MSc Health Psychology

Study Mode Full-time
Year of Entry 2025/26
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MSc

Health Psychology

Full-time Psychology

Improve your work and study approach to health psychology – on a course that can help qualify you to progress to stage two of the British Psychological Society (BPS) qualification.

Everything you need to know...

  • Pound sign

    What is the fee?

    Home: £10,620 for the course
    International/EU: £17,725 for the course

  • Time

    How long will I study?

    1 Year

  • Location

    Where will I study?

    City Campus

  • Date

    When do I start?

    September 2025


Where will I study?

This course is moving into one of our new buildings at City campus. Teaching will be delivered at our Collegiate campus during the 2024/25 academic year while we get our new facilities ready. After that you will study in brand new facilities at City campus.  

Course summary

  • Meet the BPS Stage 1 requirements for progression to becoming a health psychologist.
  • Gain a wide range of knowledge, skills and values. 
  • Use these to develop your career in a variety of health-related settings.

Complete the course with the skills to progress onto stage two training in health psychology – as long as you have eligibility for BPS’ graduate basis for chartered membership (GBC). Stage two includes the BPS-accredited Doctoral Programme in Health Psychology – which once completed, provides eligibility to apply for registration as a practitioner health psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Accredited by
  • British Psychological Society (BPS)

This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society.

On the last accreditation visit by the BPS the programme was commended for:

  • The approachability and availability of the staff team.
  • The staff commitment to students exceeded students’ expectations.
  • The programme’s focus on student reflection, which provides good preparation for stage two training and/or other professional career development.
  • The level of technical support provided to staff and students throughout the programme.


Graduate View
Laura Wray at Graduation outside City Hall

‘I found the course really interesting and intellectually stimulating. I used the knowledge I gained during the MSc to design an intervention in the NHS Weight Management service. I am now piloting this intervention with patients - which is really exciting!’

Laura Wray, MSc Health Psychology, 2017 graduate

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How you learn

At Sheffield Hallam, all our courses are designed to engage you with the world and challenge you to think in new ways. You’ll get to collaborate with others, and you’ll be taught in a supportive environment where you can thrive.

The course content includes social determinants of health, research methods, understanding behaviour and clinical practitioner skills. You’ll study biopsychosocial determinants of acute illness, behaviour change interventions and adjust to long-term conditions and bereavement. You’ll then learn more advanced research methods and undertake a research project.

You learn through

  • online study
  • group work
  • problem solving
  • practitioner skills workshops
  • research conferences

Modules combine online learning with one day a week on campus. This provides flexible learning opportunities to enable a diverse range of students to study alongside employment and/or family commitments. 

Our course leaders are experts in clinical health practitioner work in private practice and in the NHS. You’ll be introduced to a range of applied skills that you’ll practise during on-campus study days

  • motivational interviewing techniques
  • conflict resolution skills relevant to working in multidisciplinary healthcare teams
  • consultation and collaborative treatment planning
  • solution-focused counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
  • the communication of bad news
  • critical self-reflection and ethical reasoning

Course leaders and tutors

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Tria Moore
Senior Lecturer In Psychology

In her role as the course leader for MSc Health Psychology Tria is responsible for overseeing the management, delivery and development of the course.

Applied learning

Work placements

If you aren’t currently working in a health-related setting, we have a careers workshop and a dedicated careers adviser who can help you find suitable employment or voluntary work. The course leadership team can also advise on what types of work will be suitable for your work-based reflection.

Live projects

This course aims to provide you with the ability to use your work or voluntary experience within a health-related setting to aid your learning and training. For example, work-based reflection is a core element of the introduction to clinical practitioner skills and competencies,and is designed to contribute to your continuing personal and professional development.

In the research project module, we’ll focus on developing the personal and academic skills you’ll need to carry out research – as well as to manage your research project. These include analytic skills, communication and time planning.

You’ll use a Personal Development Plan (PDP) to store evidence of your progress and development in all modules – and to reflect on your progress and plan actions to improve.

Networking opportunities

Specialist research seminars are delivered by members of the department and guest speakers. You’ll use these to deepen your knowledge and understanding of the course content.

All our courses are well supported by a comprehensive suite of career management services – including interview training and networking opportunities. 

We seek to encourage an atmosphere of supportiveness – where you’ll feel comfortable to ask for help, guidance or encouragement from tutors and your fellow students. We’re committed to providing an environment of 'togetherness' where students and staff benefit from mutual learning experiences.


