FAQs

Our online LLM courses are offered as both part-time and full-time study.

You should have or be about to complete: a minimum 2:2 undergraduate or masters' (or equivalent) degree. Alternatively, you will need two years’ minimum relevant work experience if you hold a third class or ordinary degree, or three to five years' relevant professional experience if you don't hold a recognised degree.

The tuition fees for our LLM courses are:

• Total – £8,460
• Per 15-credit module – £705
• With the 10% Alumni discount – £7,614 in total / £634.50 per module

Our online MBA courses are offered as both part-time and full-time study.

You should have or be about to complete: a minimum 2:2 undergraduate degree or a master’s (or equivalent) degree. Alternatively, you will need two years' minimum relevant work experience if you hold a third class or ordinary degree, or three to five years' relevant organisational experience if you don't hold a recognised degree.

The tuition fees for an MBA course are:

• Total – £9,660
• Per 15-credit module – £805
• With the 10% Alumni discount – £8,694 in total / £724.50 per module

Our online MDes Design courses are offered as both part-time and full-time study.

You should have or be about to complete: a minimum 2:2 undergraduate degree in a design or related subject. Alternatively, you will need two years' minimum relevant work experience if you hold a third class or ordinary degree, or minimum three years' relevant organisational experience if you don't hold a recognised degree.

The tuition fees for an MDes Design course are:

• Total – £7,140
• Per 15-credit module – £595
• With the 10% Alumni discount – £6,426 in total / £535.50 per module

There will be an additional requirement for design related software, which can be purchased with Student Discount. Further information can be provided as part of the application process.

Our online MSc Computer Science courses are offered as both part-time and full-time study.

You should have or be about to complete: a minimum 2:2 undergraduate degree or a master’s (or equivalent) degree. Alternatively, you will need two years' minimum relevant work experience if you hold a third class or ordinary degree, or three to five years' relevant organisational experience if you don't hold a recognised degree.

The tuition fees for an MSc Computer Science course are:

• Total – £7,320
• Per 15-credit module – £610
• With the 10% Alumni discount – £6,588 in total / £549 per module

All software can be accessed through Canvas, our virtual learning platform – you won’t need to purchase any software. We recommend using the latest operating systems when accessing Canvas.

Our online MSc Management courses are offered as both part-time and full-time study.

You should have or be about to complete: a minimum 2:2 undergraduate degree or a master’s (or equivalent) degree. Alternatively, you will need two years' minimum relevant work experience if you hold a third class or ordinary degree, or three to five years' relevant organisational experience if you don't hold a recognised degree.

The tuition fees for an MSc Management course are:

• Total – £8,460
• Per 15-credit module – £705
• With the 10% Alumni discount – £7,614 in total / £634.50 per module

Our online MSc Psychology is offered as both part-time and full-time study.

You should have or be about to complete: a minimum 2:2 undergraduate degree or a master’s (or equivalent) degree.

The tuition fees for an MSc Psychology course are:

• Total – £8,460
• Per 15-credit module – £705
• With the 10% Alumni discount – £7,614 in total / £634.50 per module

Our online MSc Engineering courses are offered as both part-time and full-time study.

Applicants must be of age 19 or above and should have or be about to complete: at least a UK 2.2 undergraduate degree in an engineering, STEM, or business area, or a third-class honours degree with a minimum of two years’ appropriate work experience. Alternatively, applicants without a degree must demonstrate a minimum of three years relevant experience in an engineering STEM, or business area.

The tuition fees for an MSc Engineering course are:

• Total – £8,340
• Per 15-credit module – £695
• With the 10% Alumni discount – £7,506 in total / £625.50 per module

All our programmes are qualified 7 level not third party accredited except for:

• MSc Psychology is BPS accredited
• BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Top-Up) – Level 6

Our MBA/MSc/online nursing courses have six start dates each year, so you will be able to start your studies shortly after your application is accepted. Visit our homepage for our next available start dates.

Our degree courses are designed to be completed in:

• MBA/MSc/MSc Eng/LLM/MDes courses – 12 months full-time or two years part-time
• BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Top-Up) – 12 months full-time. We also offer an option for NMC registered nurses in the UK to enter the course at Level 6 which reduces it to 12 months.

Our degree courses are comprised of:

• MBA/MSc/MSc Eng/LLM/MDes courses – 180 credits
• BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Top-Up) – 120 credits

An exit award provides recognition of completion of a number of credits when you have not completed a full master's. It means you can exit your course with a Postgraduate Certificate after completing 60 credits (four modules) or a Postgraduate Diploma after 120 credits (eight modules). Please note this isn't applicable to our BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Top-Up).

While a Master's degree will help to open doors with employment as well as study, you'll need to check the specific entry requirements of the programme and institution you are interested in to find out if our programmes are acceptable for entry.

The following courses include a dissertation:

• MSc Nursing Studies - 5000 words
• MSc Psychology

There is no dissertation for:

• MBA and MSc Management courses
• MSc Computer Science courses
• BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Top-Up)
• LLM, MDes and MSc Eng courses

For our online courses your degree certificate will not state you have studied online and will look the same as those of students who study on-campus. Your degree transcripts will however state that your course is distance learning.

For further information on our language requirements please visit our admissions page.

