QS World University Rankings 2025
6 courses total, 14 - 16 hours per week
Hands-on learning from anywhere, no travel required
*Depending on fee status
The global COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the enormous impact that public health expertise can make in protecting populations and individuals. Awarded University of the Year 2023 (The Guardian University Guide 2023), Imperial College London is committed to improving public health for people throughout the world. In this 12-month Public Health Postgraduate Certificate programme, you’ll have the opportunity to gain the skills necessary to launch or advance your public health career and help make a safer, healthier world for everyone. Imperial has recently ranked 2nd globally in QS World University Rankings 2025, and placed in the top 10 for Times Higher Education Rankings 2023.
Through a mixture of core and elective Specializations, you’ll learn job-relevant skills from public health experts and will be able to earn a valuable postgraduate credential from one of the world’s most highly regarded institutions without the financial or time commitments of a full master’s degree programme. Deepen your expertise in distinct subject areas such as Epidemiology, Statistics, or Foundations of Public Health Practice while achieving work-life balance through this 100% online, part-time remote learning programme.
Following successful completion of the Postgraduate Certificate, you can choose whether to progress to the Postgraduate Diploma or the Master’s programme. Provided you meet academic progression requirements, you won’t need to re-apply.
Applications for the Fall 2024 cohort are now closed
For the next intake, you will need to apply online directly with Imperial College London.
If you have any questions about the admissions process or the programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch via gmph-queries@imperial.ac.uk.
View the Welcome Booklet 2023/24.
Request more information about this programme.
QS World University Rankings 2025
6 courses total, 14 - 16 hours per week
Hands-on learning from anywhere, no travel required
*Depending on fee status
QS World University Rankings 2025
6 courses total, 14 - 16 hours per week
Hands-on learning from anywhere, no travel required
*Depending on fee status
The global COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the enormous impact that public health expertise can make in protecting populations and individuals. Awarded University of the Year 2023 (The Guardian University Guide 2023), Imperial College London is committed to improving public health for people throughout the world. In this 12-month Public Health Postgraduate Certificate programme, you’ll have the opportunity to gain the skills necessary to launch or advance your public health career and help make a safer, healthier world for everyone. Imperial has recently ranked 2nd globally in QS World University Rankings 2025, and placed in the top 10 for Times Higher Education Rankings 2023.
Through a mixture of core and elective Specializations, you’ll learn job-relevant skills from public health experts and will be able to earn a valuable postgraduate credential from one of the world’s most highly regarded institutions without the financial or time commitments of a full master’s degree programme. Deepen your expertise in distinct subject areas such as Epidemiology, Statistics, or Foundations of Public Health Practice while achieving work-life balance through this 100% online, part-time remote learning programme.
Following successful completion of the Postgraduate Certificate, you can choose whether to progress to the Postgraduate Diploma or the Master’s programme. Provided you meet academic progression requirements, you won’t need to re-apply.
Applications for the Fall 2024 cohort are now closed
For the next intake, you will need to apply online directly with Imperial College London.
If you have any questions about the admissions process or the programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch via gmph-queries@imperial.ac.uk.
View the Welcome Booklet 2023/24.
The Global Master of Public Health from Imperial College London is a highly respected online Master’s degree programme. Global MPH students build strong portfolios while creating projects which model the tasks they will be asked to do as they move forward in their careers, as well as having the opportunity to develop work which can be submitted to peer-reviewed journals.
Consistently ranked amongst the top 10 universities in the world, Imperial is home to a global community of scientists, engineers, medics and business experts.
#2-ranked university in the world (QS World University Rankings 2025)
University of the Year (The Guardian University Guide 2023)
#1-ranked UK university for “world-leading” research and #1 ranked in Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care (REF 2021)
#1-ranked in Graduate Employability (Guardian University Guide 2023)
Top 10 universities in the world (Times Higher Education Rankings 2023)
The Postgraduate Certificate is an opportunity to achieve a widely recognised public health qualification online and part-time in just 12 months. The Global Master of Public Health is a two or three-year programme, and students are expected to dedicate more hours each week to their studies than the postgraduate certificate.
The Postgraduate Certificate programme is ideal for anyone looking to gain a public health qualification for their current or future work (i.e., a medic who performs community or population health work as part of their job, or a data analyst who often works with public health teams) who does not require a master’s degree.
The Certificate allows students to explore their interest in public health, giving the option to continue working towards a Master’s degree, if it is the right fit for them. Following successful completion of the Postgraduate Certificate students can choose to continue their studies and register for a Postgraduate Diploma or the Global Master of Public Health.
This is the pathway designed to lead to a full master’s degree qualification. Students who complete the Postgraduate Certificate successfully will have an option to enroll onto a Postgraduate Diploma (12 months). Following completion of the diploma, learners will have the option to enroll onto the final stage of the Global Master of Public Health (12 months). This provides a pathway for students to complete the Global Master of Public Health during a span of three years while taking advantage of a flexible, 100% remote online programme.
The postgraduate certificate has been designed to prepare students for a career in the public health field. Over the course of your study, you’ll engage with professionals with varied backgrounds in public health. The programme tutoring system creates a space to engage with a public health professional as well as your peers, allowing you to determine what course of study is right for you. Imperial College London offers a growing alumni network from both its on-campus and online programmes, which provide value to students through themed talks and panels, job postings, and networking.
