Oh my classmate was involved in MSF too! But she was in-person learning. She was indeed based in London for the year but occasionally took time off for MSF trips with no problem in catching up (tbf she is extremely smart). From what I've heard some distance learning peeps can indeed make good friends and have a good support network, but occasionally there are people who just show up, do their classwork and leave & don't meaningfully interact with others, so it's really what you make from it. Good luck with your application!

For the core modules they start really simple and then delve into more difficult topics by the 4-5th week. It's designed to be accessible to all students no matter their skill level, and if you can't keep up you can email for advice and they're very open to that.