About the course

Overview

Application closing date: 31st July

The MSc in Child Development is designed to prepare psychology graduates for the next stage of their career in research or applied areas of psychology.

Keele has a vibrant, well-established and ever-expanding community of researchers in child development. Students will benefit from their expertise across a wide range of areas including child social development (e.g. bullying and peer relationships), child cognitive development (e.g. theory of mind, attention in autism and ADHD) and education (e.g. girls and science and enhancing collaborative learning in the classroom).

MSc students are made to feel part of this research culture both through the formal modules and through involvement in research seminars and meetings. Students become members of the new Children and Young People’s Research Network through which the teaching of the advanced study module is delivered.

Key features of your MSc programme in Psychology will include:

• Strong focus on your personal skills development throughout the course to help you pursue your career goals
• Opportunities to pursue your personal interests with expert support
• A broad range of research methods training to maximise your employability skills
• Small group specialist teaching in your chosen field from research-active tutors
• A large cohort of MSc students sharing the core modules provides a lively and supportive peer community

The programme provides taught content and research training in a range of areas in Child Development, building on areas of staff research expertise.
Strengths include: children’s peer relationships, e.g. bullying in schools, teenage relationship abuse; eye movements in children with autism and ADHD; children’s face recognition; interrogative interviewing of vulnerable child witnesses; children’s use of humour; social influences on learning, such as how teachers use feedback in the classroom; how to promote collaborative learning; factors that influence children’s subject choices, e.g. girls and science; children’s musical development and engagement; and parenting, e.g. interactions at family mealtimes.

We have well-established links with local schools and have created research partnerships where students come to the university to experience learning in a university setting as well as allowing our students to gain valuable experience working and collecting data in a school setting. We also run the project White Water Writers which gives groups of young people the chance to write and publish their own full length novel in a week. We work with local primary, secondary, SEN and other youth groups such as with looked after children, and MSc students are given the opportunity to take the lead in running this project. 

The overall aims of all our MSc Psychology programmes are as follows: 

• To equip you to formulate and conduct psychological research projects;
• To develop your knowledge of different theoretical perspectives, philosophical traditions and methodological approaches to psychology;
• To enable you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of different research methods and different forms of data, and to evaluate their appropriateness for different research problems;
• To enable you to define and formulate research questions and testable hypotheses, and to design appropriate research to answer these questions using relevant methods of data collection, consistent with British Psychological Society principles of ethics and research governance;
• To provide you with knowledge of quantitative and qualitative approaches to research and data analysis techniques;
• To provide you with a range of opportunities to engage with advanced research in substantive areas relevant to their own research topic and to the discipline of psychology;
• To provide you with opportunities to enhance and develop your written and communication skills, independent learning skills, and critical reflection and evaluation skills.

You will develop these skills in the context of your chosen specialism.

Course structure

How the course is taught

Our MSc Psychology programmes are designed to foster a vibrant and collaborative peer culture amongst our MSc students. Several of our modules are shared by all four of our MSc psychology programmes. We also know it’s vital that you develop the advanced specialised skills you will need to pursue careers in your chosen fields. Throughout your MSc degree you are supported and encouraged to focus your work to help you conduct in-depth explorations of your specialist subjects and personal interests.

Teaching and Assessment

Each module has different prescribed learning activities, including formal lectures and seminars, discussions and consultation with staff. You should expect some lively debates and interesting discussions. Please be aware that you will be expected to contribute to the programme, in the form of advance reading (of which there is a substantial amount), preparing presentations and contributing to discussions in seminars, and bringing your own ideas to bear on the teaching material.

The programme is assessed through a range of formats including:

• Blog portfolios
• Personal skills audits
• Research Critiques
• Lab Reports
• Unseen exams and class tests
• Verbal presentations
• Independent research written up as a dissertation.

Full time and part time students all study together for the taught/seminar/class discussion elements of the programmes, but in certain modules part-time students have more extended deadlines to enable them to complete work without placing too much burden on them. Attendance is compulsory at all teaching sessions.

In order to obtain an MSc degree, every student is required to obtain 180 M level credits:

• Full time students complete the course in 1 year (51 weeks). In order to obtain an MSc degree, students are required to obtain 180 M level credits, including a 60-credit dissertation.
• Part time students complete the course in 2 years (103 weeks), taking 90 credits in each year.

A Postgraduate Certificate is available for students who have completed 60 credits of their programme and a Postgraduate Diploma is available for students who have completed 120 credits of their programme. There are no restrictions on which modules need to be passed.

Taught modules

Entry Requirements

Academic entry requirements

This course is open to graduates with a first or upper second-class degree in psychology (or a cognate discipline with some psychology study) or equivalent.

English Language entry requirement for International Students

IELTS 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component.

The University also accepts a range of internationally recognised English tests.

If you do not meet the English language requirements, the University offers a range of English language preparation programmes.

During your degree programme you can study additional english language courses. This means you can continue to improve your English language skills and gain a higher level of English.

Fees and scholarships

Fees (2020/21 academic year)

UK/EU students £8,500 per year

International students £15,500 per year

Some travel costs may be incurred if an external project or placement is undertaken; any such costs will be discussed with the student before the project is confirmed. It will be possible for the student to select an internal project and that would not incur any additional travel costs. There may be additional costs for textbooks and inter-library loans.

Living costs

Keele University is located on a beautiful campus and has all the facilities of a small town. Student accommodation, shops, restaurants and cafes are all within walking distance of the teaching buildings. This is a very cost effective way to live and to reduce your living costs.

Scholarships and funding

The University is committed to rewarding excellence and potential. Each year we offer a range of prestigious scholarships;

UK/EU students - more information on scholarships and funding

International students - more information on scholarships and funding

Our expertise

• Dr Nicola Ralph
• Dr Lucy James
• Dr Martin Rowley
• Dr Sam Andrews
• Dr Sarah Laurence
• Dr Rohan Kapitany
• Dr Ching-Yu Huang

Careers

Many of our MSc graduates go on to take up positions working with children and young people, register for professional psychology training (e.g. educational psychology) or a PhD in psychology.