Child Protection and Welfare (M.Sc. / P.Grad.Dip.)

Course Overview

The Postgraduate Diploma in Child Protection and Welfare, is a multi-disciplinary course offering a postgraduate qualification to practitioners and service managers whose work involves the protection and welfare of children. The course aims to enhance the knowledge base of professionals in statutory and voluntary services meeting the needs of vulnerable children and families. The course places particular emphasis on the multi-disciplinary nature of child protection and family support interventions. It will assist professionals in becoming research-focused and enhance their ability to become more evidence based in their practice.

A second year leading to a M.Sc. in Child Protection and Welfare is available to eligible candidates who have completed the Postgraduate Diploma with a 2.1 or better result. The M.Sc. is designed to build on the Postgraduate Diploma and aims to develop applied research skills in the field of child protection and welfare and is delivered completely online.

For Diploma applicants only: Applicants must have a degree or equivalent professional qualification. In addition, a minimum of three years’ professional experience working with some aspect of child protection and welfare is required. Applicants may be shortlisted for interview.

English Language Requirements

All applicants to Trinity are required to provide official evidence of proficiency in the English language. Applicants to this course are required to meet Band B (Standard Entry) English language requirements. For more details of qualifications that meet Band B, see the English Language Requirements page here.

The diploma is undertaken by practitioners already working in statutory and voluntary organisations providing child protection and welfare service. Feedback from former course participants indicates that successful completion of the course provides them with opportunities for change and promotion within their organisations. A number of students go on to complete further study up to doctoral level. The multi-disciplinary nature of the course also provides linkage opportunities between different services, and each cohort of students represents a network of practitioners which endures long after the completion of the course and continues to promote inter-agency and inter-professional collaboration.