Public Health BSc (Hons)
Course Code
UCAS Code: L431
International Code: HLSU220
Location
Coventry University (Coventry)
Study mode
Full-time
Duration
3 years full-time
Start date
September 2022
Course overview
Study level: Undergraduate
Public health practitioners make a difference by improving the health of individuals and communities, in a wide variety of roles.
- Taught by current Public Health experts from a range of practice, research, academic and leadership backgrounds.
- Simulation-based learning opportunities and local field trips to see Public Health at work*.
Global Ready
An international outlook, with global opportunities
Teaching excellence
Taught by lecturers who are experts in their field
Employability
Career ready graduates, with the skills to succeedWhy you should study this course
Public health is focused on preventing health problems to help create healthy and happy societies. It is the science and art of detecting and preventing disease, enhancing people’s quality of life, and promoting physical, mental, and environmental health amongst populations so people can live healthier, for longer.
Our Public Health BSc (Hons) offers the opportunity to develop knowledge around differing health needs, influences on health, and how to prevent ill health and promote health and wellbeing. Public health principles and guiding values are based around the responsibility to protect and improve health of all people, and this course has a particular emphasis in reducing inequalities in health.
The curriculum, which is mapped to the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework, aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills across the three pillars of public health – prevention, protection, promotion – to enable you the chance to apply appropriate strategies into practice. The concepts, theories and methods applied to real life situations are designed to prepare you, upon graduation, for a range of varied roles within the field of public health.
You will be taught using a mixture of lectures and small-group seminars, ‘hands-on’ skills workshops, student-led discussions and interactive simulation. These interactive, creative and hands-on learning sessions aim to support you to explore important health issues theoretically as well as practically. You will also have inter-professional learning opportunities allowing students from a diverse range of health-related courses the opportunity to share, learn and work together.
Through the teaching of the prevention pillar, and upon successful completion of this course, you will gain an understanding of the causes and consequences of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. You will explore how to tackle the challenges facing disease prevention efforts. Through the protection pillar, you will study communicable diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, and HIV; their surveillance, and the reaction to and control of communicable disease outbreaks. Through the promotion pillar, the theories and tools used to promote health and wellbeing are examined, drawing on behavioural psychology and sociology, as well as actual health promotion policies in operation.
Within the study of all three pillars of public health there is an emphasis on helping you have the opportunity to develop your understanding and application to practice, of the scientific approaches to disease prevention, contributing to improved healthcare quality and delivery, empowering individuals to make sound health decisions, and influencing policy in public health.
You may have opportunities to attend out-of-classroom field trips related to aspects of public health, and you will also have access to a range of international experience opportunities*.
This course has been designed following extensive consultation with healthcare organisations and professionals from various public health disciplines to ensure it reflects the latest thinking in public health and to help prepare you for your career options in the field upon graduation.
Upon successful completion of this course, you will have developed an understanding of health disparities and health inequalities at local, national and international levels. You will also have the knowledge to be able to improve health outcomes through the effective planning, execution and evaluation of health interventions to change behaviour.
No. 8
for Health Professions
Guardian University Guide 2022
What you'll study
How you'll learn
At all levels of your study, you will have the opportunity to:
- Explore topics through face-to-face delivery via lectures, seminars and tutorials
- Work in smaller groups for seminars and tutorials
- Engage in student-led discussions (group presentations, case-studies and scenario analyses) to facilitate shared learning and practice experiences
- Hear from professionals in practice drawn from a range of Public Health-related fields (subject to availability).
- Utilise a virtual learning environment to access updates on the course and modules, and other relevant materials for supporting learning such as videos and podcasts
- Participate in a simulation exercise which mimics real-world challenges and cross-profession working (subject to availability)
- Attend a public health related field visit (e.g. water treatment plant) or event (e.g. Public Health film festival).*
These strategies should help you to connect concepts covered in the course with real-life experience and are designed to enhance your career options following graduation.
You will typically have around 9 hours of teaching contact time each week which consists of lectures, seminars and tutorials in three modules. In addition, you will be expected to undertake further independent learning activities which consists of wider reading, group work, research and preparation for assignments for three modules.
