Advance your knowledge of mental health and study the value and limitations of current treatments.
Year of entry: 2025 (September)
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Upcoming eventsThis course combines theoretical grounding in the psychological understanding and management of mental health issues with practical training in clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
This MSc is aimed at providing you with an advanced and in-depth knowledge of mental health. You'll focus on common mental health disorders like depression or anxiety, but also have the chance to study more severe or complex presentations like eating disorders or psychosis.
You'll also look at the value and limitations of current treatments for mental health. In this course, there is a strong focus on understanding mental health and wellbeing from a range of perspectives (cognitive, biopsychosocial, phenomenological). Moreover, the impact of mental ill-health will be examined with contributions from people with lived experience, and we will also highlight the importance of patient and public involvement in research and service provision.
This course will provide the skills and knowledge you need to start on a clinical or research career path in mental health. The course is based on the scientist-practitioner model, which is founded on the idea that clinical psychologists should be knowledgeable in both research and clinical practice. Therefore, the MSc could be a stepping stone to professional training in clinical psychology such as a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. The course won't provide you with a qualification to act as a clinical psychologist (for which you need to complete an accredited Doctorate in Clinical Psychology course in the UK).
We hold a Gold Athena Swan Award for our commitment to improving gender equality in the Department.
This course is made up of 180 credits, consisting of modules split over two semesters and a substantial empirical research project.
You will be taught by academic experts within the Department of Psychology as well as professional clinical psychologists.
Your empirical research project is a chance to work on designing and implementing a theoretically-motivated piece of pure or applied research.
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
As part of this MSc you will be given the opportunity to undertake a novel piece of empirical work on a topic at the cutting-edge of research into mental health. You will be supervised by faculty members who have relevant expertise in the field.
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £13,300 | £31,900 |
Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2025/26 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.
You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.
The course will be a valuable way to increase the chances of employment in NHS based or linked roles associated with understanding and treating mental health issues. It is likely that some graduates will go on to roles as research assistants linked to trials of psychological therapies or NHS based research, or may consider applying for mental health related PhD routes or clinical psychology training.
NHS-funded clinical psychology courses are highly competitive with many applicants for each three-year, salaried post. Given this competition, evidence of having completed postgraduate education and increased knowledge of mental health and research will support people interested in pursuing these careers. We would also expect Masters students to consider roles with third sector providers or funding bodies supporting mental health research.
| Typical offer | |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2:2 or equivalent in an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in Psychology, or a related subject with relevant experience in the mental health field. We will be looking for evidence of strong marks in relevant modules including: modules relating to mental health, biological psychology, neuroscience related modules, and research methods and statistics. This course has a strong emphasis on the biological bases of mental ill health |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Minimum requirement | |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component |
| Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component |
| Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component |
| Kaplan Test of English Language | 459-494, with 426-458 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 61, minimum 55 in each component |
| TOEFL | 87, minimum 21 in each component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all requirements |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
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