MSc Psychology

Stage 1

• Research Methodology and Statistics
• Personality and Social Psychology
• Brain and Cognition
• Child Development
• Mental Health
• Advanced Research Project: Proposal Development
• Advanced Research Project: Dissertation

What you’ll learn

• Develop advanced conceptual knowledge and the acquisition of a range of research skills and methods for investigating experience and behaviour, culminating in an ability to conduct original research independently.
• Understand the significance of child development for human psychology.
• Feel equipped with knowledge in methods, techniques and issues in cognitive neuroscience.
• Gain a comprehensive overview of the major theories and scientific discoveries in personality, individual differences, intergroup relationships and interpersonal relations.
• Explore the major mental health disorders, focusing on what research has to say about their social, cognitive and biological bases, with an understanding of their implications in treatment.
• Generate and explore your hypotheses by designing, conducting and analysing a research project of your choosing. This prepares you for a specialist MSc, or further studying (PhD level).
• Advance your understanding of real-life applications of theory to a wide range of experiences and behaviour and the application of psychological understanding to complex real-world questions.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

• Provide the opportunity for students who already have a degree to proceed to study Psychology at the master's level when they have not previously studied Psychology.
• Meet the requirements for accreditation by the British Psychological Society (BPS) on successful completion of the course.
• Reflect an inclusive and innovative approach to learning, teaching and assessment practices, within supportive environments with appropriately qualified and trained staff.
• Advance a scientific understanding of the mind, brain, behaviour and experience, and how they interact with the complex environments in which they are situated.
• Develop advanced conceptual knowledge and the acquisition of a range of research skills and methods for investigating experience and behaviour, culminating in an ability to conduct original research independently.
• Develop an advanced understanding of the role of empirical evidence in the creation and constraint of complex psychological theory, and also in how theory guides the collection and interpretation of empirical data.
• Present multiple perspectives in a way that develops graduates’ critical evaluation and reflection in the development of knowledge, leading to an appreciation of theory and research findings, including relevant ethical and socio-cultural issues.
• Lead to an advanced understanding of real-life applications of theory to a wide range of experience and behaviour and the application of psychological understanding to complex real-world questions. Prepare students for employment or further study.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

The course provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:

• Psychology statistics, practical experimentation, and research
• Conceptual and Historical issues in psychology
• Biological underpinnings of psychology
• The different cognitive models used within the field of psychology
• Individual differences in psychology
• Psychology of the self and society
• Psychology in childhood and adulthood
• Psychology of mental health.

Intellectual skills

You develop intellectual skills in:

• Be able to undertake critical reflection on particular issues in the field of psychology
• Use effective personal planning and project management skills
• Demonstrate clarity in thinking, critical thinking and problem identification.

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills in:

• Reason scientifically, understand the role of evidence and make critical judgements about arguments in psychology
• Demonstrate an understanding of multiple perspectives and systematically analyse the relationships between them
• Detect meaningful patterns in behaviour and evaluate their significance through statistical analysis
• Recognise the subjective and variable nature of individual experience
• Pose, operationalise and critique research questions
• Demonstrate substantial competence in research skills through practical activities
• Reason analytically and demonstrate competence in a range of quantitative and qualitative methods
• Competently initiate, design, conduct and report on an empirically-based research project under appropriate supervision, and recognise its theoretical, practical and methodological implications and limitations.
• Be aware of ethical principles and approval procedures that demonstrate these about personal study, particularly about the research project, and be aware of the ethical context of Psychology as a discipline.

Transferable skills

You will gain the following transferable skills:

• Communicate ideas and research findings to different audiences across different media
• Interpret and use numerical, textual and other forms of data at a sophisticated level
• Develop and apply digital capabilities to further their learning and in the analysis and presentation of ideas and research findings.
• Solve problems by clarifying questions, considering alternative solutions and evaluating outcomes.
• Be sensitive to, and take account of, contextual and interpersonal factors in groups and teams.
• Undertake self-directed study and project management, to meet desired objectives.
• Take charge of your learning, and reflect and evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses for future learning.
• Develop effective personal planning and project management skills.

Our postgraduate students commonly go into the fields of health, teaching or further education. For instance, many of our graduates take up roles as assistant psychologists in the NHS to become a professional clinical or forensic psychologist. Upon completing our Master’s courses, graduates have also pursued doctoral study and academic careers at higher education institutions.

The programmes we offer help you to develop general critical, analytic and problem-solving skills that can be applied in a wide range of settings.

Professional Recognition

All of our taught Master’s (MSc) programmes have been recognised by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as meeting the nationally recognised criteria for preparation training for PhD research.

The MSc Psychology Conversion course at Kent is accredited by The British Psychological Society.

Please note that only students who gain a mark of 40% or above in every module, with an overall mark of at least 50%, are eligible for accreditation by the British Psychological Society.

How you'll study

Teaching and assessment

This course is designed to be delivered entirely online, including lectures, seminars, project work, tests and presentations. Assessment through essay work, examinations, presentations, coursework and a research report.