Course summary
The Postgraduate Diploma in Palliative Care was developed to provide a way to address the training needs of social workers involved in delivering care to people living with life-limiting or life-threatening illness and supporting informal caregivers both pre and post bereavement. This course will be of interest to qualified social workers who are either working in generalist or specialist palliative care with adults. It may also be of interest to social workers learning or physical disability with adults, primary care, mental health, community mental health team for older people, older peoples’ services, hospital social work posts or hard to reach populations (i.e. prison service, homelessness or addiction services) or who have people with palliative care needs on their caseload. Online delivery will enable social workers across different countries, service user groups and settings, to apply. The Postgraduate Diploma in Palliative Care is aligned to the Specialist Award in Social Work via the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC), meeting all nine requirements. This programme will not be suitable for sponsored visa students to attend. It is an online part time programme and international students may study this in their home countries. Please note that intake for this programme is every two years, with September 2025 being the next intake.
Modules
https://www.qub.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate-taught/palliative-care-pgdip/#course
How to apply
International applicants
Evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.5, with not less than 5.5 in any component, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University is required (*taken within the last 2 years). International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.
Entry requirements
Applicants must hold a Bachelor Honours Degree in Social Work or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University, or Master’s Degree in Social Work (min 60% pass mark) or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University, Post-Graduate Diploma in Social Work or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University, a Certificate in Social Service (CSS), or a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW). Applicants must: - Be registered with the NISCC, CORU or appropriate professional social work registration body. - Have at least three years post qualifying social work experience or two year’s experience in addition to the Assessed Year in Employment (NI applicants) by the date of commencement of the programme. - Be employed in a social work post that includes working with people who have palliative care needs. Application for Recognition of Prior Learning is not applicable to this programme. Technical Requirements: A requirement for registration is that participants are computer literate and have reliable internet access and access to a computer, which will be assessed at interview.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
For tuition fee information relating to this course please see the University's Postgraduate Tuition Fee website - https://www.qub.ac.uk/Study/postgraduate/tuition-fees/
Sponsorship information
For more information on funding and scholarships for Postgraduate study, please see http://www.qub.ac.uk/Study/PostgraduateStudy/FundingandScholarships/
Provider information
Queen's University Belfast
University Road
Belfast
BT7 1NN