MSc Health Psychology (online)

Mode of delivery: Completely online, no need to come to campus (campus-based course available)

Duration: Part-time students can complete the course over 18 months to 3 years depending on their pace of study

Intake: Approximately 10-15 students per year

Entry requirements:

• We welcome applications from candidates interested in our course who have the skills and capability to excel. All candidates are considered on an individual basis based on their qualifications, experience, references and motivation.
• Applicants with a good honours degree in Psychology, normally 2.1 or above, that confers eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the BPS will be considered.
• Students who have a Psychology degree with an equivalent grade of a 2.1 or above from a non UK institution but do not have GBC will be advised to apply to the BPS for recognition of their degree and confirmation of eligibility of GBC. This will be a requirement of securing their place on the course.
• Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to provide evidence of an English language qualification. Find out more about our English language requirements.
• The information contained on this website details the typical entry requirements for this course for the most commonly offered qualifications. Applicants with alternative qualifications may wish to enquire with the relevant admissions teams prior to application whether or not their qualifications are deemed acceptable. For less commonly encountered qualifications this will be judged on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the academic admissions tutor.
  

Start dates: October and January

• Apply here
• The application deadline for the January 2018 course is November 2017 (for all applicants).
• The application deadline for the October 2017 course is 1 August 2017 (international applicants) and 31 August 2017 (Home / EU applicants).

For 2017 entry:

• UK/EU students: £550 per 10 credits: full course: £9,900
  
• International students : £550 per 10 credits: full course: £9,900

• The MSc Health Psychology course is fully accredited by the BPS and allows you to study online at a pace that suits you, with no need to come onto campus. It confers Stage 1 Training to become a Health Psychologist.

  This course is the UK's only Distance Learning MSc in Health Psychology that is accredited by the BPS.
  

  During the course you will:

  • Develop an in-depth understanding of the theory underpinning health psychology;
  • Develop your understanding of advanced research methodology and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data to carry out independent work of publishable standard;
  • Develop awareness of the contribution and application of health psychology within multicultural and multidisciplinary settings;
  • Develop professional and transferable skills in preparation for becoming a health psychologist.

  Discover more in this short interview with Course Director, Dr Rebecca Knibb.

  You will study a course that follows the BPS curriculum for professional training in health psychology. There are six compulsory taught modules and you would be expected to take one to two modules per term depending on your pace of study. There is also the Research Project module.

  Modules:
  • Illness Processes and Behaviour: How biopsychosocial systems integrate. Stress and coping.Relationship between stress, personality and illness such as coronary heart disease. Diagnosis of illness, models of illness behaviour and the impact of illness. Self-management of chronic disease and management of pain.
    
  • Health Behaviours: Fixed health factors, personality, risk perceptions, physical activity, smoking, screening, binge-drinking, health behaviour change and theory-based health interventions.
  • Health Inequalities Across the Lifespan: The social context of health and illness. Psychosocial aspects of both health and illness which contribute to morbidity and mortality in the population: inequalities in health related to socio-economic status, gender and ethnicity. Changes in health and health behaviour over the lifespan.
  • Professional Issues and Applications: Career planning; health psychology professional training; professional conduct; intervention development and implementation; consultancy; working in practice; motivational interviewing; cognitive behavioural therapy.
  • Qualitative Research Methodology: Qualitative research design, interviewing, focus groups, appraising qualitative research, reflexivity, discourse analysis, narrative analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis, grounded theory.
  • Quantitative Methods and Advanced Statistics: Experimental design, questionnaire design, systematic review methodology, univariate statistics; measures of association, measures of difference, GLM, multiple regression, logistic regression, meta-analysis, factor analysis, structural equation modelling.
  • Research Project: You will also carry out a research project under supervision in a specific area of health psychology. We have three hand in dates across the year for the project and you can choose the hand in date to suit your circumstances and pace of study.