Course summary
Overview With this MSc Health Psychology degree you’ll build on your health psychology knowledge to understand health and health behaviours more fully, help patients better manage their long-term illness or recovery and help healthcare professionals improve their provision. You'll gain a thorough grounding in the main areas of health psychology: practice, theory and research. You'll learn how biological, emotional and social factors and the environment can affect physical wellbeing, and how to prevent this. You’ll also learn how a person living with a chronic conditions is affected by it, how they manage of it and you'll develop the skills and knowledge to support them. Recognising the value of work experience, a placement is a central part of the course. We expect students to complete 100 hours of work placement activity and will support students to identify suitable opportunities. Our MSc Health Psychology is recognised as a Stage 1 course, which is a prerequisite step towards gaining chartered status as a health psychologist. On successful completion of this course, you’ll be able to apply to progress to Stage 2, where trainees work towards achieving status as a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a registered health psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). If you’re interested in other career paths you can go straight from your MSc Health Psychology to work in areas such as commercial research, smoking cessation, health promotion and chronic illness management. On MSc Health Psychology you'll develop a systematic knowledge and understanding of health psychology, in accordance with the academic requirements of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP) and the BPS to support, your eventual progression to a career in health psychology or to study for a PhD. Psychology at the University of Portsmouth is ranked 5th of all post-1992 universities for research quality in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021. Eligibility This course accepts UK, EU, and international students. Accreditation Accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), our Master’s degree is recognised as a Stage 1 course, which is a prerequisite step towards gaining chartered status as a health psychologist. Course highlights
- Achieve unique and valuable workplace experience in applied health psychology settings as a research assistant or in a clinical setting as an assistant psychologist (e.g. research projects, health promotion roles, etc.)
- Learn in our wide range of research suites and laboratories (including pain lab and sensory lab) and attend regular health psychology research seminars
- Be taught in accordance with the academic requirements of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP) and the British Psychological Society (BPS)
- Receive expert guidance on the application of over 300 psychometric tests including those designed for adults, children, education and post-traumatic stress as well as over 50 specific to the health psychology field
- Health Psychologist trainee
- Research Assistant
- Office for National Statistics
- King's College London
- University of Portsmouth
Modules
Full-time: Modules studied: All modules on this MSc Health Psychology are core.
- Applied Health Psychology and Placement (30 credits)
- Applied Psychological Research Methods (30 credits)
- Health Psychology Research Project (60 credits)
- Psychobiological Aspects of Health (30 credits)
- Theories and Intervention Approaches in Health Psychology (30 credits)
- Applied Psychological Research Methods (30 credits)
- Psychobiological Aspects of Health (30 credits)
- Theories and Intervention Approaches in Health Psychology (30 credits)
- Applied Health Psychology and Placement (30 credits)
- Health Psychology Research Project (60 credits)
Assessment method
You'll be assessed through:
- Coursework
- Portfolios
- Oral presentations
- Research project
- Systematic reviews
- Research proposals
- Results sections of journal articles
- Developing your own intervention and materials
Professional bodies
Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.
- British Psychological Society
Entry requirements
Applicants should normally have or expect to obtain at least an upper second-class honours degree in Psychology or closely related subject that is recognised by The British Psychological Society as conferring Graduate Basis for Chartered membership (GBC). Applicants from other degree subjects containing a significant element of psychology, may also be considered on a case-by-case basis. All offers are subject to Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance.
English language requirements
| Test | Grade | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic) | 6.5 | English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with no component score below 6.0. |
| PTE Academic | 65 | An overall score of 65 with a minimum of 62 in each skill. |
| TOEFL (iBT) | 91 | 91 with a minimum of 20 in Reading, 19 in Listening, 21 in Speaking and 20 in Writing. |
| Cambridge English Advanced | Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 176 with no component score less than 169. | |
| Cambridge English Proficiency | Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) (taken after January 2015). An overall score of 176 with no component score less than 169. | |
| Trinity ISE | Trinity College Integrated Skills in English (ISE) Level III with a Pass in all 4 components. |
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| EU | £5450 | Year 1 |
| England | £5450 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £5450 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £5450 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £5450 | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £5450 | Year 1 |
| Republic of Ireland | £5450 | Year 1 |
| International | £9600 | Year 1 |
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
Students who are resident in EU countries: please note that the net fee is inclusive of the Transition Scholarship.
Fees are accurate at the time of publishing and are subject to change at any time without notice.
Fees may also go up in later years, in line with inflation.
For further fee information please see the corresponding University of Portsmouth course page or visit https://www.port.ac.uk/study/masters-and-postgraduate-taught/fees-and-funding
Provider information
University of Portsmouth
University House
Winston Churchill Avenue
Portsmouth
PO1 2UP