MSc in Organisational Psychology

Our MSc Organisational Psychology course provides you with the necessary skills and knowledge to apply psychological principles, theories and methods to work in organisations. The course develops your understanding of psychology as well as equips you with practical skills for working as a psychologist within organisations.

This advanced course gives you a route into occupational psychology that is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).

Take the psychological principles and theories you learned in your graduate degree and apply them to the world of work.

The course runs over one year and comprises two taught semesters plus a research dissertation. The taught modules use a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, group work, case studies and practical exercises, and are assessed using a range of techniques, including examinations, essays, applied coursework and presentations.

Special features

MSc Organisational Psychology course was re-accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) for a further six years, with no conditions. We are only one of 20 schools in the UK to be accredited by the BPS to offer the Masters course that allows students to become Chartered Occupational Psychologists.

The BPS advises students always to choose a BPS accredited course to maximise their future options.

Course units details

The course provides psychology graduates who are intending to become Chartered Occupational Psychologists with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required by the Division of Occupational Psychology of the British Psychological Society (BPS), in the following seven required areas:

• Psychological Assessment at Work
• Learning, Training and Development
• Leadership, Engagement and Motivation
• Well-Being and Work
• Work Design, Organisational Change and Development
• Research Design, Advanced-Data Gathering and Analytical Techniques
• Applying Psychology to Work and Organisations

During the course, you will be taking 180 credits in all. The eight taught units during semesters one and two total 120 credits which can be viewed in the list below.

Over the summer period, you will carry out your Research Dissertation, worth 60 credits. Examples of recent dissertation project topics include:

• Customers pay our wages: a diary study examining how to optimise customer interaction and employee wellbeing in the service sector
• Client verbal aggression: an examination of emotional labour and associated outcomes for employees in the legal sector
• Effects of job stressors, organisational commitment and individual attributes on Malaysian Chinese primary school teachers' burnout
• Corporate psychopathy: the truth behind the hype
• Improving safety using a combination of transformational and transactional leadership: a longitudinal study
• Creativity in the workplace: a self-report measure and unanticipated costs
• Leader effectiveness and leader-member relations: the role of interpersonal emotion regulation, follower attributions and leader empathy

Coursework and assessment

Assessment across the course units varies and includes a combination of examinations, reports, course work, practical assessments and presentations. A dissertation is normally undertaken.

Build theoretical understanding and research skills required by the Division of Occupational Psychology of the BPS in the following seven areas:

• Psychological Assessment at Work
• Learning, Training and Development
• Leadership, Engagement and Motivation
• Well-being and Work
• Work Design, Organisational Change and Development
• Research Design, Advanced-Data Gathering and Analytical Techniques
• Applying Psychology to Work and Organisations
  
  
• BPS Occupational Test User (Level A and B) training included in the tuition fees
• Prepare for a career as an internal consultant in a large commercial or industrial organisation, the Police or the NHS, or as a management consultant.