If students hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, but don’t meet the entry requirements for a master’s, a Pre-Master’s can help them gain a place on a postgraduate degree. For progression to the 1st year of a postgraduate degree at the University of Essex. Course length is determined mainly by students English language level (UKVI IELTS score).

Students on all course lengths take a set of common or similar modules to gain a solid base of skills for university. If their course is longer than 2 terms, students will take additional modules designed to improve one or more of their English language level, academic skills, and basic knowledge of particular subjects.

Master of Science - Psychology

The University of Essex MSc Psychology is an advanced fast-track conversion course for students with an undergraduate degree in a subject other than psychology, or for those whose undergraduate Psychology degree was not accredited by the British Psychological Society. Students may also take the course as an end in itself if they wish to obtain a Psychology Degree in one year.

This course combines the award of a Masters with eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society. The GBC is the minimum academic qualification required to work as a professional psychologist, so passing Essex's course demonstrates that students have studied and acquired an advanced understanding in Masters-level study in psychology. With this qualification students will also be eligible to apply for professional training in any branch of professional psychology.

Essex's staff have a wide range of research interests, so students gain a critical and detailed understanding of the core areas of psychology, plus some specialization, and learn research methods to an extent which will enable students to devise, carry out and analyze an empirical research project. The course gives students a critical and detailed understanding of the core areas of psychology (development, cognitive, social, biological, personality) plus training in research methods and statistics.

Topics studied include: visual and auditory perception and cognition, language, concepts, memory and attention, the relation between brain and behaviour, developmental psychology, and social psychology.

With the skills and knowledge students acquire from studying within Essex's Department of Psychology, students will find themselves in demand from a wide range of employers.

Recent graduates of MSc Psychology have found employment as a research assistant at the Anna Freud Centre, a clinical psychologist for the NHS, a child psychologist for Children First and a lecturer at the University of Surrey. Other graduates have been employed in clinical psychology, educational psychology, criminal and forensic psychology.