Future careers

This course prepares you for a career in

  • psychology practice
  • psychology academia
  • public health
  • research
  • education
  • industry
  • health promotion

Previous graduates of this course have gone on to work for

  • the NHS
  • the social care sector 
  • universities, in teaching and research 
  • drug and rehabilitation services
  • consultancy 
  • private practice

Where will I study?

You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.

City Campus

City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.

City Campus map | City Campus tour 


City Campus map
Location

Howard Street
Sheffield
S1 1WB

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Adsetts library

Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.

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Learn more about your department

Psychology Facilities Tour

Take a look around Sheffield Hallam University's psychology facilities with student Angelica.

Equipment and facilities

On this course you work with our Blackboard online virtual learning environment.

We’ve invested over £100m in new facilities to help you study how and when you want. This means 24-hour libraries and study spaces designed by our students.

360 tour - psychology facilities

Entry requirements

All students

Applicants need one of the following

• BSc or BA Psychology with a 2.1 or above

• BSc or BA in a closely related discipline (e.g., health, social, community care) with a 2.1 or above

Applications from students who have achieved a 2.2 degree will be considered by the course leadership team. Where there is evidence that at least two of the following criteria have been met the applicant may be offered a place on the course. You may also be able to claim credit points which can reduce the amount of time it takes to complete your qualification at Sheffield Hallam. Find out more

• applicants have work experience in a health-related setting

• applicants have an enthusiasm for health psychology

• applicants have demonstrated their ability to achieve a 2.1 within their undergraduate degree (for example, transcripts reveal a 2.1 in key undergraduate curriculum areas such as research methods).

All applicants are required to provide two satisfactory references (normally one of these will be an academic reference) and a personal statement.

Requirements in order to progress to Stage 2 Health Psychology training on completion of this course:

The British Psychological Society's (BPS) requirements and Stage 2 Health Psychology training are applicable only to students who have completed a BPS accredited Psychology undergraduate degree. This provides eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the BPS. If you do not currently have GBC with the BPS, then you will need to undertake a BPS accredited MSc conversion course in order to undertake the doctoral level qualification (stage 2) in Health Psychology following the completion of this MSc course. We also offer an MSc in Psychology that would give you eligibility for GBC, provided you achieve an overall mark of at least 50 per cent and pass your dissertation.

If English is not your first language you typically need an IELTS 6.5 score with a minimum of 6.0 in writing and 5.5 in all other skills or equivalent. If your English language skill is currently below IELTS 6.5 we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English score.

Additional information for EU/International students

If you are an International or non-UK European student, you can find out more about the country specific qualifications we accept on our international qualifications page.

For details of English language entry requirements (IELTS), please see the information for 'All students'.


Modules

Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

Final year

Compulsory modules

Module
Credits
Assessment
Adjustment To Long Term Conditions And Bereavement
Credits 15
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Behaviour Change Interventions: Development And Evaluation
Credits 15
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Biopsychosocial Determinants Of Acute Illness
Credits 15
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Health Psychology Research Project
Credits 60
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Introduction To Clinical Practitioner Skills And Competencies
Credits 15
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Introduction To Research Methods
Credits 15
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Research Methods And Measurement Issues In Health Psychology
Credits 15
Assessment Coursework(50%) , Practical(50%)
Social Determinants Of Health
Credits 15
Assessment Coursework(100%)
Understanding Behaviour
Credits 15
Assessment Coursework(100%)

Fees and funding

Home students

Our tuition fee for UK students starting full-time study in 2025/26 is £10,620 for the course.

If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.

International students

Our tuition fee for International/EU students starting full-time study in 2025/26 is £17,725 for the course.

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Postgraduate student loans

Up to £12,471 is available in 2024/25 for home students on most masters courses.

Learn more

Additional course costs

The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.

General course additional costs

Additional costs for Sheffield Institute of Social Sciences (PDF, 141.3KB)

Legal information

Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.

 

How do I apply?

You apply for this course via our online application form.

Apply for September 2025

You can also use the application form above to apply for future years of entry.

Not ready to apply just yet?

Why not come to our next open day? Open days are the perfect place to talk to staff and students, visit our campuses and get all the information you need. Alternatively, feel free to ask us a question.

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Why choose us?

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Teaching

We are Gold rated in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) for the outstanding quality of our teaching and student outcomes

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Tailor

Tailor your degree to the career you want by choosing one of our three specialist routes

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Facilities

Study in award-winning facilities and state-of-the-art psychology labs and contribute to groundbreaking psychological research

Where next?

Find out more about Sheffield Hallam's postgraduate opportunities and community.

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You can chat to teaching and admissions staff, view our facilities and learn more about your funding options.

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Information for international students

Information for international students including entry requirements by country and funding.

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