Health Studies with Integrated Foundation Year

Health studies is a degree that examines health as a social, political, and environmental phenomenon as well as a biological one. It takes a broad view of what determines health and illness, engaging with the social and economic factors that shape health inequalities, the policy frameworks that govern healthcare systems, and the lived experience of health and illness across different populations and life stages. It is distinct from clinical training and instead develops the analytical and research capabilities needed to understand health at a population level and to work effectively in health promotion, policy, and management.

At Royal Holloway, this four-year full-time programme includes an integrated foundation year in arts and humanities, carefully designed to give you the preparation and confidence to progress onto the degree. The programme also includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, ensuring that you graduate with both professional experience and an international perspective on health systems and policy. You will study public health, health inequalities, psychology of health behaviour, health policy, social determinants of health, and research methods, developing the analytical and communicative skills that careers in health promotion, policy, and health services research demand.

You will engage with questions about how health is shaped by social class, gender, ethnicity, age, and place, and about what effective responses to health inequalities look like at individual, community, and system levels.

Graduates go on to work in public health, health promotion, NHS management, health and social care policy, health charities, and research. Many pursue postgraduate study in public health, health policy, or social research. The combination of health knowledge and analytical capability the degree develops is valued across the full range of organisations concerned with improving population health.