Taught Programme

Programme Summary

We are flexible in the way you complete your course units, you can either attend the one week taught course unit or take the distance learning version, as long as you complete the correct number of course units required for the award you are registered for. Full time MSc students can only take a maximum of two course units via distance learning.

Individual subjects are presented in ‘short course’ modular format, providing excellent access to the programme for engineers and managers in full-time employment who wish to advance their skill and knowledge base on a part time basis, either over two or three years.

As a full time student, although you will only be in actual teaching for eight weeks of the year, there will be plenty of work for you to do. Four weeks before each course unit, you will receive pre-course reading and possibly pre-course assignments to be completed before the start of the course unit. There are also post course assignments to complete for the course units and revision for the exams. At points of the year, you will be working on pre-course work, post course assignments and revision at the same time.

A list of the course units is given below together with the institution responsible for their provision and where the course unit is held. You can find more information on the delivery formats here.

From 2023-24 – University of Manchester UKVI full time international students, will have to attend the student hub on campus twice a week to confirm their attendance on campus. You will not have to do this during weeks when you are attending a course unit.

List of Course Units and Providers

Due to unforeseen exceptional circumstances, the N07 – Nuclear Safety Case Development course unit will not be available in 2023-24

Course UnitProviderHeld in
N01 Reactor Physics, Criticality & DesignThe University of BirminghamBirmingham
N02 Nuclear Fuel CycleUniversity of Central Lancashire (UCLan)Preston
N03 Radiation & Radiological ProtectionThe University of ManchesterManchester
N04 Decommissioning, Radioactive Waste and Environmental ManagementUniversity of Central Lancashire (UCLan)Preston
N06 Reactor Materials & Lifetime BehaviourThe University of ManchesterManchester
N07 Nuclear Safety Case DevelopmentNuclear Department, Navy CommandManchester
N08 Particle Engineering in the Nuclear IndustryUniversity of LeedsLeeds
N09 Policy, Regulation & LicensingThe University of ManchesterManchester
N10 Processing, Storage & Disposal of Nuclear WasteThe University of SheffieldSheffield
N11 Radiation ShieldingUniversity of LiverpoolLiverpool
N12 Reactor Thermal HydraulicsNuclear Department, Navy CommandManchester
N13 Criticality Safety ManagementNuclear Department, Navy CommandManchester
N15 Severe AccidentsUniversity of ManchesterManchester
N16 Chemical Aspects of Nuclear TechnologyUniversity of ManchesterManchester
N31 Management of the Decommissioning Process The University of BirminghamBirmingham
N32 Experimental Reactor Physics The University of ManchesterVienna, Austria / Prague, Czech Republic *

* students wishing to take the N32 course unit must first take the N01 – Reactor Physics, Criticality & Design course unit as it is a pre-requisite

Presentation of course unit content

Course units explained

Timetable 2023 – 24

Course Unit Weightings 2023-24