Yes. Applications can be assessed on academic history, work experience or a combination of both. Check the entry requirements on the course page for more information on applying with work experience.

• Online master’s courses you may be able to transfer up to 120 credits, please contact our enrolment team to discuss this – 08081 890240 or +44 1915 740002 for further information.
• MSc Computer Science and LLM, you are unable to transfer credits.

Our MBA/MSc/online nursing courses are entirely online – you will not require a visa to study these courses with us.

Our MBA/MSc/online nursing courses have six start dates each year with the application deadline for each approximately 2–3 weeks beforehand. Please visit our homepage for our next available application deadline.

For our online courses you will need to provide academic transcripts as evidence of your education, as well as proof you meet the English language requirements, and of work experience (where required). You may also need to provide residency documents. For MSc Nursing Studies and BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Top-Up), we also require evidence of a valid nursing registration.

You can submit your documents through your application or send these to the enrolments team at enrolments@online.sunderland.ac.uk. They will then upload these for you.

You will not be required to submit references for entry onto our online courses.

You will usually receive a decision on your application within 5–10 working days.

Once you have been provided with your student ID, you can reset your password through evision. If you have any problems, contact the enrolments team on 08081 890240 or +44 1915 740002 or email enrolments@online.sunderland.ac.uk

Yes, however different courses might have different entry requirements so you will need provide the correct documents to verify you meet the entry requirements for the new course you are applying to. If you change your course before you have accepted or paid, our admissions team can change the course, providing you send the correct documents. If you opt to change your course after payment however, you will need complete a transfer form. Our enrolment team can send this to Sunderland Online for processing on your behalf.

Please contact our enrolment team to discuss this on 08081 890240 or +44 1915 740002.

For our online courses, you'll need to pay for your first module before the course start date. If you're studying full-time, this means paying for both of your first modules, as they run at the same time.
If you're applying for Student Finance, you'll still need to pay for your first module(s) upfront.

You can pay directly through eVision.

Unfortunately, you cannot pay your tuition fees in instalments. You can however pay per module to help break up the cost of your course.

All payments must be paid through eVision. You can pay your fees by credit or debit card. Please note we do not accept bank transfers or payments through PayPal.

No. Students of our online degree courses pay the same fees regardless of location.

You need to withdraw from your course within 14 days of the payment deadline to be eligible for a refund. Please contact our Student Success Co-ordinator at studentsuccess@online.sunderland.ac.uk within the 14-day window.

If you're planning to study an MBA/MSc course, you can apply through student finance on the gov.uk website. View more information about the Postgraduate Loan application.

Yes. We will require confirmation from your employer, on headed paper, that they will be able to fund your studies. We also need confirmation if this is for the whole course or select modules.

We do not offer scholarships for our online degree courses.

If you've completed an undergraduate or postgraduate course with us, you may be eligible for a 10% discount.

Yes, you can apply for the Disabled Students' Allowance. Please visit gov.uk to find out more. You can also visit our disability services page to view more information on what support is available.

You will have access to discussion boards on Canvas, our online learning platform, where you can interact with other students.

For our online courses you will need to complete 40 hours per week if you are studying full-time or 20 hours per week part-time to maintain progress throughout your course. For BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies Top-Up, you will need to complete 25 hours of study per week.

For our online courses there are two breaks built into each year of the course – two weeks in the summer and two in the winter, however this can vary from year to year.

Our online courses are based on well-established principles of asynchronous learning. This will involve you engaging in learning experiences at times which suit you. Activities will involve recordings, readings, or quizzes, or asynchronous conversations conducted via a discussion board. Each module is specifically designed to deliver learning in a way that suits the materials and skills involved in that module. You will be expected to engage in the materials and discussions in order to progress your learning.

For our online courses, a variety of modes of assessment will be used to support and test your learning and progress. All modules will offer opportunities for formative feedback and feature at least one summative piece of assessment.

Formative assessments don't normally contribute towards the mark for a course of study. The focus of group formative feedback is forward looking and focused on improvement. It will identify common areas of strength, common difficulties experienced, and ways in which all students can continue to improve. It is a key point at which we will provide support and guidance that will allow you to develop; as with any feedback, it should also enable you to gauge the progress of your own learning.

Summative assessment contributes to your overall mark and these assignments are designed to allow you to demonstrate the learning you have achieved during your studies. Feedback on these assignments is individual and focused on what you have done well, what you can carry forward, and where you can improve for future assignments.

Our courses are specifically designed for online study, with information broken down into bite-sized chunks. Each task is matched with reading and micro-lectures. You will also have discussion boards, which will allow you to chat with other students, which are monitored by the academic team.

Our online lectures and course content is reviewed on a regular basis, with our academic experts regularly reviewing course materials.

No, all books are accessible through our eLibrary as eBooks.

No, all coursework and assessments for our online courses are completed online, so you will not need to travel as part of your studies.

No. Our student success coordinators will however, be able to see when you were last active and will check in with you after any lengthy period of inactivity to see if you need any support. Please note if you have taken two consecutive study breaks (two modules in a row) you may be withdrawn from your course.

We have an IT team who will be able to support you with any issues. You can call them on 0191 515 3333. Please also contact your Student Success Co-Ordinator if you are experiencing any problems accessing Canvas on +44 808 1890 240 or studentsuccess@online.sunderland.ac.uk