Program Overview

If you’re looking to develop your skills as a psychologist and work towards your chartership in the field of occupational psychology, this programme could be for you. This course is one pathway within the Industrial and Work Psychology programme. The MSc Occupational Psychology forms stage 1 of Chartership (subject to BPS membership requirements) and is suited to you if you have a psychology undergraduate degree. It is accredited by both the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Association for Business Psychology (ABP).

Across the programme, there's a focus on evidence-based practice and developing reflexivity as practitioners. You'll be equipped for a variety of careers including human resource practitioners, learning and development, or careers in consultancy and business psychology.

There is a range of modules common to both pathways, including Psychological Assessment at Work, Learning Training and Development, Culture Change and Leadership, Well-Being, Engagement and Motivation, Consulting Skills, and Mixed Methods Research. The MSc Occupational Psychology pathway also includes a performance management module, and you will have the opportunity to apply a reflexive practice approach to a work assignment.

Staff who teach you include permanent academic staff who have industrial experience, those who undertake regular consultancy work, and external psychologists. Teaching and learning methods include lectures, workshops, seminars, tutorials, and practical sessions. Full-time, you are expected to be on campus for 2-3 days each week in semesters A and B.  Note, there are further study expectations beyond these times too, so the course is intense. There is an emphasis on putting theory into practice.

The recent BPS accreditation visit to the course commended “the level of formative feedback which is highly supportive to the development of students” and noted, “the programme team is recognised for creating a programme structure where the applied and practical nature of learning is embedded throughout the content”.

The recent ABP accreditation commended the course for its “strong focus on application and research into practice” and highlighted the applied psychology research project and consulting skills modules as particular opportunities to do that.

Why choose this course?

• This programme provides many of the professional skills and competencies needed to become a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and to apply psychology in the workplace
• Accredited by the British Psychological Society, and counts towards gaining Chartered Occupational Psychologist status
• Psychology ranked joint first nationally for research impact, obtaining 100% outstanding rating (Research Excellence Framework, 2021)
• One of the largest psychology departments in the country
• Our staff are actively engaged in significant research which is reflected by our excellent, Grade 4 rating in the Higher Education Funding Council's last Research Assessment Exercise.
• We were awarded a Teaching Quality rating of excellent (23 out of 24) in our subject review
• A vibrant research seminar series - with contributions by leading academics from across the country