24 monthsProgramme duration
04 Aug, 2027Application Deadline
SepStarting Month
Programme overview
Main Subject
Public Health
Degree
MSc
Study Level
Master's
Study Mode
Online
Course summary
What does it mean to grow older in a changing world? And how can we make sure longer lives bring better outcomes for individuals, families and society?
If you want to understand ageing while continuing your professional life, MSc Gerontology (Distance Learning) gives you the flexibility to develop specialist expertise wherever you are.
At Southampton, you’ll explore the changes people experience as they age and the wider effects of ageing populations on society. Draw on perspectives from policy, demography, sociology, biology, healthcare sciences, psychology and economics to understand ageing from different angles.
You’ll examine contemporary global debates around older people, their families and communities, and consider how population ageing affects areas such as health and social care, welfare provision and quality of life.
Research is central to the programme. You’ll develop qualitative and quantitative research skills, learning how to collect, analyse and interpret evidence before designing and conducting independent research in an area of gerontology that interests you.
Designed for flexible online study, the course is delivered through Southampton’s virtual learning environment, giving you access to learning resources at any time. This makes it possible to combine postgraduate study with your existing work and other commitments.
Find your place in a specialist gerontology community and develop the evidence, insight and research skills to contribute to a world where ageing is becoming an increasingly important part of social and professional life.
Key features of this course
**Understand ageing from different perspectives.** Bring together insights from policy, demography, sociology, biology, healthcare sciences, psychology and economics to build a rounded understanding of later life.
**Explore ageing as a global issue.** Engage with debates around demographic change, older people, families and societies, considering how experiences of ageing vary between different places and populations.
**Build your research toolkit.** Develop qualitative and quantitative research skills and learn how to apply appropriate methods to investigate questions in gerontology.
**Question how policy responds to ageing.** Evaluate policies and initiatives relating to population ageing, welfare provision and quality of life.
**Shape your learning around your interests.** Optional study can include areas such as ageing, health and wellbeing, mental health and ageing, demographic change and globalisation, and ageing in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
**Study wherever works for you.** Access recordings, lecture materials, online exercises, quizzes and discussion boards through the virtual learning environment, alongside supervised and independent research.
Your future career
Ageing populations are creating new questions for healthcare, social care, public health, education and government, and answering them needs people who understand both the evidence and the human experience behind it.
You’ll graduate with specialist knowledge of gerontology alongside skills in research, critical thinking, communication, adaptability and problem-solving.
Graduates commonly work across healthcare, social care, public health, education, government services, leisure and tourism. Careers directly related to the course can include gerontologist, academic researcher, academic lecturer, ageing programme coordinator, public policy adviser and health educator.
The MSc can also prepare you for further academic research, including PhD study.
Wherever your career takes you, you’ll leave Southampton better equipped to investigate the challenges and opportunities of population ageing and use evidence to help shape better responses.
Further information
This MSc is delivered entirely online and is available through full-time and part-time study options.
You’ll study 8 modules alongside a dissertation.
Learning includes recordings of live lectures, lecture slides, online exercises and quizzes, discussion boards, supervised independent research and independent study.
Assessment includes essays, literature reviews, oral presentations, research reports and your dissertation.
Your studies culminate in a 15,000-word dissertation on a gerontology topic of your choice, supported by regular advice and feedback from a supervisor.
You’ll also be assigned a Personal Academic Tutor and have access to a dedicated distance learning tutor for additional support.
What does it mean to grow older in a changing world? And how can we make sure longer lives bring better outcomes for individuals, families and society?
If you want to understand ageing while continuing your professional life, MSc Gerontology (Distance Learning) gives you the flexibility to develop specialist expertise wherever you are.
At Southampton, you’ll explore the changes people experience as they age and the wider effects of ageing populations on society. Draw on perspectives from policy, demography, sociology, biology, healthcare sciences, psychology and economics to understand ageing from different angles.
You’ll examine contemporary global debates around older people, their families and communities, and consider how population ageing affects areas such as health and social care, welfare provision and quality of life.
Research is central to the programme. You’ll develop qualitative and quantitative research skills, learning how to collect, analyse and interpret evidence before designing and conducting independent research in an area of gerontology that interests you.
Designed for flexible online study, the course is delivered through Southampton’s virtual learning environment, giving you access to learning resources at any time. This makes it possible to combine postgraduate study with your existing work and other commitments.
Find your place in a specialist gerontology community and develop the evidence, insight and research skills to contribute to a world where ageing is becoming an increasingly important part of social and professional life.
