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UCAS Code: CB87
The first of its kind in the UK, this BPS-accredited degree programme brings together UCL’s teaching and research expertise in psychology, speech sciences and linguistics to offer students a genuinely multi-disciplinary approach to the scientific study of the human mind and human communication. The degree will provide a platform from which students can make an informed choice of career options through further study at Masters level and beyond, with particular focus on research and professional practice in fields related to human communication and its disorders.
The MSci Psychology and Language Sciences offers a fourth year of study, building on the three years of the BSc Psychology and Language Sciences. The MSci offers two alternative pathways: the Research pathway, in which you will gain advanced interdisciplinary research skills and join world-leading researchers in the lab, and the Applied pathway, which will involve research in a clinical or educational setting.
The accreditation of the programme by the British Psychological Society (BPS) is ongoing. Graduates are eligible to become members of the BPS, the starting point for a career in psychology.
Hear from some of our current students, staff and alumni (from the BSc programme)
- Content
The first two years of the programme provide you with broad-based knowledge of psychology and language sciences, and the third year offers considerable choice of topics for study according to your main interests. The main component of the fourth year is a placement within a UCL research group (Research pathway) or in a workplace setting (Applied pathway) in a clinical or educational setting.
The MSci Research pathway will provide students with advanced interdisciplinary research skills, building on the cross-fertilisation of lab-based training in the first three years of their degree. They will be embedded within a research group for most of the year, working with world leading researchers in areas which address, for example, the interface between cognition and language development, the neurobiology of speech, the impact of neurological insult on conversation.
The MSci Applied pathway will enable students to build particularly on the skills, knowledge and experience gained in their undergraduate observational placement. They will apply psychological and linguistic theory in the workplace, and meet the challenges of carrying out research in a educational or clinical setting (e.g. a multi-disciplinary centre for complex neurodevelopmental disorders) or other applied setting.
Students will take additional specialised modules at Masters level pertinent to their areas of research or applied placement. All students will be engaged in the Psychology and Language Sciences Alumni Seminar Series.
- Structure
The first two years of your degree comprise mainly mandatory courses taken by all students providing you with broad-based knowledge of psychology and language sciences.
All students in the second year complete a weekly observational placement with children in an early years setting. This is an integral part of the degree which enables you to develop observational research techniques and to relate developmental models of play and language to your real-life observations of young children's behaviour.
In your third year you will choose a research project to be completed under the supervision of an expert in your chosen field. Alongside the project you will select six modules from a broad range of specialised content areas.
The fourth MSci year will allow you to take M-level (Level 7) modules in advanced data analysis techniques and those on the Applied pathway will take a compulsory module devoted to behavioural research methods in applied settings. Students on both pathways will take other M-level modules relevant to their research interests. This will prepare them for the substantive piece of research (60 credits) that will be undertaken in either a UCL laboratory (Research pathway) or applied setting (Applied pathway).
In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual modules, normally valued at 15 credits, adding up to a total of 120 credits for the year. Modules are assessed in the academic year in which they are taken. The balance of compulsory and optional modules varies from programme to programme and year to year. A 30 credit module is considered equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
Years one to three are the same as the BSc Psychology & Language Sciences programme - see the BSc Psychology & Language Sciences structure.
Year 4
Compulsory modules
PSYC0181 Research Project
PSYC0146 Generic Research Skills (Research Pathway)
PSYC0180 Behavioural Research in Applied Settings (Applied Pathway)Optional research modules
PALS0037 Practical Research Skills (Full Year)
PALS0038 Practical Research Skills (Single Term)Optional taught modules
PALS0015 Perspectives on Clinical Psychology
PALS0016 Developmental Disorders of Communication and Cognition
PALS0017 Development of Speech Perception and Production
PALS0018 Web Programming for Research in Psychology and Language Sciences
PALS0019 Brain Stimulation
PALS0003 Rehabilitation of Acquired Neurogenic Communication Difficulties
PALS0020 Deafness, Cognition and Language
PALS0004 Conversation Analysis
PALS0022 The Evolution of Vocal Communication
PALS0039 Introduction to Deep Learning for Speech and Language Processing
PSBS0003 Current Research in Dementia
PSBS0005 Current Research in Psychosis and Bipolar
PSBS0006 Neuroscience of Mental HealthPSYC0010 Social Psychology
PSYC0025 The Social Psychology of Risk
PSYC0028 Applied Decision-making
PSYC0029 Speech
PSYC0030 Human Learning and Memory
PSYC0031 Cognitive Neuroscience
PSYC0032 The Brain in Action
PSYC0035 Topics in Neurobiology
PSYC0055 Talent Management
PSYC0227 Machine Learning for Behavioural Analytics: Predicting Human Behaviour- Staff
Programme Director: Dr Caroline Newton
Admissions Tutor: Dr Vitor Zimmerer
Programme Administrator: Maria Karaisalidou
Admissions Enquiries: Undergraduate Admissions
- Application
Applications should be made via UCAS.
In your UCAS application we are looking for the potential to meet our academic requirements and a strong interest in psychology and language. A questionnaire is sent to some applicants where the selectors need more information to evaluate a case.All applicants who are offered a place will be invited to attend an applicant open day. This is intended to allow candidates to make an informed decision about whether the degree programme is right for them, and so all candidates resident in the UK are usually expected to attend.
For enquiries about MSci admissions please contact the Admissions Office: Undergraduate Admissions, or the Admissions Tutor.
- Careers
The knowledge and experience gained on this course provide an excellent foundation for further specialised training in a range of career options including audiology, clinical and educational psychology, teaching and speech and language therapy.
Students on both MSci routes will gain advanced skills in research methods appropriate to the route they have chosen, including both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Additionally students will gain transferable skills in the areas of autonomy and responsibility, team working, producing outputs for target audiences, presentation skills and time management skills.
The ultimate aim is to produce MSci graduates with advanced interdisciplinary research and transferable skills which will enhance future career and employment opportunities.
The first cohort of students on the MSci Psychology and Language Sciences will graduate in 2018. Graduates from our BSc programme have gone on to further training in teaching, clinical psychology and medicine, to PhD study, as well as careers in auditing and human resources.
- Contact
Admissions Enquiries: Undergraduate Admissions
Admissions Tutor: Dr Vitor Zimmerer
Programme Queries: Maria Karaisalidou
- Further Information
The first three years are the same as BSc Psychology & Language Sciences: detailed course descriptions can be found on the BSc Psychology & Language Sciences website.
This is an exciting opportunity to gain a higher qualification and additional research experience in a further year of study, either embedded within a UCL research group or within an applied setting. Students will gain further subject discipline knowledge from taking advanced modules and will develop transferable skills relevant to employability in their research or applied placement. Please note that places are very limited on this programme and we would encourage early application.