your field of practice.
You'll also have the option to register (for an additional fee) for the full-time or part-time MSc top-up dissertation module (60 credits).
The Specialist Community Public Health Nursing PgDip offers three fields of study:
Health Visiting (HV)
You’ll learn to promote health and the prevention of ill health in a proactive and innovative way for families with children under five years of age. You'll also develop leadership skills so that you can lead a health visiting team of variable skill mix and influence change in practice.
Occupational Health Nursing (OHN)
You'll learn how to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of the workforce. This'll include learning about health and safety at work, risk assessment, management of occupational disease, and the promotion of physical and psychological health among the workforce.
School Nursing (SN)
You'll learn how to make a difference to the health and well-being of children aged 5-19 years of age. You'll be equipped with the knowledge and skills to promote school health, meet the health-related needs of children and young people and their families and carers. You will also develop leadership skills so that you can lead a school nursing team and influence change in practice.
The programme can be studied full-time (52 weeks a year) or part-time over two years (104 weeks) and starts in September each year.
You'll study theory modules on campus, and learn your practical knowledge and skills in a supervised practice placement. The schedule of study for a full-time student is two days campus-based learning and two days in practice.
The schedule for a part-time student studying over two years is attendance at university one day a week in Year 1, and one day a week in Year 2. Throughout the programme, you'll work with designated Practice Supervisors who'll support your learning in practice, and you'll be assessed by a Practice Assessor.
If you're considering studying Specialist Community Public Health Nursing at Brunel, then you're committed to working jointly with the NHS to demonstrate the values and beliefs of the constitution.
Contact us
The Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Programme Lead is Angela Davy, who can be contacted via email at angela.davy@brunel.ac.uk.
For general enquiries or further information about the different Specialist Community Public Health Nursing fields, please contact the relevant Admissions Tutor:
- Health Visiting and School Nursing: Leona Condliffe leona.condliffe@brunel.ac.uk
- Occupational Health Nursing: Marjory Fish marjory.fish@brunel.ac.uk
NHS values
The NHS values are at the core of everything we do; working together for patients, respect and dignity, commitment to quality of care, compassion, improving lives and everyone counts.
The NHS values provide common ground for co-operation to achieve shared aspirations, at all levels of the NHS. We have great links with the local NHS and Community Trust, as well as organisations employing Occupational Health Nurses.
Patients, public and staff have helped develop this expression of values that inspire passion in the NHS and that should underpin everything it does. Individual organisations will develop and build upon these values, tailoring them to their local needs.
All incoming health and social care students must be double vaccinated against Covid-19 before the start of the course. More information can be found on the Immunisation Checking web page. ***Please note Brunel is aware that the mandatory vaccine policy is under Ministerial review and we will add an update here in due course.***
You can explore our campus and facilities for yourself by taking our virtual tour.
Course content
You’ll benefit from a course designed to combine your professional education with academic excellence. You’ll continue to gain valuable work experience while you study, as half of your time will be spent on supervised practice placements.
You’ll also undertake a combination of compulsory and professionally-specific modules, the latter will be during the practice-based component of the course.
Compulsory
- CM5627 - Enabling Autonomous SCPHN Practice
- CM5630/31 Transforming SCPHN Practice HV & SN (HV & SN only)
- CM5629 Transforming SCPHN Practice OHN (OHN only)
- CM5628 Leading and Collaborating to Improve Health Outcomes
- CM5626 Advancing Mental Health: A Life Course Approach
- PN5604 - Applied Research for Health and Social CareTo develop the student’s ability to critically understand and conceptualise the process of research and improvement in health and social justice, recognising the impact of research and health improvement, and refinement of critical appraisal and project planning skills.
- CM3616 Consolidation of Autonomous Practice
This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Read more about the structure of postgraduate degrees at Brunel
Careers and your future
Our London location is ideal for access to a wide variety of fieldwork placements, so you’ll add exceptional clinical placement experiences to your Curriculum Vitae.
If you are seeking to progress into a leadership role in community nursing, a SCPHN qualification we’ll enable you to achieve these ambitions.
South East 0-19 Workforce Project - Working across Kent, Surrey and Sussex
The Princess of Wales spotlights vital role of health visitors - CFEC
UK entry requirements
2026/7 entry
- Have an active registration on part one, or part two of the NMC Nursing Register (NMC PIN number should be provided within the application)
- Two satisfactory references, one of which one should be an employment reference from current employer.
- 2:2 or above in an Honours Degree in Nursing or equivalent (if overseas qualification this will need to be checked by the admissions team for equivalence)
For applicants with the following academic qualifications:
- BSc Ordinary Nursing (this may include overseas BSc)
or
- Diploma of Higher Education Nursing (this may include overseas BSc)
or
- 120 level 6 credits
Applicants will need to undertake an additional course of learning at level 6. This can be taken prior to applying for the SCPHN programme. This can be achieved by studying the module:
- Preparing for Level 7 Study (CM3617) module.
This is a level 6 module which aims to widen access for all registered healthcare staff who do not meet the entry criteria for post-graduate study, for example the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) programme. Applicants who hold a Diploma of Higher Education in a health-related subject, a BSc Pass, Ordinary or 3rd class Honours Degree or who may have studied a long time ago may apply for this module to enable them to upskill and raise their academic portfolio in preparation for studying at level 7. Applicants can either be funded for this module by their employers or be self-funded. This 9-hour module is delivered on campus and assessed through an academic portfolio. The module must be completed successfully before starting the SCPHN programme. Nursing CPD | Brunel University London
All applicants are required to be interviewed to ascertain their academic and professional readiness to undertake postgraduate study.
Please note: Students will be required to complete certain professional course requirements, this includes completion of a Criminal Conviction Disclaimer, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) application and a Pre Course Occupational Health Questionnaire. The application process, costs and more information about these requirements can be found here: Professional course requirements | Brunel University London
For further guidance please email dbs@brunel.ac.uk.
EU and International entry requirements
If you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you must prove knowledge of the English language so that we can issue you a Certificate of Acceptance for Study (CAS). To do this, you will need an IELTS for UKVI or Trinity SELT test pass gained from a test centre approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and on the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) list. This must have been taken and passed within two years from the date the CAS is made.
English language requirements
- IELTS: 7 (min 6 in all areas)
- Pearson: 64 (59 in all subscores)
- BrunELT: 68% (58% in all areas)
- TOEFL: 98 overall (min 20)
You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.
Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.
Fees and funding
2026/27 entry
UK
£11,550 full-time
£5,775 part-time
International
£16,530 full-time
£8,265 part-time
An additional 60 credit module fee is charged for the dissertation for the award of MSc.
Overseas students who are funded by the NHS will be charged the NHS fee. Fees should be available early summer, however this fee is paid by NHS London. Self funded overseas students will be charged the displayed fee.
More information on any additional course-related costs.
Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.
See our fees and funding page for full details of postgraduate scholarships available to Brunel applicants.
Scholarships and bursaries
Teaching and learning
You’ll benefit from a programme designed to combine your professional education as a Nurse Registrant (NMC UK) with academic excellence, and be taught by experts in your SCPHN field.
Assessment and feedback
In university, you’ll be assessed through a range of assignments which include written papers, oral presentations, and a viva voce. All theory assessments will be submitted via the online portal WISEflow and marked by academics on the SCPHN programme.
In practice, you’ll be allocated a Practice Assessor who assesses the achievement of practice-based competencies as specified by the SCPHN Standards of Proficiency (NMC, 2022). All practice-based assessments are submitted via the electronic Practice Assessment Document (ePAD).
Read our guide on how to avoid plagiarism in your assessments at Brunel.
