Overview

This Psychology (Conversion) MSc degree from Keele University will provide you with Graduate Basis for Chartership with the British Psychological Society. This offers equivalent recognition to successfully completing a British Psychological Society accredited undergraduate psychology degree, which is an essential requirement to enable you to pursue a career in most recognised psychology professions.

The programme, which requires no prior knowledge of the subject, will provide you with a solid grounding across the breadth of psychology. As you start the programme you will be introduced to the foundational elements of social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology and biological psychology. 

You will also cover personality and individual differences, and alongside these core components you will develop both qualitative and quantitative research methods applied in psychology. In the second semester you will continue to develop your core psychological knowledge but we will also broaden your thinking.

The module “Grand Challenges in Psychology” will enable you to place your knowledge of psychology in the context of the wider world. The module “Applying Psychology” will lead you to reflect on the skills you have developed and how to articulate them to future employers or education providers, preparing you for the next steps in education or employment. Throughout the programme, you will undertake a dissertation project, working with one-to-one guidance from an active psychology researcher.

We know that many students choose to study an MSc Psychology (conversion) programme because they are changing careers, and so our programme has been developed with this in mind. Our assessments have been designed to help you develop skills that are relevant for the workplace, rather than merely testing your knowledge.

 The foundational knowledge you will gain is rigorous – postgraduate study will lead you to develop a deep knowledge of the discipline. Studying at Keele School of Psychology you will have access to a wide variety of teams and individuals to support your future career after you graduate. 

Additionally, the School and University run a broad array of events in which you will get to interface with industry professionals (e.g., Clinical or Forensic Psychologists). The ethos of the programme is to provide a rigorous education in psychology that you can undertake around existing commitments, with an underlying goal of getting you ready for the next steps in your career.‌

Career opportunities

The Psychology (Conversion) MSc aims to equip you with a suite of highly transferable graduate employability skills, including, critical thinking, numeracy, data analysis, project management, team working, problem-solving and research methodology.

On successful completion of the programme you may wish to undertake further study to become a chartered psychologist or pursue a career in research by studying a PhD.

Alternatively as the unique combination of skills that characterise the study of psychology are transferable across disciplines you may also pursue a broad range of careers such as business, service, education and caring professions.

To become a chartered psychologist, you will need to receive further training in the specific field of psychology that you want to work in. It is important to consider it will take at least four years to become a fully qualified psychologist, which includes a full three year degree, such as this one and three years of postgraduate training.

Specialist professional psychology careers include:

• Clinical psychologist

• Counselling psychologist

• Educational psychologist

• Forensic psychologist

• Further education teacher

• Health psychologist

• High intensity therapist

• Neuropsychologist

• Occupational therapist

• Primary care graduate mental health worker

• Psychological wellbeing practitioner

• Sport and exercise psychologist