MSc

Clinical Psychology

Power your prospects with our MSc Clinical Psychology degree, offering you a comprehensive grounding in the understanding of mental health problems, psychological disorders, and behavioural problems.

How to apply Book an Open Evening Chat to Us

Key Course Details

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • 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.

We combine hands-on learning and placement opportunities with a substantial research element to help you set yourself apart in applications for further professional training or assistant-level posts.

DESIGNED FOR

This course is designed for Psychology/joint Honours graduates looking to continue their route into Clinical Psychology. As a taught Clinical Psychology Masters programme, completion will not qualify you to practice as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK, nor guarantee acceptance onto a DClinPsy course, but will enhance applications for professional training programmes, Assistant Psychologist posts, and Research Assistant posts in clinical settings.

Career paths

  • Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programmes
  • Assistant Psychologist 
  • Research Assistant

Skills taught

  • Communication 
  • Enquiry and Analysis
  • Creative Problem Solving
  • Critical Reflection
  • Research Skills

We make a difference in practice, not just on paper. Our courses are designed by people who offer jobs - and taught by people who have real work experience.


Course Highlights

Active Researchers

You will be taught by researchers active in the field of mental health.

Psychology Plus

Our Psychology Plus scheme offers free opportunities to enhance your skills and knowledge base with specialist short courses, professional certificates, and work placements.

Work Placements

All students are guaranteed a placement at our on-site Early Intervention Clinic.

Outstanding Facilities

Facilities include a purpose-built Psychology laboratory, behaviour analysis clinic, bookable study rooms and a social learning space.

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).

Full-time students will complete all listed modules within year one, including their dissertation research project starting in the first term for submission the following September. 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. We will look at the key qualitative research methods, as well as codes of conduct and ethical considerations. 

History, Concepts and Controversies in Mental Health  
We will look at both historical and current perspectives on mental health, as well as treatments for various mental health problems, and explore how to apply this information to your future career in the mental health field. 

Interventions  
We will 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. There will also be student-led sessions and some elements will be delivered online. 

A range of assessment methods are employed, including 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.

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 (e.g., addiction, eating disorders, stress, reproductive health, mental health, suicide). Both teaching staff and guest speakers provide you with information to maximise your likelihood of successfully securing competitive employment and training opportunities within their specialist areas of Clinical Psychology.

Placements

Placements are not a compulsory part of this MSc Clinical Psychology degree, but 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.

Facilities

The Psychology facilities at USW are invaluable in helping us understand human behaviour. 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.

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

Though this course does not qualify you to practice as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK, it does add substantial extra value to your application for Clinical Psychology doctorate programmes. These are extremely popular and competitive training courses and the extensive applied research experience and likely work experience you will gain from studying this masters course will contribute to more robust applications for further training. 

Graduates could also progress to a postgraduate research degrees (including Masters by Research and PhD) in clinical/health psychology or look at careers as Assistant Psychologists and Research Assistants.

Possible career paths

Assistant Psychologist posts are very popular and competitive; not least because experience in the role can help support an application to clinical doctorate training programmes. Successful completion of this course suggests a commitment to a career in clinical psychology as well as the development of advanced skills and knowledge. 

Research Assistants support the field of clinical psychology with cutting edge research. The extensive research focus on this programme provides graduates with a range of research skills including the ability to critically evaluate literature, research, and applications in the field, as well as experience in designing, conducting, writing up, and disseminating good quality psychological research.

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

UK Full-time Fee

£10,800

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£16,900

per year*
UK Part-time Fee

£1,200

per 20 credits*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Busaries Alumni Discount

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.