We have compiled a list of diabetes courses that are relevant to healthcare professionals working in diabetes care in any capacity. Please note that while every care has been taken to compile a list of relevant training opportunities, publishing training or event details does not constitute an endorsement by Diabetes UK. Please make reasonable checks to ensure the training course is suitable and accredited to the standard you require.
Short courses at Diabetes UK
Leadership programmes at Diabetes UK
Postgraduate diabetes courses
Short courses
E-learning
Short courses at Diabetes UK
CPD online courses
Check out our free online courses for non-specialist healthcare professionals. Designed to help you develop the confidence, skills and knowledge you need to best support people living with all types of diabetes, as well as those at risk of type 2. The courses are evidence-based and peer-reviewed.
System Change Practice course
In this free course, you will be introduced to how a systems thinking approach for healthcare can help you develop a deep understanding of problems and how to design solutions that actually tackle them. The sessions are a balance of theory and hands-on learning, where you'll work collaboratively with others on a case study using new practical tools and methods that you can easily apply in practice. This is open to everyone working in health and care whose role includes diabetes prevention and care, people with lived experience of diabetes and Diabetes UK staff. Visit the course information page to get more information, including the course outline, dates and what to expect.
Leadership programmes at Diabetes UK
Clinical Champions
A two-year programme aimed at furthering your personal development. This programme will take you to the next level by enhancing your leadership capacity and relationship building skills to transform care across the system.
Discovering Leadership
Our Discovering Leadership programme is for those beginning their leadership journey. You will explore what leadership means to you and begin building your confidence and capacity to lead change.
Postgraduate diabetes courses
Birmingham City University: Advancing Diabetes Care - Module / M.Sc. / PgCert / PGDip
This is an online course designed to help you gain a greater understanding of the complexities of people living with diabetes and how best to support and enable effective individualised self-management. It is suitable for healthcare professionals in any clinical role and is open to UK and international students. The course consists of a combination of the modules listed below.
Students can also study these stand-alone credit-bearing modules:
• Effective Person-Centred Diabetes Education (20 credits)
• Leadership In Diabetes Care (10 credits)
• Type 1 Diabetes – Opportunities and Complexities (20 credits)
• Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes (20 credits)
• Effective Diabetes Care for Pregnancy (10 credits)
• Psychological And Psycho-Social Aspects of Diabetes (10 credits)
• Children And Young People's Diabetes Care (20 credits)
• Care And Prevention of Diabetes Related Complications (20 credits)
• Physical Activity Management in Diabetes Care (10 credits)
Brighton and Sussex Medical School: Diabetes in Primary Care (PGCert)
This course is designed for primary care healthcare professionals to develop their knowledge of the current best practice in diabetes diagnosis and management. Areas of study include diabetes management, insulin administration and quality improvement, and clinical education is supplemented with learning in a policy and organisation context to support healthcare professionals to inform best practice and service improvements.
Cardiff University – Postgraduate Diabetes Education
The Diabetes Practice postgraduate course (MSc) is aimed at healthcare professionals, who have a special interest in diabetes. Students will gain an advanced clinical knowledge of diabetes and diabetes-related issues as they present in practice.
Glasgow Caledonian University
This is a course for healthcare professionals wishing to develop their skills in diabetes care. MSc Advanced Practice (Diabetes Care), a pathway within MSc Advanced Practice, is multidisciplinary, bringing together key insights from multiple fields. During this master's degree, you will learn about best practices in health management and diabetes from a broad range of perspectives.
• Understand the biology of the disease
• Learn about preventing, diagnosing and managing diabetes
• Recognise diabetes complications
• Explore the latest research in the field
• Survey up-to-date advances in management and care
• Acquire the skills to collaborate on active clinical research
Keeping the programme career-focused, our diabetes care master's students undertake clinical attachments at local hospitals. This opportunity helps them solidify their skills and make a positive impact on patients in a real-world setting. The final Dissertation module gives students the opportunity to obtain an enhanced understanding of an area of diabetes or to undertake a clinical audit in collaboration with local diabetes consultants.
It is possible to undertake Diabetes Care: A Multi-Professional Approach, as a stand-alone CPD certificate, Post Experience Certificate, and gain credits towards a future masters-level degree.
University of Highlands and Islands
The University of Highlands and Islands deliver a Health and Wellbeing MA, a course designed for health and social care professionals in the UK and delivered online.
King’s College London & King’s Health Partners ‘Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Diabetes (Module 1)’.
This 6-week, 15-credit online short course is aimed at professionals and students working in, or planning to work in, specialist fields in medicine and life science. Developed by award-winning experts Prof Khalida Ismail and Dr Amy Harrison, the course is the first of its kind to deliver practical training and provide participants with an understanding of the cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) model and its applications to diabetes. Please contact DEO@kcl.ac.uk for more information.
