Developmental and Educational Psychology

Entry requirements

A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with:

a. Adequate level of academic achievement
A first or second class honours degree in Psychology or another relevant subject or equivalent.
All applications are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.

b. Statistics and research methods training in the social sciences
This programme includes a one-year statistics sequence which you must normally pass in order to receive your award. The teaching assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:

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

Therefore, your existing degree transcript should note that you have taken and passed 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). A British Psychological Society-accredited degree will likely meet this requirement. Applicants with other degrees may be asked to provide additional evidence of training in statistics.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Our Master’s gives you a deep understanding of the advanced methods, analytical techniques, and theoretical and practical approaches to developmental psychology and developmental psychopathology. It provides a clear pathway to a career or postgraduate research in this fascinating field and the opportunity to help people of all ages in a range of settings.

Reasons to study Developmental and Educational Psychology at Kent

• Opportunity to run studies from the Kent Child Development Unit (KCDU), a resource including child-friendly lab space and a register of 5,000 potential child participants. Other facilities include eye trackers, virtual reality and brain stimulation labs.
• Psychology at Kent was ranked 5th for research intensity in The Complete University Guide 2022. The Developmental Psychology Group has excellent links with the wider community and explores a range of questions.
• Teaching by academics and professionals such as educational psychologists, clinical psychologists, child therapists, and speech and language therapists.
• Join the supportive and welcoming community on our Canterbury campus, with access to the world-class resources of our Templeman Library.

What you’ll learn

We draw on the strengths of our academic staff and researchers working in the field of developmental psychology. Their expertise includes language development, representational ability and early social-cognitive understanding of others, singing, infant face processing, the development of prejudice and social exclusion, and developmental psychopathology.

How you can use your degree

Want to know more about where the Master's could take you? Read about alumna Emily's journey from Developmental Psychology to Clinical Psychologist.

Information for international students

Please see our International Student website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Please note that international fee-paying students cannot undertake a part-time programme due to visa restrictions.

English language entry requirements

The University requires all non-native speakers of English to reach a minimum standard of proficiency in written and spoken English before beginning a postgraduate degree. Certain subjects require a higher level.

For detailed information see our English language requirements web pages.

Need help with English?

Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways

Fees and funding

Please see our funding pages for the most current information.