Teaching & modules
Modules
Course structure
Courses are divided into modules. The MSc qualification requires you to take modules totalling 180 credits.
Full-time students will take all of these credits in one year.
Part-time students can choose how many credits to take in each of their two years. It is recommended, but not required, that part-time students take all three 15 credit required modules in their first year. The dissertation must be taken in the second year of part-time study.
Required modules
You are required to take:
Optional modules
In addition, you are required to take 75 credits from a range of optional modules across The Dickson Poon School of Law, the Department of Philosophy, and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience.
Please note that you can take a maximum of 30 credits each from the Department of Philosophy, and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience.
Optional Law modules:
- Criminal Law and Mental Disorder (15 credits)
- Disability (15 credits)
- Ethics (15 credits)
- Ethics and Politics of the Body (15 credits)
- Global Health Ethics (15 credits)
- Law and Health in Contemporary Societies (15 credits)
- Law and Reproduction (15 credits)
- Law at the End of Life (15 credits)
- Medical Law I - Consent, Refusal and Request (15 credits)
- MEDICAL LAW II: NEGLIGENCE AND MISADVENTURE (15 credits)
- Mindfulness: Neuroscience and Application (15 credits)
- MORAL THEORY AND MEDICAL ETHICS (15 credits)
- Public Health, Autonomy and Resource Allocation (15 credits)
- Reproductive Ethics (15 credits)
- Public Health Policy, Law & Social Justice (15 credits)
- Psychology and Neuroscience of Addiction (15 credits)
Optional Philosophy modules:
Optional Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience modules:
- Biological Foundations of Mental Health (15 credits)
- Broader Perspectives on Mental Health (15 credits)
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Development (15 credits)
- Global Mental Health (15 credits)
- Neuroimaging in Mental Health (15 credits)
- Neuroscience in Society (15 credits)
- Psychology and Neuroscience of Affective Disorders (15 credits)
- Prosocial and antisocial behaviour across the lifespan (15 credits)
- Prosocial and antisocial behaviour across the life (30 credits)
- Psychology and Lived Experience of Psychosis (15 credits)
- Psychological Foundations of Mental Health (15 credits)
- Social, Genetic and Environmental Foundations of Mental Health (15 credits)
- Specialist Forensic Services: assessment, treatment and development (15 credits)
- Specialist Forensic Services: assessment, treatment and development (30 credits)
- Techniques in Neuroscience (15 credits)
Optional module availability may vary due to the availability of specialist teaching staff.
An undergraduate degree in psychology, neuroscience, or medicine is a pre-requisite to take the Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour across the Lifespan or Specialist Forensic Services: assessment, treatment and development modules.
Teaching methods - what to expect
You will be taught mostly through seminar-style teaching. The following table will give you an idea of what a typical academic week might look like.
Full-time
| Year | Lectures, seminars and feedback | Self-study |
| 1 | 6-8 hours per week | 32- 34 hours per week |
Part-time
| Year | Lectures, seminars and feedback | Self-study |
| 1 | 2-6 hours per week | 14-16 hours per week |
| 2 | 2-6 hours per week | 14-16 hours per week |
Contact time is based on 24 academic weeks (including induction week, and, depending on module choices, may include reading weeks, revision weeks); self-study time is based on 31 academic weeks.
The total notional study hours for the MSc are 1800. Notional study hours comprise formal teaching and learning activities, such as lectures and tutorials, as well as assessments and independent research and study.
Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.
Assessment
- Coursework
- Exams
Your performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and written examination. Forms of assessment may typically include essays, examinations, presentations, reaction papers, MCQ exams and discussion board participation.