Business Psychology MSc

This Masters degree gives you a solid grounding in the business psychology science relevant to consulting and management.

You’ll apply modern psychological principles to contemporary organisations and organisational problems, working alongside psychologists to develop your skills in research, problem-solving and consultancy.

From change management to designing green workplaces, you’ll develop the skill set to tackle key growth areas. Case studies, workshops and real-world projects will help you build commercial awareness and professional skills.

During the course you’ll have the opportunity to gain certification in Occupational Test User: Ability and Personality at no additional cost, which is a valuable tool for selection and development.

Taught by leading researchers and experienced practitioners, you’ll gain a broad understanding of contemporary organisations to prepare for a career applying business psychology in the public or private sector.

If you already have a psychology degree, you may like to consider our MSc Organizational Psychology.

Academic excellence

You’ll learn from an influential group of organizational psychologists, introducing you to the latest thinking from our research centres, the Socio-Technical Centre and the Workplace Behaviour Research Centre. The centres combine expertise in psychology, management, engineering, environmental science and geography to form a thriving research community.

You can also benefit from our brand-new Behaviour Labs, teaching facilities specifically designed to support the study of organisational behaviours. Our Data Collection Lab, Observation Room and the Boardroom will allow you to simulate business scenarios and study the dynamics of social interactions, leadership observations and competitive tasks.

Our staff have connections with a range of organisations and recent project partners have included Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Arup, the National Health Service, Network Rail and Marks and Spencer. Staff and students have worked with these organisations to provide insights on how psychology can improve well-being and performance.

This Masters provides you with an important grounding in systems thinking, its theoretical basis and practical use in workspace design, IT systems and more. You’ll build critical understanding of research design in psychology and social science.

You’ll consider the factors that affect employee behaviour and how psychological insights can help to design effective organisations. You’ll also explore the personnel selection and training process from interviews and psychometric testing to training evaluation.

The course will expand your understanding of behavioural research and the development not just of employees and their performance, but also of organisations themselves. The course also places a strong emphasis on applying your knowledge in practical business scenarios, and you’ll undertake fieldwork to develop professional skills in a variety of real-life situations.

The research skills you’ve developed throughout this degree will prepare you to complete your final project, which can be either an independent research project on a topic of your choice, or a practical consultancy project with a business.

Course structure

The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

For more information and a full list of typical modules available on this course, please read Business Psychology MSc in the course catalogue

Modules

Year 1

Learning and teaching

We use a variety of teaching and learning methods to help you make the most of your studies. These will include lectures, seminars, workshops, online learning and tutorials.

Independent study is also vital for this course allowing you to prepare for taught classes and sharpen your own research and critical skills. Our Virtual Learning Environment will help to support your studies: it’s a central place where you can find all the information and resources for the School, your course and modules.

On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

Assessment

Assessment methods emphasise not just knowledge, but essential skills development too. You’ll be assessed using a range of techniques including exams, group projects, written assignments and essays, in-course assessment, group and individual presentations and reports.

This diversity enables you to develop a broad range of skills as preparation for professional life.

Entry requirements

A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) or equivalent in a business or relevant social science subject.

Applicants with significant business or psychology coverage in an alternative subject will be considered. Applicants should have completed at least one module in research methods.

If you already have a psychology degree, you may like to consider our MSc Organizational Psychology.

International qualifications

We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component . For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Business Management and Enterprise (6 weeks) and Language for Business: Business Management and Enterprise (10 weeks).

We are now offering online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals.  To find out more, read Online Academic English pre-sessional (10 weeks) and Online Academic English pre-sessional (6 weeks).

Read about differences between our online and on-campus summer pre-sessionals.

If you need to study for longer than 10 weeks, read more about our postgraduate pre-sessional English course.

How to apply

Application deadline:

We operate a staged admissions process for this course with selection deadlines throughout the year.

If you do not receive an offer in a particular round, you will either be notified that your application has been unsuccessful, or we will carry your application forward to be considered in the next round.

Please see our How to Apply page for full details and the application deadlines for each stage.

Apply

Documents and information you’ll need

• A copy of your degree certificate and transcript, or a partial transcript if you’re still studying
• Two academic references
• A personal statement
• An up-to-date CV
• Your approved English Language test* (if applicable)
• A letter of sponsorship, if you need one.

* Applicants who have not yet completed an approved English language test may apply for a Masters course prior to taking a test.

Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.

Fees

• UK: £12,750 (total)
• International: £24,250 (total)

Read more about paying fees and charges.

For fees information for international taught postgraduate students, read Masters fees.

Additional cost information

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more about additional costs.

Scholarships and financial support

Leeds University Business School is offering more than 50 half fee Excellence Scholarships to UK and international students starting one of our Masters courses in 2022. These scholarships will be awarded to particularly deserving applicants who demonstrate excellent academic, professional and personal achievements.

Read more about scholarships awarded by the Business School.

Read more about scholarships available across the University of Leeds.

As a graduate of this course you will have a broad appreciation of the workings of contemporary organisations and be strongly positioned for a career in the public or private sector. Graduates may look to develop a career applying specialist psychological expertise within management consultancy, working on practical problems across many organisations. Skills from this course are also valued within an HR function, or to improve your own effectiveness as a future manager.

Links with industry

As a student on this course, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with senior leaders from the world of business as part of our Leaders in Residence initiative. Successful and established business people will share their experience at speaker events and guest lectures to help you connect the theory of your course to real world practice.

Careers support

We help you to achieve your career ambitions by providing professional development support as part of the course. You benefit from our Professional Development Tutor, who will help you to develop the important professional skills that employers value. This means you will develop the academic skills to successfully progress through the course, as well as the professional skills you will need to start a successful career.

Read more about our careers and professional development support.

The Careers Centre also provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.