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Health Economics and Decision Science MSc

London, Bloomsbury

Health economics and decision science play a vital role globally by informing the efficient allocation of resources to improve health outcomes across populations. This MSc is an advanced applied economics degree exploring the economics of health and healthcare, and how these economic principles guide real-world decisions about health policy, health systems, and technological innovation, with a focus on optimising resource allocation to improve population health. 

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2026/27)
£19,300
£9,650
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Overseas tuition fees (2026/27)
£35,400
£17,700
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
5 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2026
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 26 Jun 2026
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 28 Aug 2026
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor's degree or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard in economics, statistics, mathematics, or a related quantitative field such as epidemiology, engineering, or physics. Candidates with a background in medicine or allied health and social sciences may be considered if they can demonstrate quantitative proficiency in mathematics and/or statistics at the degree level, or through research and/or working experience.

The English language level for this course is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree


The Health Economics and Decision Science MSc combines health economics, the study of how we can use limited resources to improve the health of the population, with decision science, the practice of using evidence-based results to improve decision-making processes and policies. This course integrates economics, public health, epidemiology, mathematical modelling and statistics to address inequalities in resources and healthcare globally. Taught by UCL’s leading experts, you will develop an advanced expertise in health economics, enabling you to work at the intersection of economics, healthcare and policy.

The course is skills-based offering flexibility to work across countries, sectors, and career paths. You will be taught how to apply advanced quantitative methods to tackle ongoing global challenges, including the effects on health indicators of climate change, technological innovation, population ageing, and growing social inequalities, while gaining expertise in the evaluation of health and social policies and the assessment of new health technologies.

You will learn how to use evidence-based research to inform health policies and practices, working towards the efficient allocation of resources, and addressing health disparities in access, provision and outcomes. With advanced quantitative skills, this course will equip you to enter professional roles internationally, creating innovative solutions that improve both the effectiveness and fairness of healthcare worldwide. Graduates of this course transition to careers in the pharmaceutical industry, consulting, government, international organisations, think tanks and academia.*

Who this course is for

This course is designed for individuals looking to deepen their expertise in health economics, statistics, and decision science. It is ideal for those aiming to pursue a career in policy, consultancy, or research within the health sector, or to progress into doctoral studies and academia. Whether your goal is to influence real-world decision-making or contribute to academic advancement, this programme offers rigorous quantitative training and the opportunity to study at a world-leading university in one of the most dynamic and culturally rich cities in the world.

This course is intended for applicants with a suitable qualification (see entry requirements) in economics, statistics, mathematics, or a related quantitative field such as epidemiology, engineering, or physics. Candidates with a background in medicine or allied health and social sciences may be considered if they can demonstrate quantitative proficiency in mathematics and/or statistics at the degree level, or through research and/or working experience.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

  • Study at one of the world's top ten universities. UCL is ranked 3rd in the world for public health (ShanghaiRankings 2024), 9th in the world as a university (QS World Rankings 2026) and is rated number one for research power and impact in medicine, health and life sciences (REF 2021).
  • Benefit from expert-led teaching informed by cutting-edge research.
  • Develop highly sought-after skills to advance your career and have access to opportunities drawing on our close links with consultancies, intergovernmental and government organisations, and academic institutions worldwide – including internships for select students.
  • Receive support and guidance to undertake individual research projects, enhancing the dynamic world of health economics in a global context. 
  • Connect and network with professionals at UCL’s growing Health Economics and Policy Lab (HEPL), one of largest networks of health economists anywhere in the world.
  • Engage with multi-disciplinary experts across epidemiology, economics, statistics, mathematics, public health, business, and other areas aligned closely with health economics and decision science.
  • Join a diverse, international student cohort and build your skills through peer-to-peer learning, discussions, and collaboration on health economics, global health and health policy challenges.
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

This MSc has been designed to fill a gap in training and skills that brings together expertise in economics, public health, epidemiology, and statistics.

Graduates have gone on to work for organisations like Ernst & Young, IQVIA, Public Health England, PwC, Nielsen and The Office of Health Economics*, and pursued doctoral studies in top universities such as UCL, Oxford, LSHTM, and the University of Pennsylvania.

*Graduate Outcomes survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates in the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 cohorts.

Employability

Thanks to our strong links with industry and academia, and the high demand for skills in this area, graduates from this course are highly sought after. You could take your skills into the pharmaceutical industry, government, international organisations, think tanks, consultancies or academia.

Networking

UCL Institute for Global Health (UCL IGH) students have priority access to academic events held throughout the year. This includes UCL's prestigious Lancet Lecture series which showcases leading global health scholars working on key public health issues. UCL hosts one of the largest communities of economists specialising in health and wellbeing in the UK and Europe, through the UCL Health Economics Policy Lab, offering students opportunities for academic supervision and networking. Students also have access to internal events, such as seminars and lunchtime lectures featuring the research of UCL IGH staff and doctoral candidates.