Key features of this course
**Understand ageing from different perspectives.** Bring together insights from policy, demography, sociology, biology, healthcare sciences, psychology and economics to build a rounded understanding of later life.
**Explore ageing as a global issue.** Engage with debates around demographic change, older people, families and societies, considering how experiences of ageing vary between different places and populations.
**Build your research toolkit.** Develop qualitative and quantitative research skills and learn how to apply appropriate methods to investigate questions in gerontology.
**Question how policy responds to ageing.** Evaluate policies and initiatives relating to population ageing, welfare provision and quality of life.
**Shape your learning around your interests.** Optional study can include areas such as ageing, health and wellbeing, mental health and ageing, demographic change and globalisation, and ageing in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
**Study wherever works for you.** Access recordings, lecture materials, online exercises, quizzes and discussion boards through the virtual learning environment, alongside supervised and independent research.
Your future career
Ageing populations are creating new questions for healthcare, social care, public health, education and government, and answering them needs people who understand both the evidence and the human experience behind it.
You’ll graduate with specialist knowledge of gerontology alongside skills in research, critical thinking, communication, adaptability and problem-solving.
Graduates commonly work across healthcare, social care, public health, education, government services, leisure and tourism. Careers directly related to the course can include gerontologist, academic researcher, academic lecturer, ageing programme coordinator, public policy adviser and health educator.
The MSc can also prepare you for further academic research, including PhD study.
Wherever your career takes you, you’ll leave Southampton better equipped to investigate the challenges and opportunities of population ageing and use evidence to help shape better responses.
Further information
This MSc is delivered entirely online and is available through full-time and part-time study options.
You’ll study 8 modules alongside a dissertation.
Learning includes recordings of live lectures, lecture slides, online exercises and quizzes, discussion boards, supervised independent research and independent study.
Assessment includes essays, literature reviews, oral presentations, research reports and your dissertation.
Your studies culminate in a 15,000-word dissertation on a gerontology topic of your choice, supported by regular advice and feedback from a supervisor.
You’ll also be assigned a Personal Academic Tutor and have access to a dedicated distance learning tutor for additional support.
Programme overview
Main Subject
Public Health
Degree
MSc
Study Level
Master's
Study Mode
Online
Course summary
What does it mean to grow older in a changing world? And how can we make sure longer lives bring better outcomes for individuals, families and society?
If you want to understand ageing while continuing your professional life, MSc Gerontology (Distance Learning) gives you the flexibility to develop specialist expertise wherever you are.
At Southampton, you’ll explore the changes people experience as they age and the wider effects of ageing populations on society. Draw on perspectives from policy, demography, sociology, biology, healthcare sciences, psychology and economics to understand ageing from different angles.
You’ll examine contemporary global debates around older people, their families and communities, and consider how population ageing affects areas such as health and social care, welfare provision and quality of life.
Research is central to the programme. You’ll develop qualitative and quantitative research skills, learning how to collect, analyse and interpret evidence before designing and conducting independent research in an area of gerontology that interests you.
Designed for flexible online study, the course is delivered through Southampton’s virtual learning environment, giving you access to learning resources at any time. This makes it possible to combine postgraduate study with your existing work and other commitments.
Find your place in a specialist gerontology community and develop the evidence, insight and research skills to contribute to a world where ageing is becoming an increasingly important part of social and professional life.
Key features of this course
**Understand ageing from different perspectives.** Bring together insights from policy, demography, sociology, biology, healthcare sciences, psychology and economics to build a rounded understanding of later life.
**Explore ageing as a global issue.** Engage with debates around demographic change, older people, families and societies, considering how experiences of ageing vary between different places and populations.
**Build your research toolkit.** Develop qualitative and quantitative research skills and learn how to apply appropriate methods to investigate questions in gerontology.
**Question how policy responds to ageing.** Evaluate policies and initiatives relating to population ageing, welfare provision and quality of life.
**Shape your learning around your interests.** Optional study can include areas such as ageing, health and wellbeing, mental health and ageing, demographic change and globalisation, and ageing in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
**Study wherever works for you.** Access recordings, lecture materials, online exercises, quizzes and discussion boards through the virtual learning environment, alongside supervised and independent research.
Your future career
Ageing populations are creating new questions for healthcare, social care, public health, education and government, and answering them needs people who understand both the evidence and the human experience behind it.
You’ll graduate with specialist knowledge of gerontology alongside skills in research, critical thinking, communication, adaptability and problem-solving.