The core aims and outcomes of this programme align with the European standards laid out by the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation. This sets us apart from courses in countries such as the US and Canada, where accreditation requirements are not suitable for a UK based programme. Whilst this postgraduate certificate is not accredited by any particular agency or professional body, we have been able to design, develop and deliver an innovative and comprehensive public health curriculum which responds to the most recent developments in public health – including our own research discoveries - as our curriculum is unrestricted by specific criteria.
If you have any questions about the programme or admissions then please contact a member of the School of Public Health Team via gmph-queries@imperial.ac.uk.
It is not possible to transfer credits into the programme. You will need to meet the entry requirements of the programme and complete it in full in order to be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate of Public Health.
It’s recommended that you can expect to dedicate approximately 14-16 hours to your studies each week (7-8 hours per Specialization), including live sessions and independent study time as follows. You will study two Specializations per term.
Live sessions will make up approximately 2-3 hours of your study time each week.
No; the programme is fully online and you can study from your home, work, or any other location that has a secure and strong Wi-Fi connection. No teaching will take place on campus.
Yes. There will be regular office hours with programme team staff and Faculty members. Outside of this there will be scheduled sessions and webinars where you will have access to Faculty staff who will instruct and support your learning.
Work experience is not essential but will be considered as part of the review process. Applications will be considered for the programme based on the entry requirements, which will need to be met, but also the strength of the supporting statement plus other work, research or relevant experience.
The School of Public Health and the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London offer a number of scholarships for postgraduate courses. More information on the scholarships and how to apply can be found through the Imperial College website.
Students are welcome to find external scholarships. More information can be found here: External Scholarships and Funding.
No, you will not need to apply for a student visa, as this is a fully online programme and requires no physical attendance.
All candidates must demonstrate a minimum level of English language proficiency for admission to the College. For admission to this course, you must achieve the higher College requirement in the appropriate English language qualification. For details of the minimum grades required to achieve this requirement, please see the English language requirements for postgraduate applicants.
English Proficiency requirements are set at the Higher requirement with an IELTS score of 7.0 overall (minimum 6.5 in all elements).
Yes, under the guidance of faculty advisors, you will be working with groups of fellow learners engaged in similar projects as you.
When at all possible, the formative content you’ve completed will remain on the platform and be combined to appear as part of the programme. However we recommend that you work through the material that you’ve completed as part of the open content to ensure you’re best placed to succeed in your programme.
Your formative assessments will be shown in a separate section. These will not count toward your progress on any part of the programme, but serve as a formative benchmark for your performance. Passing these portions of the class indicate the minimum passing threshold for the course—although, individuals may have acquired more mastery.
You are expected to review and undertake all additional programme content. This includes joining live events or webinars and completing all summative assessments that are required to complete the degree programme.
It’s recommended that you can expect to dedicate approximately 14-16 hours to your studies each week (7-8 hours per Specialization), including live sessions and independent study time as follows. You will study two Specializations per term.
Live sessions will make up approximately 2-3 hours of your study time each week.
The majority of the live sessions will start at either 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 15:00 PM GMT. The time slot will alternate each week, for each Specialization, so that students from different time zones are able to join the live webinar at least every other week per Specialization. You can access all recordings of the live sessions throughout the Specialization at any time.
Graduates will earn a Postgraduate Certificate of Public Health. The qualification will not mention the online nature of the programme, and will be equivalent to any other Postgraduate Certificate from Imperial College London.
This programme is fully online and involves no on-campus attendance at all. It will be taught fully online via the Coursera learning platform and allow learners to flexibly study around their own commitments, like employment, family, hobbies etc. The programme is designed in a way to allow learners to independently study for the majority of the program, watching teaching sessions and returning to them around their daily schedule. There will be live and scheduled sessions, or group based work which require pre-organised attendance and engagement throughout. Assessments will also have deadlines and require learners to engage and submit when stated.
All applicants must apply through the Imperial College London Apply Online webpage. Your application will then be considered on review of your academic qualifications, relevant professional experience, two academic or professional references, and your personal supporting statement. Applications are reviewed once all information has been submitted between six to eight weeks. This allows for detailed application review before providing you with a decision.
For UK Students
Our minimum requirement is a 2.1 degree in science subject or an MBBS medical degree. Suitable applicants are likely to be those with a background in medicine, health sciences, biological sciences or environmental sciences. Mature applicants with relevant academic or professional experience will also be considered. The academic requirement above is for applicants who hold or who are working towards a UK qualification. For International Students
We also accept a wide variety of international qualifications. For guidance see our Country Index though please note that the standards listed here are the minimum for entry to the College. If you have any questions about admissions and the standard required for the qualification you hold or are currently studying then please contact a member of the School of Public Health Admissions Team via gmph-queries@imperial.ac.uk
Yes, multiple courses and specialisations from the Global MPH degree are available as open courses for you to try on Coursera before enrolling in the degree. If you complete an open course and enroll in the degree later, you work will count towards your degree. Check the list of open courses.