Teaching and learning

Teaching will be delivered using a wide range of methods including classroom teaching, peer-led seminars, online lectures and practical exercises, moderated debates, group exercises, and reading and writing tasks.

You will be assessed using a variety of assessment types including coursework, written examinations, reports, and oral presentations.

Classes take place during business hours. Modules are delivered as blocks of study. The duration of modules ranges from four to eleven weeks.

With the exception of Health Systems in a Global Context, each core module in Term 1 is taught over 10 weeks and typically involves between 4 to 5.5 hours of contact per week (including lectures and tutorials). The Health Systems in a Global Context module is taught over a period of five weeks, with 5.5 contact hours per week. This results in a maximum total of 19 contact hours per week in Term 1.

In addition, in Term 1, you are expected to spend a minimum of 12 hours per week in self-directed study, which includes reading, reviewing materials, and solving problem sets.

Optional modules are usually offered in different formats, and you must take three of these across Terms 2 and 3. The format can vary between a long format, involving 3 hours of contact time per week and at least 3 hours of self-directed study over 10 weeks, or a short, intensive format consisting of 3 to 4 weeks with at least 3 hours of teaching plus 6 hours of self-directed study per week.

Estimated time in dissertation supervision is around 20 hours (including group sessions and supervisor meetings).

Modules

For full-time students, you will undertake modules to the value of 180 credits, comprising eight taught modules worth 15 credits each and a substantive piece of student-led research that will carry 60 credits. You must undertake six compulsory modules and three optional modules. 

Students completing their dissertation will investigate and apply health economics and decision science methods to real-world problems in global health research and present the findings in a written report.

The optional modules allow students to tailor their training to their academic interests, offering further specialisation in health economics, economic evaluation, modelling, statistics, public health and health policy, applied health research (in specific areas such as gender and health, digital health, urban health, or climate change and health), and programming software such as R and Python.

Part-time students are advised to take 90 credits each in their first and second year of study.

Students are encouraged to get in touch with one of the Course Directors to discuss their module choices before finalising their selection.

We recommend that students take modules in the following order to ensure that all pre-requisites are met or that threshold knowledge is consolidated before taking advanced modules:

  • Microeconomics for Health and Econometrics for Health must be taken before the optional module of Health Economics.
  • Statistics for Health Economics must be taken before any of the following optional modules: Bayesian Methods in Health Economics and Medical Statistics 2.
  • Economic Evaluation in Health Care must be taken before any of the following optional modules: Modelling for Decision Science and Advanced Economic Evaluation.

The dissertation module is required to be taken in the final year.

Students are encouraged to reach out to one of the Course Directors or Teaching Administrators for module selection advice before finalising their selection.

Compulsory modules








Optional modules
















Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Health Economics and Decision Science.

Placement

You will have the opportunity to undertake an industry internship over the summer. While internships are voluntary and not assessed as part of the course, we help facilitate these opportunities through our strong links with industry partners. Please note that access to internships depends on availability, which can vary from year to year.

Accessibility

The department will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities, including those with long-term health conditions, neurodivergence, learning differences and mental health conditions. This list is not exhaustive. If you're unsure of your eligibility for reasonable adjustments at UCL, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

Reasonable adjustments are implemented on a case-by-case basis. With the student's consent, reasonable adjustments are considered by UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services, and where required, in collaboration with the respective department.

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information about support available can be obtained from UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

For more information about the department and accessibility arrangements for your course, please contact the department.

Visit us

All open days and events

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Online - Open day

Book a virtual 1-2-1 about Health Economics and Decision Science MSc

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Book a 1-2-1 with a member of the Health Economics and Decision Science MSc team. They will be happy to answer any questions you might have about the programme, careers or studying at UCL. Sessions are available between 11:00–12:00 and 16:00–17:00.

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Health Economics and Decision Science MSc

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Studying at the Institute for Global Health opens doors to impactful careers across public health, epidemiology, economics, and research. Join our virtual open events to explore our Master’s degrees in Global Health and Development, Health Economics and Decision Science, Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology, and Global Mental Health. At these events, you will meet Programme Directors, and learn how to make your application stand out.

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Health Economics and Decision Science MSc

Studying at the Institute for Global Health opens doors to impactful careers across public health, epidemiology, economics, and research. Join our virtual open events to explore our Master’s degrees in Global Health and Development, Health Economics and Decision Science, Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology, and Global Mental Health. At these events, you will meet Programme Directors, and learn how to make your application stand out.

Watch on demand event

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2026/27) £19,300 £9,650
Tuition fees (2026/27) £35,400 £17,700

Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.