Graduates commonly work across healthcare, social care, public health, education, government services, leisure and tourism. Careers directly related to the course can include gerontologist, academic researcher, academic lecturer, ageing programme coordinator, public policy adviser and health educator.
The MSc can also prepare you for further academic research, including PhD study.
Wherever your career takes you, you’ll leave Southampton better equipped to investigate the challenges and opportunities of population ageing and use evidence to help shape better responses.
Further information
This MSc is delivered entirely online and is available through full-time and part-time study options.
You’ll study 8 modules alongside a dissertation.
Learning includes recordings of live lectures, lecture slides, online exercises and quizzes, discussion boards, supervised independent research and independent study.
Assessment includes essays, literature reviews, oral presentations, research reports and your dissertation.
Your studies culminate in a 15,000-word dissertation on a gerontology topic of your choice, supported by regular advice and feedback from a supervisor.
You’ll also be assigned a Personal Academic Tutor and have access to a dedicated distance learning tutor for additional support.
What does it mean to grow older in a changing world? And how can we make sure longer lives bring better outcomes for individuals, families and society?
If you want to understand ageing while continuing your professional life, MSc Gerontology (Distance Learning) gives you the flexibility to develop specialist expertise wherever you are.
At Southampton, you’ll explore the changes people experience as they age and the wider effects of ageing populations on society. Draw on perspectives from policy, demography, sociology, biology, healthcare sciences, psychology and economics to understand ageing from different angles.
You’ll examine contemporary global debates around older people, their families and communities, and consider how population ageing affects areas such as health and social care, welfare provision and quality of life.
Research is central to the programme. You’ll develop qualitative and quantitative research skills, learning how to collect, analyse and interpret evidence before designing and conducting independent research in an area of gerontology that interests you.
Designed for flexible online study, the course is delivered through Southampton’s virtual learning environment, giving you access to learning resources at any time. This makes it possible to combine postgraduate study with your existing work and other commitments.
Find your place in a specialist gerontology community and develop the evidence, insight and research skills to contribute to a world where ageing is becoming an increasingly important part of social and professional life.
Key features of this course
**Understand ageing from different perspectives.** Bring together insights from policy, demography, sociology, biology, healthcare sciences, psychology and economics to build a rounded understanding of later life.
**Explore ageing as a global issue.** Engage with debates around demographic change, older people, families and societies, considering how experiences of ageing vary between different places and populations.
**Build your research toolkit.** Develop qualitative and quantitative research skills and learn how to apply appropriate methods to investigate questions in gerontology.
**Question how policy responds to ageing.** Evaluate policies and initiatives relating to population ageing, welfare provision and quality of life.
**Shape your learning around your interests.** Optional study can include areas such as ageing, health and wellbeing, mental health and ageing, demographic change and globalisation, and ageing in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
**Study wherever works for you.** Access recordings, lecture materials, online exercises, quizzes and discussion boards through the virtual learning environment, alongside supervised and independent research.
Your future career
Ageing populations are creating new questions for healthcare, social care, public health, education and government, and answering them needs people who understand both the evidence and the human experience behind it.
You’ll graduate with specialist knowledge of gerontology alongside skills in research, critical thinking, communication, adaptability and problem-solving.
Graduates commonly work across healthcare, social care, public health, education, government services, leisure and tourism. Careers directly related to the course can include gerontologist, academic researcher, academic lecturer, ageing programme coordinator, public policy adviser and health educator.
The MSc can also prepare you for further academic research, including PhD study.
Wherever your career takes you, you’ll leave Southampton better equipped to investigate the challenges and opportunities of population ageing and use evidence to help shape better responses.
Further information
This MSc is delivered entirely online and is available through full-time and part-time study options.
You’ll study 8 modules alongside a dissertation.
Learning includes recordings of live lectures, lecture slides, online exercises and quizzes, discussion boards, supervised independent research and independent study.
Assessment includes essays, literature reviews, oral presentations, research reports and your dissertation.
Your studies culminate in a 15,000-word dissertation on a gerontology topic of your choice, supported by regular advice and feedback from a supervisor.
You’ll also be assigned a Personal Academic Tutor and have access to a dedicated distance learning tutor for additional support.
Admission Requirements
67+
92+
6.5+
120+
You'll need a 2.1 bachelor's degree. Applicants without formal qualifications but relevant work experience may be considered on a case by case basis.
04 Aug 2027
2 Years
Sep
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