Postgraduate Ethics Courses

The Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele is the leading place in the UK to study professional and applied ethics, and one of the largest providers of postgraduate ethics courses in Europe. We have a permanent academic staff of eight moral philosophers. We also draw as appropriate on the expertise of academics and practitioners from other disciplines including lawyers from Keele and Palliative Care Specialists from the Liverpool Marie Curie Centre. (For more details see our staff pages.)

We currently offer the following MA and Postgraduate Diploma courses, aimed at members of various professional groups and research ethics committees (but open to anyone with a serious interest in the subject-matter), and designed to fit alongside full time work:

We also offer the UK's first Professional Doctorate (DMedEth) and MRes in Medical Ethics, designed for professionals who have a masters level qualification or equivalent in Medical Ethics and wish to pursue the subject in more depth and to produce publishable policy- and practice-relevant research.

PEAK also offers supervision for traditional MPhil or PhD Research Degrees.

Our postgraduate courses can be used to satisfy CPD requirements. Click here for more information.

Course Structure

Most of our students take our taught courses part-time over two years (MA) or one year (PgDip), and our innovative course structure, which uses short intensive teaching blocks coupled with distance learning, means that for most of our courses students are only required to come to Keele for twelve days (4 x 3 day blocks) during the first (PgDip) year. The whole of the second (MA) year can be undertaken via distance learning.

All our MA courses may also be taken full-time in a single year. In this case you will begin planning and writing your dissertation while studying for the four taught modules.

Students attending the Professional Doctorate in Medical Ethics attend 6 x 3 day blocks over the first two years of the programme, and then spend between two and five years producing their doctoral thesis. The taught part ofthe course may also be combined with a shorter dissertation to obtain an MRes in Medical Ethics either part time over three years or full-time over a single year.

Course Aims and Benefits

Our courses aim to equip students with a range of analytical tools with which to assess and make judgments about competing ethical claims. They will also enhance students’ ability to communicate clearly and effectively about ethical issues, both with colleagues and with patients/clients and others. As well as helping them with their own views, formal training in ethics helps empower professionals to help others to clarify their own thinking on important issues.

The study of ethics and applied philosophy also enhances valuable transferable skills. Our courses will help students develop a greater ability to analyse and critique complex arguments and to facilitate clear discussion of the relevant issues – whether the discussion is about an ethical issue or not.

Many employers recognise the benefits our courses can bring to their organisations by providing help with fees and study leave. Students will develop a heightened awareness of ethical issues which will help them to identify potential problems before they happen. They will also acquire the skills to provide input on ethical issues into policy discussions, and these skills will be invaluable to those who sit on or support ethics committees. The MA dissertation offers an opportunity for students to undertake a detailed examination of the ethical arguments relating to one particular issue. Although students do not undertake primary empirical research as part of the course, many students choose to write about topics that are directly relevant to their work, and the conclusions that they reach can be very useful to an organisation.

Entry Requirements

A first degree is not always necessary for entry to our MA courses. Applicants should have either a first degree in a relevant subject or relevant professional experience and/or qualifications.

Applicants for the Professional Doctorate (DMedEth) should have a masters level qualification in ethics or a closely related subject, or substantial relevant experience at a senior level.