King’s College London MSc Diabetes: Clinical Care & Management
This master’s programme (available also as a postgraduate certificate) is suitable for health professionals from a variety of disciplines, particularly those in primary care settings (non-specialist physicians, GPs, practice nurses, pharmacists, dietitians and podiatrists) or those working in specialist or intermediate diabetes settings. The aims of the course are:
• To equip students with critically developed advanced practice skills for diabetes clinical care and management.
• To develop students into independent learners who are able to identify and synthesise clinical problems and issues at both the patient and care system levels.
• To provide an educational framework to enable students to acquire and demonstrate both generic transferable competencies in formulating diabetes management plans.
For more information about the course and to discuss eligibility for a small number of Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND) scholarships (available for the course start in September 2024), please contact Kirsty Winkley, the programme lead: kirsty.winkley@kcl.ac.uk.
University of Leicester
This course can be modified to suit individual needs for MSc, Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) or Certificate (PGCert) or shorter CPD courses.
Plymouth University – Advanced Professional Practice in Paediatric Dietetics MSc
Specialist course delivered in partnership with the Paediatric Group of the British Dietetic Association (BDA). Provides an opportunity to develop as an evidence-based practitioner with advanced skills in clinical reasoning, critical appraisal, problem-solving and leadership.
Queen Mary University of London – Endocrinology and Diabetes MSc
The distance learning MSc is designed both as a complete curriculum for new entrants or as an update and extension for those already in it.
University of South Wales – Postgraduate Diabetes Education
Postgraduate options include MSc Diabetes, PGD Diabetes, MSc or PGD in Obesity and Weight Management.
Swansea University: MSc in Diabetes Practice (MSc / PGDip / PGCert)
This is a new flexible distance learning programme, structured to fit around your busy working life. The multi-disciplinary curriculum will combine distance online learning with practical skills delivered in two five-day residential workshops. This unique programme, designed with the needs of future diabetes specialist nurses in mind, will provide the student with fundamental and advanced knowledge in clinical skills, experience and professional behaviour, and will address knowledge gaps in order to address the health and care needs of people with diabetes. The student will also gain a comprehensive understanding of diabetes treatments, technologies and different situations which can affect management of the condition. This Masters programme will give the student an in-depth knowledge of diabetes care to potentially enhance their prospects for career progression.
Warwick Medical School – Postgraduate Diabetes Education
A wide range of courses aimed to give healthcare professionals the necessary knowledge and skills to provide high quality care to people with diabetes.
Short courses
Anglia Ruskin University – 'Understanding Diabetes' and 'Management of the Person with Diabetes'
'Understanding Diabetes' is a short, in-person, two-day workshop, which introduces the basic principles of diabetes care.
'Management of the Person with Diabetes' is a twelve-week course, online and in-person, which will develop the professional skills you need to care effectively and compassionately for people of any age with diabetes.
University of Birmingham - Diabetes and Oral Health
This hybrid short course will provide an overview and understanding of the importance of collaborative working between oral healthcare providers and the broader healthcare team to ensure optimal outcomes for patients with periodontitis and type 2 diabetes.
Birmingham City University - Caring for People Living With Diabetes
This is an online introductory module for healthcare professionals who have an interest in diabetes and may want to pursue further studies in diabetes
Diabetic Foot Module
A five-day course for Healthcare Professionals and Podiatrists who are HCPC registered and are working or wish to work in specialist multidisciplinary diabetic clinics or part of an extended team. The Diabetic Foot Module has existed for 32 years and is accepted as a leading course in the UK for Podiatrists specialising in Diabetes healthcare. For more details please contact Mr Christopher Hunt at diabeticfootmodule@gmail.com.
Education for Health
Courses range from workshops for nurses new to primary care or to diabetes, through Level 5 and 6 accredited modules, all focused on boosting diabetes knowledge.
Effective Diabetes Education Now (EDEN)
A comprehensive training package to upskill healthcare professionals to provide high levels of diabetes care, and reduce hospital admissions and referrals to specialist care.
University of Highlands and Islands
The Advanced Diabetes (SCQF level 10) CPD Award is an online course for registered healthcare professionals, providing them with the knowledge, confidence and capability required in diabetes management.
Short Distance Learning Module – University of Leicester, Adult Inpatient MSc Module
This distance learning module runs over 2–5 months and has been developed to support healthcare professionals who wish to specialise in diabetes from either a primary or secondary care background. Distance learning gives you the flexibility to fit study around existing work commitments and enhance your career prospects without having to leave employment.
