MSc Child Protection and Adult Safeguarding
- Study Mode: Part Time
- Location: Distance Learning
- Duration: Two Years
- Start Date: September 2025
You can also study this course:
Do you want to protect and care for those who are most vulnerable?
The MSc in Child Protection and Adult Safeguarding offers a unique perspective into both children and adult safeguarding, covering the latest trends and policies in safeguarding, highlighting specific groups who may be at risk of certain types of abuse or targeting, to the services that should be used to protect and provide an accessible and supportive safeguarding framework.
“I recommend this course because it is a great opportunity to learn, reflect and grow with others, it can be challenging and hard work but the space each week to step out of clinical/operational practice and think deeper about your work is invaluable.Philip Winterbottom
Our child and adult safeguarding course provides you with an in-depth understanding of contemporary safeguarding practices, addressing the latest trends and policies. It highlights specific groups at risk of abuse and explores services designed to protect and support vulnerable populations.
The course is delivered by passionate academics with substantial experience in professions across the health and social care domains. With active engagement with professional bodies and organisations ensure that you receive up-to-date knowledge and insights from the global health landscape.
Designed to accommodate both full-time and part-time students, our course offers flexible study modes, including distance learning. This approach allows you to balance your studies with other commitments while engaging in a dynamic and interactive educational experience.
Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?
Our course at BNU is unique in that it explores contemporary safeguarding for children and adults. This enables practitioners to work across a range of roles post-qualifying and offers a robust learning experience that can be immediately applied to the practice environment as well as influence policy within organisations. So, if you’re a professional who holds safeguarding responsibilities as part of your role, this course is ideal for you.
Our teaching staff are experienced professionals and have links in social work and healthcare, and these links enrich the course through visiting lecturers who specialise in specific areas, such as safeguarding in prisons, safeguarding and mental health and many health-related areas.
We also have links with experts who investigate abuse in faith settings and the use of Serious Case reviews provides a basis for considering various forms of cultural considerations in safeguarding practice.
This course will provide you with a strong skill set and the confidence to improve the quality of care and communication with vulnerable children and adults.
The support from the lecturers and other students on the course has been amazing. This course has opened my eyes to the wealth of opportunities I have available to me upon graduation.Natalie Brown
What facilities can I use?
The university offers a substantial range of facilities and the library is even accessible to you offsite through the online databases and journals, many of these specific to child and adult protection and the environmental factors that increase or minimise risk levels.
What will I study?
The contemporary nature of the course means that any current trends in safeguarding are explored and changes in policy are considered from the impact on safeguarding practice.
Our course is delivered through the use of various media and teaching approaches, which include discussion-based seminars where students are able to explore safeguarding practice in their own organisations, lectures and the use of media such as blogs to consider specific topics during the teaching programme. Some modules demand your input to shape the content, giving you the opportunity to influence what is addressed through the teaching to benefit your practice.
The teaching is spread across a number of disciplines including health, social work and psychology. This is supported by experts and specialists who share their knowledge on specific modules, offering a diverse range of knowledge of safeguarding in the practice environment.
The individual role as a leader and manager in safeguarding is given its own module, as understanding the impact of your ability to lead in safeguarding is essential to developing good practice across your current organisation and those you may work with in the future.
How will I be taught and assessed?
BNU offers flexible study spread over one or two years, allowing you to study full-time or part-time alongside employment.
Whether you're training to build your skills in your current role or change your career path, this course ensures you can immediately apply your increased knowledge in a professional setting.
As well as support from your lecturers, who are experts in their field, you will also benefit from a range of guest speakers who provide specialised workshops that add to your knowledge. Their expertise and real world experience will inspire and emphasise how your qualification can be used to benefit others.
There are a range of processes used across the course to assess you which include:
- informal and formal blogs
- presentations to the student group
- posters
- exams
- essay submissions.
For the dissertation, you are encouraged to complete either primary research or a specific project that can change practice within their organisations. This makes the course relevant to improving safeguarding for at risk groups within your chosen specific area of practice.
You are supported through two modules to prepare for the dissertation and have the opportunity to apply for APEL if the research modules have been completed in another relevant course.
What I love about this course is there is scope across the course to study areas related to your career, roles or responsibilities whilst still meeting the learning outcomes.Philip Winterbottom
What are the course entry requirements?
We usually expect candidates to have a second-class honours degree in a related field or discipline. We also consider candidates with professional qualifications and directly relevant work experience. As this isn't a practice-based course, you don't have to be currently working with vulnerable people to be accepted as a student.
Modules
This provides a guide of the modules that make up your course. You can find more information about how your course is structured on our Academic Advice section.
What are the tuition fees
Home
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Home, Academic Year 2025 - 2026: £4,405 per year *
International
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Overseas/International, Academic Year 2025 - 2026: £4,405 per year *
Following the Government’s announcement of 4 November 2024, we will be increasing our full-time undergraduate tuition fees for UK students to £9,535 per year from the start of the 2025/26 academic year. Our part-time fees for UK undergraduate students will increase to £7,145 per annum. Please visit , on the Government’s website, for more information about the changes.
Tuition fees for Home undergraduate students (including with foundation year) may increase in subsequent years for both new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by the Government.  
Tuition fees for both new and continuing international students may be subject to an inflationary increase based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12-month period to 31 January each year.  
Tuition fees for postgraduate courses and CPD may be subject to an inflationary increase based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12-month period to 31 January each year. This increase will apply to both new and continuing students.  
We understand, and really appreciate, the significant financial commitment our students make when they choose to study at BNU. We take our responsibilities to our students very seriously, and are ambitious for each to reach their full potential and succeed in their chosen career. Our fees help us to continue providing our students with a high-quality education, and to invest in the services and facilities which create an excellent student experience at BNU.
The following factors will be considered by the University when we set the annual fees: measures of inflation such as the retail price indices; projected increases in University costs; and any changes in the level of funding for teaching received from the Government.
What are my career prospects?
If you want to develop a career in safeguarding practice, this course will prepare you for job roles such as policy developer, researcher, team leader, programme manager or unit manager in the NHS, local government and charities.
Previous students have seen their careers soar on completion of the programme, as they are then considered ‘experts’ or ‘specialists’ with a broad range of knowledge to build on and have usually demonstrated this through their dissertation research or project.
For those not yet in a safeguarding role, the course offers the opportunity to change direction to the safeguarding career pathway in a range of settings, both nationally and internationally.
Course leader