Postgraduate Taught students benefit from a cohort guarantee, meaning that their tuition fees will not increase during the course of the programme, but UCL reserves the right to increase tuition fees to reflect any sums (including levies, taxes, or similar financial charges) that UCL is required to pay any governmental authority in connection with tuition fees.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Where the course is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a fee deposit will be charged at 2.5% of the first year fee.

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

For modular/flexible offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a £350 deposit will be charged.

For modular/flexible offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a £500 deposit will be charged.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

Fieldwork is not mandatory for this programme, nor is the collection of primary data for your dissertation. However, if you choose to undertake primary data collection or fieldwork as part of your dissertation, you may incur additional costs. These may include expenses such as travel, accommodation, translation services, and more. While the exact amount will depend on your destination and the scope of your work, we estimate a minimum cost of £10,000.

For in-person teaching, UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £119.90. This price was published by TfL in 2025. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

OHE MSc Fellowship Programme in Health Economics 

The Office of Health Economics (OHE) sponsors one part-time MSc student in health economics each year. 

Fellows receive full tuition fee coverage and a monthly stipend of £1,600 during term time. While completing their MSc dissertation, Fellows work part-time at OHE under the guidance of an experienced OHE supervisor, gaining hands-on research experience in applied health economics. Find out more

All applicants may apply for the UCL IGH Postgraduate Bursaries. 

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

African Graduate Scholarship

Deadline: TBC
Value: A substantial award towards fees and living costs (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme (CSSS)

Deadline: 12 December 2024
Value: Full fees, flights, stipend, and other allowances (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Institute for Global Health Postgraduate Bursary

Deadline: TBC
Value: £2,000 towards tuition fees) (Duration of study)
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK, EU, Overseas

Mukul Madhav Foundation Scholarship

Now closed for 2025/26 entry
Value: Full tuition fees (1 year)
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this course of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When you apply, you will be required to provide a number of supporting documents including:

  • Academic transcript
  • Personal statement (see below)
  • Curriculum vitae (CV)/resume
  • Writing sample (see below)
  • One reference

Personal statement

The personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this course match what the course will deliver. When we assess your personal statement, we would like to learn:

  • Why you want to study Health Economics and Decision Science at graduate level.
  • What particularly attracts you to the Health Economics and Decision Science MSc at UCL.
  • How your academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging course.
  • Where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

At the end of your personal statement, please include a clearly labelled section titled “Quantitative Experience Statement”. In this section, outline your experience with mathematical and quantitative modules or courses you have completed, as well as any relevant work experience.

For courses and modules, describe up to five, stating the level of study (e.g. secondary school, undergraduate degree, short course) and the key topics covered (e.g. linear algebra, statistics, optimisation methods, programming using R).

For work experience, briefly describe the nature of the work and the organisation where it was carried out. For example: “Conducted analysis of complex datasets using Stata as a Research Assistant at UCL,” or “Used Markov modelling in R as part of economic evaluations during my work at [organisation]”.

Writing sample

A writing sample showcasing your ability to synthesise evidence and use quantitative methodologies. This may be your undergraduate or previous postgraduate dissertation, published work, or another relevant piece of writing. If you do not have a suitable writing sample, you can write a 500-word research proposal in a topic of your choosing, including evidence synthesis and quantitative methods.

In case you choose to write a 500-word research proposal, we suggest the following structure:

  • the background to the issue you are researching;
  • the intended research question and objectives;
  • a description of evidence or data you could use;
  • and the methods you intend to use.

You might find it helpful to look at open access peer-reviewed academic papers to guide you with this task. However, be careful not to copy their wording as this would be considered plagiarism. We encourage you to summarise the available research evidence on the subject and use appropriate academic referencing throughout. During your time at UCL you will receive help in refining your topic and you will be able to change your topic if you have new ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions

My undergraduate degree is not quantitative (economics, statistics, mathematics), can I still apply?

Students from non-quantitative undergraduate backgrounds are welcome to apply, provided they can demonstrate sufficient quantitative skills for a graduate-level MSc course. We assess this by reviewing individual modules listed on transcripts, relevant work experience, and the Quantitative Experience Statement included in your personal statement.
 
Can you recommend any quantitative short courses I can take in preparation for the MSc?

All our offer holders are enrolled in a self-paced online module in Mathematics and Statistics in the June preceding the start of the MSc. 
 
Can I work part-time while doing the MSc full time?

We do not recommend that full-time students work while undertaking the MSc, particularly in Term 1 (October-December). If you want to work part-time, we suggest you undertake the MSc part-time. We encourage part-time students to meet with the Course Directors at the start of the MSc to discuss which choice and order of modules would work best with their schedule.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate courses (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2026-2027

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Institute for Global Health
Institute for Global Health

igh.heds.information@ucl.ac.uk

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