Health Psychology MSc

About this degree

The programme provides a thorough grounding in theories, concepts and empirical findings central to current health psychology. You'll be encouraged to develop your own area of specialisation and be given formal training in quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Journal Club

Full-time students and first-year part-time students are required to attend weekly journal clubs. This forum is designed to help students develop critical appraisal and presentation skills as well as analytical techniques in preparation for assessed course work. In the presence of a member of staff associated with the programme, two students will present a paper selected on the basis of its relevance to the content of one of the lectures delivered in that week. Students are asked to consider the merits and limitations of this paper and to involve the whole cohort in a group discussion. Students will be provided with the paper one week in advance of each journal club. The journal club runs throughout the first two terms and papers will be selected which relate to topics from each of the eight modules.

Clinical Visits

A visit to a hospital outpatient’s clinic is arranged for each student to follow alongside the doctor-patient communication lecture provided in the IEHC0023 module. This visit is linked with appropriate readings and a short task as part of the follow-up seminar.

Research Project

Students are required to undertake an empirical research project, which contributes 34% to the final mark on the MSc. The research project will be written up in the form of a mock submission to The British Journal of Health Psychology. In preparation for the final write up, students will be asked to write a brief summary of their project and to write a peer review about the summary of another student’s project in the third term. Students are assigned a supervisor early on in the programme. The supervisor is usually a staff member associated with the programme. The supervisor is expected to provide advice on design, analysis and write-up of the project as appropriate and has regular meetings at every stage of the project with the student. We strongly recommend negotiating the frequency of meetings and level of supervisor involvement at the earliest opportunity.

The Health Psychology MSc, accredited by the British Psychological Society, will enable you to apply the scientific and theoretical principles and ideas of health psychology using a scholarly and critical approach and develop the practical skills and knowledge required for employment or research in the field.

A minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in psychology from a UK university, or overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. A lower second-class UK Bachelor's degree or equivalent may be accepted with evidence of further study or relevant work experience.

Applicants are encouraged to have Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society (BPS) if they want to pursue a career as a Chartered Health Psychologist in the UK.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Given the academic nature of the programme, our students acquire important research experience and skills. This is very helpful when applying for advanced degrees, and each year a significant number of students successfully go on to secure PhD studentships and clinical doctorates. As the focus of the MSc is on improving healthcare and delivery, students also take up positions within the public or private healthcare sector.