It combines the most topical thinking around clinical care and research in adults with practical examples of how novel research and evidence-based diabetes care can be applied in real-life, clinical settings. You will become part of the Distance Learning Diabetes Community providing the opportunity for networking and sharing best practices.
This programme provides practitioners from different specialities with the knowledge and competencies to manage, maintain, treat and/or transfer patients with diabetes to the appropriate tier of care. The outcomes will include improved personal confidence, more effective referral in the tiered structure of diabetes care, appropriate collaboration and engagement with the specialist team(s) and intelligent use of new therapies. This is an online six-week course with a one-day face-to-face assessment at St Georges, University of London.
This is a credit-bearing standalone module. After successful completion of the assessment, students will receive a transcript for 15 credits at Level 7.
PITstop Diabetes
This course is an advanced diabetes course for primary care healthcare professionals, accredited with the University of Greenwich at diploma level (15 credits) and also credit-rated by the RCGP.
Understanding Insulin
University of Southampton in collaboration with the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust adult diabetes team, are offering a free online course – MOOC for healthcare professionals and patients. This course aims to improve knowledge of how insulin works and further promote its safe and effective use in the clinical setting.
Successful Diabetes
Successful Diabetes offer a range of workshops to enhance the skills and confidence in implementing and providing diabetes self-management education for children, young people or adults.
University of Sunderland - Undergraduate Certificate of Achievement in Diabetes
A five-month, part-time course, which aims to develop the knowledge and skills of those who care for people with diabetes.
A range of support and training options to enable new communities to introduce and sustain the key elements of the Year of Care house.
Type 2 diabetes Skills for Living course for people with a learning disability and autistic people
This course is delivered in local areas through place based commissioning in the North east and North Cumbria via self-advocacy organisations. The course is a trainer the trainer model. The course is delivered by a specially trained facilitator and a peer facilitator(s) (person with a learning disability), a model of co-delivery which is both unique and highly effective.
Initially piloted in Newcastle, it is currently being rolled out in South Tyneside and delivery starts in County Durham from September 2023.
The College of Contemporary Health
A range of online courses covering various aspects of obesity management. Qualifications range from MSc to CPD.
E-Learning modules
Diabetes UK CPD online courses
Check out our free online courses for non-specialist healthcare professionals. Designed to help you develop the confidence, skills and knowledge you need to best support people living with all types of diabetes, as well as those at risk of type 2. The courses are evidence-based and peer-reviewed.
Royal College of General Practitioners - Diabetes Hub
To support healthcare professionals in Primary Care, RCGP have a range of eLearning content for you to choose from, including short courses (15-30 minutes) and webinars on topics including diabetes medication, diabetes prevention programme, kidney disease, and diet and lifestyle.
Continuing Medical Education - New and emerging GLP-1 RA therapy
Access free modules focusing on new and emerging GLP-1 RA therapy with leading international experts.
Module 1 and 2 - Professor Melanie Davies, Professor Kamlesh Khunti and Dr Sam Seidu:
- Positioning GLP-1 RA agonist in the management of people with type 2 diabetes
- Practical aspects of initiation and titrations of GLP-1 RA and their combinations with other glucose-lowering therapies (released June)
A third module, "Innovations in GLP-1 RA's" will be released in October.
Diabetes on the Net - Six Steps to Insulin Safety
This module educates how to reduce insulin errors in clinical practice. PCDS (Primary Care Diabetes Society) have come together with TREND-UK (Training Research and Education for Nurses in Diabetes) to provide this education in an endorsed insulin safety module.
Cambridge Diabetes Education Programme (CDEP)
Endorsed by Diabetes UK, the British Dietetics Association and the Cambridge University Health Partnership, CDEP is a competency-based online diabetes learning tool that supports all levels of healthcare practitioners demonstrate their diabetes knowledge and skills.
An online educational programme for healthcare professionals to increase their knowledge and understanding of diabetes technologies. Developed in collaboration between Glooko and the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD)/ Diabetes Technology Network UK (DTN-UK).
Type 1 diabetes Management in Children and Young People - Skills for Health
This course provides an introductory framework to enable those with no prior knowledge of the disease to treat young patients effectively. By the end of the course, learners will be able to explain the diagnosis of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, how to use insulin safely, the monitoring and assessment of blood glucose control, the role of diet in the management of type 1 diabetes, and how carbohydrate counting relates to the correct dose of insulin.
Challenging weight stigma learning hub
This online course from Public Health Scotland increases awareness of weight stigma, its impact, and highlights what can be done to confront and challenge it. Aimed at those in health and social care, policy and public health, the course is informed by evidence, expert views and people with lived experience. Comprised of bite-sized sections that can be completed in any order, this certificated course will challenge and inform how you think and take action in your practice.
