This course aims to provide you with a sound knowledge of psychology, having been developed to impart the advanced knowledge required to serve your interests and career aspirations. You will benefit from the experience of our dedicated and enthusiastic staff. Our course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) which means you'll gain Graduate Basis of Chartered Membership once you successfully complete this master's course.
This conversion course is for graduates intending to pursue a career in psychology who wish to acquire the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society. You may have a degree in another subject but wish to either change career or pursue your interest in psychology in more depth. Students are introduced to the broad range of theoretical and methodological approaches to psychology and are encouraged to develop a critical approach to studies, evaluating theory and evidence accordingly.
By the end of this course, you will be able to perform quantitative and qualitative data analyses and use statistical software to analyse complex data. You will design, implement, analyse and communicate independent and group project work to an advanced level culminating in a dissertation on an agreed topic. You will also be able to design and run experiments to gather and interpret data. You will have gained knowledge in the core areas in psychology and be able to apply research skills across domains.
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You will learn cognitive skills through class discussion, guided independent study and lecturer feedback, as well as learning practical skills through presenting your ideas in written and oral form along with participation in practical exercises.
You will gain an in-depth understanding of your subject through participation in teaching sessions and independent research, with tutor support. Your learning will also be supported with online self-study materials.
This BPS core module aims to develop your expertise and mastery of primary and contemporary theory and research in three essential areas: social psychology, developmental psychology and individual differences. The subject matter is introduced and investigated through topic-focused lectures and augmented with advanced research workshops. A focus on developmental psychology will see you study the biological, social, emotional and cognitive processes and changes of infancy and childhood as these are the periods during an individual's lifespan when the most change occurs. In social psychology, interpersonal and intergroup processes will be studied with the objective of developing your understanding of the social dimension to human psychology. Throughout the module, several aspects of psychological approaches to understanding individual differences will be considered such as humanistic theories of development and social learning theory.
This module aim to provide you with an opportunity for an in-depth, advanced study in a specific area of applied psychology, pertinent to the degree for which you are registered, guided by, but largely independent of, tutor support. You will apply appropriate principles of empirical research, and present your research study in the form of a written journal article, using appropriate styles and conventions.
This module conforms with the statistics and methodology requirements of the British Psychological Society’s Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC). The module enables you to understand & critically evaluate psychological research & to understand how research design relates to research questions. It provides you with advanced skills in a variety of statistical analyses and enables them to conduct ethical psychological research at masters level utilising quantitative and qualitative methods. It provides skills in interpretation & critical discussion of published psychological research. It prepares you for your dissertation and enables you to choose appropriate methodologies and analyses for research.
The aim of the module is to provide an intellectual setting within which you can both develop a fuller appreciation of substantive areas of applied psychology and improve their practical and analytical skills. The main aim is to direct you to develop an appreciation of the controversies and issues related to traditional and contemporary research, ethical issues, and up-to-date knowledge in the domain of applied psychology such as neuropsychology, infertility, sports and exercise and literacy acquisition.
The module will give you an overview of biological and cognitive psychology as well as an introduction to the biological basis of heritable traits. The anatomy and physiology of the nervous system is considered; attention is focused on aspects of behaviour that have a clear biological component, with an emphasis on individual differences in biology. Through a series of psychophysiology lab sessions you will investigate specific central and peripheral nervous system variables and their relation to behaviour and individual differences. The cognitivist approach to psychology will be outlined and key theories relating to major cognitive faculties explored. Understanding of these is enhanced through a series of interactive seminars, consisting of group problem-solving activities. Both cognitive and biological approaches will explore pathology and neuropsychological case studies.
See the course specification for more information:
Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.
We are regularly reviewing and updating our programmes to ensure you have the best learning experience. We are taking what we have learnt during the pandemic and enhancing our teaching methods with new and innovative ways of learning.
We aim to model a wide range of teaching strategies and approaches on the course which you can adapt to your own setting.
The MSc programme can be studied over 12 months full-time or 24 months part-time. Part-time students take 60 taught credits in year 1, and 60 taught credits with the dissertation in year 2. The programme is assessed at 180 credit points. Each 30 credit module represents approximately 300 hours of student study time, with two-four hours of contact time per week. The postgraduate dissertation module is 60 credits and encourages students to work independently, develop expertise in a particular area of psychology and demonstrate advanced research skills.
You will participate in practical sessions, lectures, seminars and workshops, where you will take part in class discussions, and work on research projects, group assignments and critical analyses. A blended learning approach is taken consisting of a variety of live online sessions, pre-recorded sessions and self-paced study.
For two of the taught modules, some lecture content will be taught along with our undergraduate students. All modules include small group teaching sessions which are specifically designed and exclusive for the MSc Psychology conversion students. Staff are also available for individual tutorials. You will supplement all this with your own independent study and will submit a dissertation. There is a specific module on research methods for the conversion students and the course also aims to improve your analytical, statistical and IT skills.
A wide variety of assessment methods are employed on the course including laboratory reports, essays, poster presentations, other written assignments and seen and practical tests. A major part of your assessment will be your 7,000 to 10,000-word report in the style of a journal article. We will be looking, among other things, at your ability to look critically at both theory and empirical research, and material from different sources. You will receive regular feedback on your work.
You have a strong support network available to you to make sure you develop all the necessary academic skills you need to do well on your course.
Our support services will be delivered online and on campus and you have access to a range of different resources so you can get the help you need, whether you’re studying at home or have the opportunity to come to campus.
You have access to one to one and group sessions for personal learning and academic support from our library and IT teams, and our network of learning experts. Our teams will also be here to offer financial advice, and personal wellbeing, mental health and disability support.
There are strong employment prospects for Psychology graduates and salaries in this field are excellent. The range of professional skills that psychology graduates develop ensures that they are highly valued across the economy.
The MSc is accredited by the British Psychological Society and successful completion of the programme to the required standard provides students with GBC (Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership) with the society. This is a requirement for students wishing to apply for BPS accredited masters courses in a variety of specialist areas in psychology. As such the MSc Psychology (conversion) provides a solid foundation for a career in psychology.
Graduates from this programme will have the opportunity to develop the skills of data research, critical analysis, oral, written and visual communication, reasoned debate, understanding theoretical concepts, and policy analysis. These are highly transferrable and are valued by employers across all sectors.
We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.
Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.
Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.
At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.
Start: September 2024
Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Code: PGC845
Start: September 2024
Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Code: PGL713
