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Child and Adolescent Mental Health MSc

London, Bloomsbury

Progress your career in child and adolescent mental health on this specialist, Master's degree at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. Gaining a sought-after mix of clinical and research expertise, you’ll be encouraged to apply your critical and analytical skills to theory, policy and practice – with a focus on delivering the highest standards of clinical care to children and young people.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£16,000
£8,000
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£36,500
£18,250
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
5 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2025
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

Normally medical registration or an upper second-class UK Bachelor's degree in psychology, social work, nursing, education or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. Applicants should preferably have experience in a mental health, paediatric or educational setting.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

If you’re working in health, social work or education, and want to build your career in child and adolescent mental health, this programme is ideal.  

You’ll work with UCL’s experts at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) to build your clinical, professional, academic and research skills, and gain invaluable experience in applying them to clinical practice.  

There are also opportunities to network and attend events through the UCL GOS ICH Centre for Paediatric Mental Health, which is focused on researching mental health in the context of paediatric physical health problems.

As you become confident in analysing principles of policy, planning and management, you’ll also learn about the impact of culture and diversity on clinical theory and practice, in the context of working with children and young people.  

The course covers all key aspects of child and adolescent mental health, including neurodevelopmental disorders, treatment aspects including psychological and pharmacological therapies, adaptations and wellbeing, school mental health and international child mental health. We also run a clinical skills module, where you can enhance your skills in a virtual simulated clinical setting. 

Who this course is for

The programme is designed for:

  • Postgraduate doctors seeking to specialise in psychiatry or child health.
  • Graduate psychologists and psychologists with counselling or other mental health qualifications.
  • Teachers wishing to enhance their knowledge of Child Mental Health.
  • UK practitioners from the fields of nursing, social work and occupational therapy.
  • International medical practitioners who wish to gain experience or further qualifications in the UK.
Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

  • Study at a university which is ranked 9th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2025), 6th in the world for public health (ShanghaiRankings 2023) and number one for research power and impact in medicine, health and life sciences (REF 2021).
  • A multidisciplinary programme covering a mix of academic theory, research and clinical knowledge, to equip you to deliver a high standard of clinical care to children and young people. 
  • The chance to work with UCL GOS ICH, world-leading specialists in enhancing the understanding, diagnosis, therapy and prevention of childhood diseases. 
  • Opportunities to work on joint research, and also be taught by our partners, at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH). 
  • An optional clinical skills module to enhance your skills in a virtual simulated clinical setting. 
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

This programme is particularly relevant if you’re a psychology graduate looking to progress onto further clinical psychology training, or if you’ve studied child psychiatry and want to supplement your basic training with a higher degree.

The programme is closely aligned to the Royal College's recommended curriculum. Students from social work, nursing and education backgrounds will benefit from acquiring advanced skills in the theory and practice of working with young people with mental health difficulties.  

Graduates have gone onto work for organisations such as the NHS, Camden Council and the World Food Programme.*      

*Graduate Outcomes survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates in the 2019-20, 2020-21 cohorts.

Employability

This Master’s degree provides the ideal foundation for doctors, psychologists and practitioners in social work and education looking to focus and develop their careers in the areas of child mental health.  
 
Recent graduates have gone onto apply for Clinical Doctorates in Psychology, to apply for CYP-IAPT programmes or had opportunities for progression in their current careers.

Networking

UCL GOS ICH offers seven MSc programmes as well as the Child Health MRes, encompassing a wide range of topics. Our students come from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, from the UK and overseas providing great networking opportunities within and across programmes. We hold social events throughout the year for the whole student cohort to enable networking between students. Students on the have the opportunity to join UCL GOS ICH events such as the Otto Woolf lectures hosted by the research and teaching departments. These cover a variety of topics and provide an opportunity to hear from national and international experts and to network at the social event that usually accompanies these events.   

Teaching and learning

The programme is taught through a combination of lectures, workshops, discussion, project work and independent and group study.

Meet the academics currently leading this programme on the UCL GOS ICH website.

Assessment includes written assignments, projects, posters, oral presentations, group work, and the written dissertation.

Each module requires students to attend lectures or lecture-related activities for a minimum of three hours a week. Each module will require four hours of additional personal study time per module per week. This time is made up of formal learning and teaching events such as lectures, seminars and tutorials, as well as independent study.

On average, students will have six hours of contact time per week, but this will vary depending on modules selected. Outside of lectures full-time students typically study the equivalent of a full-time job, using their remaining time for self-directed study and completing coursework assignments. For part-time and flexible students, these hours will be pro-rata.

A Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits, one year part-time, flexible two to five years) is offered. The programme consists of five core modules (75 credits), and three optional modules (45 credits). A Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits, one year part-time, two years flexible) is offered. Four modules (15 credits) can be chosen.

Modules

You will undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. This programme is offered full-time (one year) or part-time/modular flexible (two years +). 

The content includes a focused set of five compulsory modules including an introduction to child mental health treatment in terms of both psychological and pharmacological therapies, neurodevelopmental disorders, and basic research methods and statistics in child mental health.

You will select three of the optional modules. Optional module choices may include but are not limited to:

  • Adolescent Mental Health
  • International Child Mental Health
  • Mental Health and Schools
  • Adaptations in Child Mental Health
  • Adolescent Mental Health and Transitions
  • Clinical Skills.

You will also undertake a dissertation module that is linked with a supervisor with expertise in a specific topic area to undertake a literature review in a current area of interest. There may also be the opportunity to join an existing research team project for the dissertation when such opportunities arise within UCL GOS ICH.

You will be, in addition, offered the option of a virtual/simulated clinical skills module as an added value activity which will also be available as an optional module.

It is possible for students to select modules from other Postgraduate Courses within UCL depending on availability.

The two-year part-time option consists of four modules which must be taken in year one, and a further four modules plus the dissertation in year two.
 

The Modular/Flexible option can be taken within two to five years and you generally have the flexibility to choose the number of modules you choose each year.

Compulsory modules








Optional modules






Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Upon successful completion of 120 credits, you will be awarded a PG Dip in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Upon successful completion of 60 credits, you will be awarded a PG Cert in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Visit us

All open days and events

Balcony and Winter Garden UCL, Great Ormond Street, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford St, WC1N 1EH, London, UK - Open day

Life and Medical Sciences Postgraduate Open Evening

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Discover UCL’s Master's degrees in health, medicine, brain sciences and life sciences at our upcoming Open Evening! Join us to learn more about our Master’s degrees, meet our academic teaching staff, and see where postgraduate study may take you.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £16,000 £8,000
Tuition fees (2025/26) £36,500 £18,250

Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

For flexible/modular offer holders a £500 fee deposit will be charged.

There is no fee deposit required for PG Dip and PG Cert applicants.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

There are no additional costs for this programme.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

Visit the UCL GOS ICH funding and studentship pages  for details of funding available to students, including the UCL GOS ICH bursary.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • Why you want to study Child and Adolescent Mental Health at graduate level.
  • Why you want to study Child and Adolescent Mental Health at UCL.
  • What particularly attracts you to this programme.
  • How your academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging programme.
  • Where you would like to go professionally with your degree.
  • Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL GOS Institute of Child Health

camh@ucl.ac.uk

UCL is regulated by the Office for Students.