Assessment
Your learning will be assessed in ways that are designed to reflect real-world public health practice such as: writing a funding bid, reflecting on a real-world simulation event, critically analysing real health events, creating and presenting posters, CV and covering letter writing. There are also traditional essays and exams. In year 3, you will be asked to undertake your own research project. Public Health problems often require creative solutions, and we have designed our assessments to reflect that notion.
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.
Job ready
We aim to create confident, knowledgeable Public Health graduates who are ready to make meaningful change in population health locally, nationally and internationally. With a wide range of career options concerning public health activity within a variety of organisations, upon successful completion, this course is designed to fulfil the need for a well-prepared, flexible workforce, and has a strong emphasis on practical, real life situations. You will have the opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills help prepare you for a variety of career options in a wide range of public health related roles upon graduation. We aim to optimise employability skills development through our dedicated public health employability module
This course has been designed following extensive consultation with healthcare organisations and professionals from various public health disciplines to ensure it reflects the latest thinking in public health and to help prepare you for your career options in the field upon graduatio
International experience opportunities
This course is designed to encourage and support international learning opportunities such as participation in Collaborative Online Internationalised Learning (COIL), field trips to attend international conferences or opportunities to gain intercultural experiences outside teaching times. It also enables you the opportunity to gain voluntary work and related placements abroad supported through the university’s Talent Team.*
Entry requirements
2022/23 Tuition fees
| Student | Full time | Part time |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £9,250 per year | Not available |
| International | £15,300 per year | Not available |
For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see The University’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.
We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.
Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them. Find out what's included in your tuition costs.
Facilities
Alison Gingell Building
You'll have the opportunity to study in our multi-million-pound Alison Gingell Building with facilities including a mock ambulance, hospital wards and full-size community houses as well as study spaces, classrooms and more.
Careers and opportunities
The course is designed to align your knowledge and skills with the requirements of employers in Public Health and for your skills to be able to make an impact on population experiences and health outcomes in a range of career options upon graduation. By successfully completing the course, this should help to enhance your employability in a variety of career options in the field of Public Health, by being able to offer the skills and competences that should address employers' objectives and expectations from graduates wishing to pursue a career as a public health practitioner.
Graduates can pursue a variety of career options, such as a public health practitioner, health protection practitioner, health improvement practitioner, health data analyst, healthy lifestyles coordinator, health and wellbeing coordinator, public health project manager, and many other types of analysts, managers or researcher roles within the diverse field of public health practice.
This course aims to equip you with the tools for developing necessary competences for potential employment within a wide range of organisations, including local authorities, NHS, not-for-profit organisations and charities, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), upon graduation.
Where our graduates work
Organisations that generally employ people within public health roles include local authorities, NHS, national public health agencies, charities, not-for-profit organisations, and non-governmental organisations, etc. These organisations can be situated across the world.
Further study
You can choose to continue your studies at Coventry University with the Public Health Nutrition MSc. You may be entitled to an alumni discount on your fees if you decide to extend your time with us by progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate study.
How to apply
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UK Students
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply for this course through UCAS. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.
Part-time students should apply directly to the university.
If you'd like further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.
Chat with our admissions team
Complete our contact form.
-
International Students
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply directly to the university. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.
How to applyFor further support for international applicants applying for an undergraduate degree view our International hub.
You can also download our International guide which contains lots of useful information about our courses, accommodation and tips for travel.
Get in touch with us today for further advice and guidance.
Chat with our admissions team.
Complete our contact form.
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Disclaimers
Student Contract
By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2021/22 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.
Tuition fees
The tuition fee for the course that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU students should be aware that there may be a change to UK laws following the UK’s exit, this may change their student status, their eligibility to study part time, and/or their eligibility for student finance. We will act in accordance with the UK’s laws in force in relation to student tuition fees and finance from time to time.
For International students the tuition fee that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For international students, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.
Accreditations
The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery.
Facilities
Facilities mentioned on this page may not be relevant for every course. Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.
Placements and study abroad opportunities
Please note that we are unable to guarantee any placement or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.
Additional costs
This course may incur additional costs associated with any field trips, placements or work experience, study abroad opportunities or any other opportunity (whether required or optional), which could include (but is not limited to), equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas).
