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Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS

Course options

2024 - 20252025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

Accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), this MSc Psychology conversion course is designed for non-psychology graduates or graduates with a non-accredited psychology degree. It provides you with Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the BPS which is essential for pursuing career paths in a range of recognised psychology professions. Why choose this course?

  • This rigorous course will equip you with critical skills and knowledge in psychology and its specialisms including neuroscience, perception, memory, as well as developmental and social psychology.
  • It offers you the chance to gain valuable insights into a wide range of scientific theory and practice, from behavioural experiments to brain imaging, to clinical assessments in healthy and patient populations.
  • Birkbeck's School of Psychological Sciences is internationally renowned for its research excellence, so you will be taught by world-leading academics who bring their cutting-edge expertise to the classroom.
  • It has a dedicated learning team who provide tailored support, helping our students realise their full potential.
What you will learn You will learn the key principles of psychological theory, including:
  • neuroscience
  • developmental psychology
  • attention and performance
  • learning memory and cognition
  • individual differences and social psychology.
You will also develop practical skills in research methodology, including the formulation of hypotheses, designing and reporting experiments, qualitative methods and subject-specific IT skills. We equip you with a range of transferable skills too which are valued by employers across a range of professions, from clinical or counselling psychology to media and marketing. How you will learn This MSc Psychology is available to study either full- or part-time. You can choose to start this MSc in either October or January. If you start in October, your timetable is evening study only with classes taking place in the evenings. If you decide to start in January, your classes will take place in both the daytime and evening. Our teaching is supported by a dedicated learning support team and is delivered via a comprehensive and flexible programme, including on-campus practical group sessions bringing topics to life in the lab, online seminars and lectures that may be available on campus and online. Highlights
  • This is a BPS-accredited conversion course designed for students with an undergraduate degree in another subject who want to gain a Master's in psychology, and provides Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society.
  • In the 2023 National Student Survey, Birkbeck's School of Psychological Sciences ranked 5th in the UK for teaching.
  • We are consistently regarded as one of the top institutions teaching psychological sciences in the UK. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework we were ranked in the top ten universities in the UK for the third time.
  • Birkbeck is strongly oriented towards research in psychological sciences and we are home to the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, the Health and Lived Experience Cluster, the Birkbeck - UCL Centre for Neuroimaging and the Centre for Cognition, Computation and Modelling.
Careers and employability On successfully graduating from this MSc Psychology, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:
  • written and oral communication skills
  • research skills
  • psychological and scientific literacy
  • teamwork
  • critical thinking.
Graduates can pursue career paths in areas including psychology, education, human resources and management. Possible professions include:
  • clinical psychologist/counselling psychologist
  • user experience (UX) researcher
  • education lecturer
  • market researcher
  • human resources officer
  • academic or business researcher.

Modules

For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.

Assessment method

Coursework (essays and research projects), written examination and assessed presentation. Dissertation of up to 10,000 words.

Professional bodies

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

  • British Psychological Society

How to apply

International applicants

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, the requirement for this course is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests. If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses and foundation programmes to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.

Entry requirements

A second-class honours degree (2:2) or above from a UK university, or overseas equivalent. Mathematics at GCSE grade C or grade 4 or equivalent qualification. Please ensure your application is complete with a transcript of your previous degree, especially when statistics or research methods were part of this. In most cases, if you do not have relevant prior study of research methods for psychology, you will need to take a free online course and pass an entrance exam. Applications are reviewed on their individual merits and your professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be taken into consideration positively. We actively support and encourage applications from mature learners.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £6420 Year 1
Northern Ireland £6420 Year 1
Scotland £6420 Year 1
Wales £6420 Year 1
International £10845 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 are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases.
Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS