MSc Psychology in Education

Conversion programme
Develop the knowledge and skills to begin training for a career as a practising psychologist or a psychological researcher

Year of entry: 2025 (September)

Start date

September 2025
View semester dates

Length

1 year full-time

School/department

Department of Education

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Learn to apply psychological methods and approaches to educational policy and practice.

This BPS-accredited conversion course is ideal if you want to pursue a career in psychology, but didn't study Psychology at undergraduate level, or studied on a non-accredited programme.

You'll study core areas of psychology and key debates in the psychology of education, while developing your research skills.

Accreditation

The British Psychological Society, accredited.

This MSc is a conversion course which provides Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society (BPS).

GBC is a prerequisite for many BPS-accredited postgraduate and doctoral programmes which lead to full Chartered Psychologist status.

Highly-rated staff

In the latest Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey, 90% of the Department of Education's respondents agreed that 'staff are good at explaining things' and 92% agreed that 'staff are enthusiastic about what they are teaching' (PTES 2018)

UK top 10

We're ranked 9th in the UK and World Top 50 for Education (QS World Rankings by Subject, 2023)

Course content

This course will develop your understanding, knowledge and skills in a variety of theoretical and applied approaches to psychology and educational psychology.

You'll study compulsory modules to equip you with foundational knowledge of topics such as cognitive development, neuropsychology, differential psychology and psychology in society. In Semester 2 you'll choose an option module to develop a specialism or explore a new avenue of learning.

Throughout your course you'll develop essential research skills, which you'll draw on later in the year when you design and carry out an empirical research project leading to a final 12,000-word dissertation.

Modules
Dissertation

Modules

Core modules

Option modules

You will also study one option module:

Child & Adolescent Mental Health
Embodied Cognition in Learning & Development
Genetics & Education
Has Neuroscience Entered the Classroom?
Intelligence
Positive Psychology in Education

The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course. For further information please get in touch.

Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.

Dissertation

Dissertation

In the Summer Term and summer vacation you'll focus on an independent research project, leading to a 12,000-word dissertation. You'll identify a research question and construct an empirical investigation to address it. This is the chance to put your psychological knowledge and skills into practice and, potentially, to make an original contribution to knowledge in your area of expertise.

You'll be able to take advantage of dissertation workshops which cover study design, ethical approval, data collection, and extended academic writing. You'll draw on the skills you've learned from the Research Methods module, and receive bespoke training from your personal supervisor in techniques that are specific to your project.

Learning outcomes

Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.

Learning outcomes for this course

Explain and recommend the most appropriate psychological approaches for addressing specific educational questions, based on rigorously evaluating competing techniques and research in terms of their validity, reliability and utility.
Make decisions about the most appropriate experiments, psychometric tests or surveys to apply to specific educational situations based on focused evaluation of contextual factors and a broad knowledge of educational psychology practice.
Plan and implement effective and efficient research processes - from defining precise research questions and selecting methodologies to presenting data-supported conclusions.
Identify and apply appropriate techniques to analyse and present different types of data using conceptual and methodological knowledge of statistics, approaches to qualitative analysis and data visualisation strategies.
Operate in an ethical and reflective manner with regard to complex psychological and educational practice, based on knowledge of pertinent debates and adherence to ethical approval processes.
Communicate complex ideas confidently, effectively and in a professional manner, making use of oral, written and visual formats.

Fees and funding

Annual tuition fees for 2025/26

Study mode	UK (home)	International and EU
Full-time (1 year)	£11,200	£25,900

Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.

Fees information

UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.

Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.

Postgraduate taught fees and expenses

Additional costs

There are no mandatory additional fees, but we do recommend that you set aside some money for photocopying. Course books will be available from the Library and online reading packs are available for most modules, but you may wish to buy your own copies. Each book typically costs £20 to 40.

Funding information

Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.

We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2025/26 throughout the year.

If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.

Funding opportunities

Chevening Scholarships

We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.

Departmental scholarships

We offer a number of departmental scholarships and funding opportunities. View our departmental funding options.

Living costs

You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.

Teaching and assessment

You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.

Teaching format

You will be taught through a combination of formal lectures, seminars, practical exercises and workshops.

You will spend time working on your own, reading assigned texts and researching supporting materials, as well as working with others in seminars to discuss and present your work.

There will also be opportunities to attend seminars from visiting scholars on a wide variety of topics in Education.

A member of teaching staff will act as your supervisor throughout the degree to help guide your studies and monitor your progress.

Teaching location

You will be based in the Department of Education on Campus West. Teaching for this course takes place at various locations on Campus West, including Alcuin and Derwent Colleges, the Department of Biology, the Library and the Spring Lane teaching building.

About our campus

Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.

Assessment and feedback

We use a number of assessment types including:

Research reports
Online exams
Poster presentation
Dissertation

Throughout your course you'll complete assignments and exercises which don't count towards your final grade. The marks and feedback you receive for these will help you understand your strengths and identify areas for improvement.

Careers and skills

Successfully completing this course provides you with the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society (BPS). GBC is a requirement for training as a professional psychologist in clinical, educational, counselling, occupational, health or forensic psychology.

The course covers a wide range of topics which will introduce you to areas of work which you may not have previously considered. You'll also have opportunities to discuss potential careers with psychology and education practitioners. Volunteering opportunities allow you to explore new career paths and gain valuable experience.

Career opportunities

Chartered psychologist
Teacher
Youth worker
Mental health worker
Educational policy officer
Researcher

Transferable skills

Presentation
Peer-teaching
Problem-solving
Team work
Time-management
Self-guided personal development
Design and completion of original research
Taking a leading role in seminars and group work
Using a range of ICT to research information, manage data and present work
Communicating complex ideas clearly, both verbally and in writing
Assimilation, analysis and evaluation of complex information

Entry requirements

Qualification

Typical offer

Undergraduate degree

2:2 or equivalent in any subject. Preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate relevant previous academic or work experience in a relevant field eg education / psychology in education / research skills. This is a conversion programme and does not require prior knowledge of psychology. As a Psychology conversion programme, this degree is not suitable for applicants who already have an undergraduate degree in Psychology. The only exception to this is if the degree was not accredited by the British Psychological Society and you need the Graduate Basis for Chartership of the BPS in order to progress to professional training. If this is the case, please indicate so clearly on your application form.

Other international qualifications

Equivalent qualifications from your country

English language

If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:

Qualification	Minimum requirement
IELTS (Academic and Indicator)	6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component
Cambridge CEFR	B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component
Oxford ELLT	7, minimum of 6 in each component
Oxford Test of English Advanced	136, minimum 126 in each component
Duolingo	120, minimum 105 in all other components
LanguageCert SELT	B2 with 33/50 in each component
LanguageCert Academic	70 with a minimum of 65 in each component
Kaplan Test of English Language	478-509, with 444-477 in all other components
Skills for English	B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component
PTE Academic	61, minimum 55 in each component
TOEFL	87, minimum of 21 in each component
Trinity ISE III	Merit in all requirements

For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.

If you haven't met our English language requirements

You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.

The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.

After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.

Applying

You can apply and send all your documentation online. You don’t need to complete your application all at once: you can start it, save it and finish it later.