Psychology of Child Development and Education MSc

Understanding how humans learn, grow and adapt as they age is crucial across a wide range of disciplines, including education and child support. Many critical developmental milestones occur before a child enters school (e.g., before birth, during infancy or the preschool period). Other skills and abilities continue to develop across the primary school years.

Our MSc Psychology of Child Development and Education explores the cognitive foundations that underpin learning across this period, as well as analysing a variety of developmental experiences, both typical and atypical. This provides a strong base for working with children.

Who is this programme for?

If you are looking to progress your career in the field of child development and education, this Master’s programme provides training in child development, with a focus on its relevance to education. You may have an undergraduate degree in psychology or a related field, or have experience working with children in educational or health settings.

Looking ahead to employability

Gain valuable knowledge and practical skills that demonstrate how psychological concepts operate in educational settings. Taught by expert researchers in this field, you will:

* Develop in-depth knowledge of the very latest issues in developmental psychology, including the research techniques used to address them

* Develop powerful practical research skills in analysis and in critical evaluation, that you can then use to work with evidence about children and development in order to resolve real-world challenges

* Build highly employable skills in critical thinking, impactful communication, project management and teamwork

What to expect

You will explore how research directly impacts children’s lives; how to apply research methods to address your own questions; and how to develop ethical methods for conducting studies with children.

Through a series of core modules, you will examine development from the earliest stages of life through to primary school; learn how abilities and processes that support learning first emerge and develop; and understand ways in which development can be atypical, with a spotlight on a range of neurodevelopmental conditions, their detection, diagnosis and intervention.

You may work with neuroimaging, EEG, eye-tracking, ultrasound, fetal physiological measurement and computational modelling in our state-of-the-art developmental psychology labs.

In the final part of the degree, you’ll apply everything you’ve learned through a dissertation project. Working closely with an expert in the Department of Psychology, this will normally involve conducting a research project on an aspect of child development, with relevance to education. You will contribute evidence to answering real research questions, either as an independent researcher or working as part of a research team. This hands-on research experience is crucial for your professional development and will make you a standout candidate for future employment or for further study opportunities.

3 things we would like you to know

* You will be taught by experts in cognitive development, prenatal development, curiosity, language and literacy, atypical development and auditory neuroscience

* Our Infant and Child Development Lab has excellent links with local schools and nurseries, providing the perfect setting for learning and research training

* We offer our Psychology Employability Programme, where you can gain relevant work experience alongside your studies