Clinical Psychology
Power your prospects with our MSc Clinical Psychology degree, offering you a strong grounding in the understanding of mental health problems, psychological disorders, and behavioural problems.
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Key Course Details
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Start Date
September
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Location
Pontypridd
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Campus Code
A
Fees
Home students
£10,800*
International students
£16,900*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
-
Start Date
September
-
Location
Pontypridd
-
Campus Code
A
Fees
Home students
£1,200*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Blend practical experience with in-depth research to stand out when applying for professional training or assistant-level roles.
DESIGNED FOR
Designed for Psychology or Joint Honours graduates, this taught Clinical Psychology master’s programme will strengthen your applications for Assistant Psychologist, and Research Assistant positions in clinical settings, whilst providing a strong foundation for pursuing a doctorate in Clinical Psychology.
Career paths
- Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programmes
- Assistant Psychologist
- Research Assistant
Skills taught
- Communication
- Enquiry and Analysis
- Creative Problem Solving
- Critical Reflection
- Research Skills
Course Highlights
Module Overview
This course draws on the research and applied expertise of psychologists in the fields of clinical, health, sports, and forensic psychology. You will learn about a wide range of psychological disorders, dependence issues such as alcohol addiction and gambling addiction, and the interventions employed to help people. Teaching is over one year (full time) or two years (part time).
Year One
Research Methods in Clinical Psychology: Measurement and Professional Issues
History, Concepts and Controversies in Mental Health
Interventions
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
Addiction, Dependence, and Deviance
Dissertation in Clinical Psychology
Full-time students will complete all listed modules within year one, including their dissertation research project starting in the first term. Part-time students will complete the following modules in year one: Perspectives on Psychological Disorders; History, Concepts and Controversies in Mental Health; Addictions, Dependency, Deviance; Interventions.
Research Methods in Clinical Psychology: Measurement and Professional Issues
Learn to design Clinical Psychology studies, including cross-sectional, longitudinal, and single-case study designs. Explore key qualitative research methods, measurement issues, and professional ethics, with a focus on BPS codes of conduct and ethical considerations.
History, Concepts and Controversies in Mental Health
In this module, you’ll look at both historical and current perspectives on mental health, as well as treatments for various mental health problems, focussing on ethical practices and how to apply this knowledge to your future career.
Interventions
You’ll cover a range of mental health interventions in this module, including pharmacological, biological, psychological, and behavioural treatments and therapies, and look at how to apply this knowledge in real contexts.
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
You will learn about a range of psychological disorders from a range of perspectives, including developmental disorders, phobias, eating disorders, psychosis, mood disorders, sleep disorders, and personality disorders.
Addiction, Dependence, and Deviance
You develop a systematic knowledge and critical awareness of a range of compulsive behaviours and addictions, including the reasons why some people fail to self-regulate and the impact of addiction.
Dissertation in Clinical Psychology
You will undertake an independent research project on a topic of interest, unearthing new evidence, ideas, and professional implications within your chosen area of clinical psychology.
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
The MSc Clinical Psychology is delivered through a variety of lectures, seminars, workshops, individual study, and one-to-one or small group dissertation supervision. You’ll also learn via student-led sessions and some elements will be delivered online. Teaching takes place on 2 days per week.
Assessments can include essays, a systematic literature review, research reports, and case study analysis, as well as a dissertation of 15,000 words. The variety of teaching and assessment methods used will foster a range of skills that are transferable to the workplace and/or further professional training.
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Teaching staff
The teaching staff, visiting professors and external experts from clinical practice on the MSc Clinical Psychology course are research active and you will benefit from their expertise in a range of relevant topics including addiction, eating disorders, stress, reproductive health, mental health, and suicide. The teaching team have a record of publication and can provide you with first-hand knowledge of professional clinical psychology.
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Placements
You will be encouraged and supported to engage in the many voluntary placement opportunities offered through our Psychology Plus scheme, including voluntary clinical placements through our on-site Behaviour Analysis Clinic. Where available, we will support you with placements through our local NHS trusts links, adding a valuable addition to any aspiring Clinical Psychologist’s CV.
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Facilities
Our purpose-built psychology lab is filled with industry standard equipment that you will use throughout your studies, as well as interview and observation rooms that allow you, as a researcher, to observe human behaviour in a natural manner through a one-way screen. Some of the equipment that you will use includes eye-tracking equipment, Electroencephalography (EEG) machines, and BIOPAC systems. As part of our dedicated Psychology space, you will also be able to book a space for quiet study and access the dedicated social learning space with computers and psychology textbooks.
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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Typical qualification requirements:
A minimum 2:2 Honours degree in Psychology or Psychology major/joint honours.
International applications welcomed:
We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.
English language requirements
International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.
Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.
If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.
If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.
USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.
We're here to help
Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.
Fees and Funding
£10,800
per year*£16,900
per year*£1,200
per 20 credits*Additional Costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
*Obligatory.
Students will not require DBS to complete any modules successfully. A DBS will be required if the students choose to complete a placement at our Early Intervention Clinic, or are completing a dissertation project involving contact with vulnerable adults or children and young people. The DBS fee includes £49.50 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee, and the online administration fee.
Cost: £64.74 annually and if the updating service is required to update a DBS following expiry, the update service is £16.
This is optional, but may be of benefit to students who plan to complete placements or work in an area where a DBS check is a requirement. Please note, the service has to be joined within 19 days of receipt of your enhanced DBS certificate.
Cost: £16
Students undertaking a dissertation with an external organisation may incur costs associated with travel.
Cost: Variable
University Quality Assurance
At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.
If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.
Studying at USW
Our courses are designed with industry leaders and provide the practical skills and experiences industry demands. Our flexible courses reflect the need for life-long learning. If you value education in practice, not just in theory, then USW is for you.
How to apply
There is an online application process for this course. Please choose the application form for your preferred start date and mode of study (i.e. full-time or part-time).
International admissions
Please see our international admissions advice for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.