Universities In Australia 
Universities In Canada 
Universities In Germany 
Universities In Ireland 
Universities In Jordan 
Universities In New Zealand 
Universities In Saudi Arabia 
Universities In United Kingdom 
Universities In United States Of America 
Course overview
The Psychology and Language Sciences MSci is a four-year course that develops students’ knowledge and expertise in psychology, language sciences, linguistics and communication. You can also find out more about the three-year undergraduate BSc course here.
Communication and language are fundamental to human behaviour, how we perceive the world, and how we interact with one another. By studying Psychology and Language Sciences, you will gain a unique perspective and education that opens up a wide variety of further study and career destinations.
The first two years of your degree comprise mainly compulsory modules taken by all students. These will develop your broad knowledge of psychology and language sciences. You will study fundamental topics such as the neural basis of perception, memory and language, social psychology, individual differences, speech production and perception, and the development of communication and cognition.
Skills in planning, running and analysing experiments are taught in research methods modules and laboratory classes in Year One and Year Two. You will start writing your own research lab reports early in your studies, developing your confidence in statistical research and data analysis.
Students in the second year can complete a weekly observational placement with children in an early years’ setting (for which a DBS check is required). This is offered to students as part of the Development of Communication and Cognition module which enables you to develop observational research techniques and relate developmental models of play and language to your real-life observations.
In your third year, you will choose a research project (similar to a dissertation in other courses) to be completed under the supervision of an expert in your chosen field. Your research project is the culmination of your studies where you will demonstrate the knowledge and skills gained throughout your studies. Alongside your research project, you will select six optional modules from a broad range of specialised areas, many of which relate to professional and research interests (e.g., educational psychology, behaviour change, speech and language therapy, neuroscience of language). This allows you to specialise your studies in the areas that interest you, with many students selecting modules that are tied to their future postgraduate study and career ambitions.
The final year consists of a project based either on research conducted at UCL (in the research pathway) or on a workplace setting (the applied pathway). Students on both pathways each take a different research methods module. Students then take additional Master’s-level modules to make up the remainder of their credits. These are mostly taught modules, but the Practical Research Skills module also offers additional mini placements working in UCL labs.
Students on both pathways with at least a 2.2 class degree award will receive a BPS-accredited MSci qualification.
What this course will give you
The UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences is known worldwide for its teaching and research in the fields of psychology, speech sciences, and linguistics. The work of our staff appears in internationally acclaimed journals and books. You will be joining a community of academics and researchers who are actively involved in the subjects that they teach.
Our departments continuously produce innovative, cutting-edge, and highly cited research. Students are encouraged to engage with our research community and will be invited to research lectures throughout the year, as well as there being opportunities to apply for research internships.
This course provides experiential learning in our research specialisms, emphasising the complementary nature of psychology, speech sciences and linguistics, and providing special insights into the human mind, language, and communication.
There are two specialist routes to this programme: research and applied.
- Students on the research route will be embedded within a UCL research lab or department for most of their final year, working alongside world-leading researchers and their teams to produce an independent piece of research.
- Students on the applied route will gain experience of applying psychology and language science theory within a workplace setting and will also be exposed to the challenges of carrying out research within a work environment. Typical applied setting routes include NHS Trusts, partner research institutes, charities, and the private sector.
Please note, it is not possible to guarantee a particular workplace or research lab setting for your final year placement. Although we will try to support you in finding a placement option that best fits with your future study and career ambitions, placements are limited by local availability.
If you choose the research route in the fourth year, you will gain advanced research skills and join world-leading researchers in the lab. Students on the applied route will meet the challenges of carrying out research in the workplace, for example, in a clinical or educational setting.
As this is an integrated Master’s course, students will graduate with a Level 7 qualification (the same level of standalone MSc courses) and is a great option for students looking to pursue both a clinical or research career. Many of our students pursue careers in clinical and educational psychology, teaching, speech and language therapy, or audiology. The skills and knowledge you gain from this course will prepare you well for applying to PhD programmes or professional programmes like the DClinPsy.
Reflecting the many transferable skills you will gain, 85% of graduates are working or in further study 15 months after graduating, with many in diverse fields including business, research, therapy, public services, and health (GOS 2020-21).
You will benefit from excellent resources including our virtual learning environment (VLE), which makes all teaching materials (including course outlines, lecture presentation slides, handouts, video recordings of lectures) available to all students. Research lab spaces and computer rooms are available during your studies. The Division of Psychology and Language Sciences is also home to the departmental Psychology Society which is student-run and has many social activities as well as external guest lecturers and talks presented throughout the year.
Additionally:
- We are top in the UK for research power in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, with more than 90% of our research rated as world-leading or internationally excellent (UK Research Excellence Framework 2021).
- UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2024).
- We are ranked 5th in the world for Psychology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023).
- UCL is 2nd in Europe and 3rd in the world for Psychiatry / Psychology in the National Taiwan University Rankings for scientific papers (2023).