Forensic Psychology – (M.Sc.)

Requirements

1. Degree requirement:

a. GBR status

First and foremost, you are required to hold a Bachelor´s degree which makes you eligible for Graduate Basis for Registration (or GBR) with the British Psychological Society. Usually, you will automatically have this if you took an Honours Psychology Degree in the UK accredited by the British Psychological Society. If your UK degree was not accredited, or if you hold a degree from overseas, you can still get GBR by sitting an exam through the British Psychological Society or taking a conversion course.

In addition to GBR status, you are required to hold a Bachelor´s degree with:

b. Adequate level of academic achievement

This is defined as a final degree classification (grade average) with at least a 2.1 or Merit in the UK system, the second highest classification after First/Distinction.

Academic results from institutions in other countries will be assessed individually according to this standard, as institutional practices and marking systems vary.

c. Statistics and research methods training in the social sciences

You must have taken a minimum of one term each in statistics and social science research methods courses (or two terms of a joint statistics and research methods course), and passed these courses, as noted on your degree.

Our Masters´ courses involve a rigorous one-year statistics sequence which you must normally pass in order to receive a degree. The teaching assumes that you are familiar with the following topics before arriving:

1. Means and standard deviations
2. Distributions, hypothesis testing and statistical significance
3. t-tests
4. Correlation coefficients
5. Variables and measurement

2. English language

For students whose degree is from a non-English-speaking institution, you must meet at least one of the following University English language test requirements for postgraduate study:

* 6.5 in the International English Language Test (IELTS) with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the reading and writing categories
* 600 in the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
* 250 in the computer-based TOEFL and a TWE of 4.0
* 90 in the internet-based TOEFL (TOEFL iBT) with a minimum of 20 in writing and reading
* 'C' in the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English
* 'B' in the Cambridge Advanced Certificate in English.

3. Forensic-related work experience

We do not reject applicants outright who have been unable to obtain forensic-related work experience. However, evidence of forensic-related work experience will be taken into account when considering prospective students´ applications. Thus, we will strongly favour those who have obtained work or research experience within a forensic setting. Examples of acceptable experience include working voluntarily (or in some cases paid) for victim support, the police, the prison service, the NHS, or forensic-relevant charities.