MSc Organisational Psychology / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course description

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Sara Willis talks about Organisational Psychology at Alliance MBS

This advanced course gives you a route into occupational psychology that is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).

Take the psychological principles and theories you learned in your graduate degree and apply them to the world of work 

  • Build theoretical understanding and research skills required by the Division of Occupational Psychology of the BPS in the following seven areas:
  1. Psychological Assessment at Work
  2. Learning, Training and Development
  3. Leadership, Engagement and Motivation
  4. Well-being and Work
  5. Work Design, Organisational Change and Development
  6. Research Design, Advanced Data Gathering and Analytical Techniques
  7. Applying Psychology to Work and Organisations
  • BPS Occupational Test User (Level A and B) training included in the tuition fees
  • Prepare for a career as an internal consultant in large commercial or industrial organisation, the Police or the NHS, or as a management consultant.

The course runs over one year and comprises two taught semesters plus a research dissertation. The taught modules use a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, group work, case studies and practical exercises, and are assessed using a range of techniques, including examinations, essays, applied coursework and presentations.

Additional course information

Read Sheena Johnson's article discussing older workers in the workplace.

Coursework and assessment

Assessment across the course units varies, and includes a combination of examinations, report, course work, practical assessments and presentations. A dissertation is normally undertaken.

Course unit details

The course provides psychology graduates who are intending to become Chartered Occupational Psychologists with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required by the Division of Occupational Psychology of the British Psychological Society (BPS), in the following seven required areas: 

  • Psychological Assessment at Work
  • Learning, Training and Development
  • Leadership, Engagement and Motivation
  • Well-Being and Work
  • Work Design, Organisational Change and Development
  • Research Design, Advanced Data Gathering and Analytical Techniques
  • Applying Psychology to Work and Organisations

During the course you will be taking 180 credits in all. The eight taught units during semester one and two total 120 credits which can be viewed in the list below.  

Over the summer period, you will carry out your Research Dissertation, worth 60 credits.  Examples of recent dissertation project topics include:

  • Customers pay our wages: a diary study examining how to optimise customer interaction and employee wellbeing in the service sector
  • Client verbal aggression: an examination of emotional labour and associated outcomes for employees in the legal sector
  • Effects of job stressors, organisational commitment and individual attributes on Malaysian Chinese primary school teachers' burnout
  • Corporate psychopathy: the truth behind the hype
  • Improving safety using a combination of transformational and transactional leadership: a longitudinal study
  • Creativity in the workplace: a self-report measure and unanticipated costs
  • Leader effectiveness and leader-member relations: the role of interpersonal emotion regulation, follower attributions and leader empathy

Course unit list

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
Selection and Assessment in Organisations BMAN70091 15 Mandatory
Professional Skills for Organisational and Business Psychologists BMAN71951 15 Mandatory
Research Skills for Professional Practice 1 BMAN71961 15 Mandatory
Work Design, Performance & Wellbeing BMAN71982 15 Mandatory
Research Skills for Professional Practice 2 BMAN71992 15 Mandatory
Managing People and Organisations BMAN72242 15 Mandatory
Relationships at Work BMAN74911 15 Mandatory

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk