We often talk of ‘a positive frame of mind’, or ‘looking on the bright side’. This Master’s in Positive Psychology is your opportunity to take that to a whole new level. The modular postgraduate programme takes you deep into the concepts and theories of Positive Psychology, and supports your theoretical and research-based contributions to the subject.

Key information

Award:

MSc

Mode of Study:

Full-time

Duration:

18 months

Location:

The University of Bolton

Start date:

25/01/2021, 20/09/2021

Course Details

Our Master’s in Positive Psychology takes you on an immersive journey into this relatively new subject area within psychology. The programme’s modular nature allows you to take a flexible and fairly autonomous approach to learning, theorising, reflecting and researching.

You’ll get the chance to learn, debate and critically evaluate Positive Psychology’s new techniques and research. You’ll also have the opportunity to evaluate developing theories and applications in Positive Psychology, supported all the way by experienced and enthusiastic teaching staff with an excellent knowledge base. We offer expert training in research techniques, helping you to conceptualise, design and implement an independent research project that explores new ideas and approaches at the forefront of this increasingly popular subject.

Successfully completing a Master’s in Positive Psychology should put you in a highly favourable position for seeking employment in relevant care professions, educational institutions, and for securing a place on a specialist psychology-related higher degree or doctorate programme.

Highlights

We’ll support you as you develop an in-depth and advanced knowledge of this emerging field of psychology, and develop your own research projects.
Many of our teaching staff for this programme are involved in significant and ongoing research in this subject.
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to develop highly sought-after skills in critical evaluation and reflection relating to theories and research techniques in Positive Psychology.
Focused research training is designed to support and guide you in conceptualising, designing and implementing your own independent research in Positive Psychology.
The programme is designed to enhance your employability, particularly in the care professions – or to help you progress to further studies in psychology.

Key Features

An enthusiastic, dedicated and supportive teaching team delivers this pioneering programme.
The course curriculum gives you the opportunity to explore issues from a diverse range of perspectives – all underpinned by a research-informed knowledge base.
Learning and teaching is student-centred, with small group sessions and one-to-one tutorials. This is supported by the University’s virtual learning environment.
We’ve designed the programme to encourage and support your unique approach to research and critical enquiry.
You can enjoy contributions from expert guest speakers on a range of subjects covered in this exciting postgraduate programme.

Professional recognition

You should have an Upper Second Class (2.1) Honours degree (or higher) in Psychology, which is accredited by the British Psychology Society for Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) of the British Psychological Society (BPS).
If you have a Lower Second Class (2:2) Honours degree in Psychology, then you may be accepted on to the programme following a successful interview. We may also ask you to provide a portfolio of your work, as part of the application process.
Relevant work experience can also provide an advantage.
We'll consider applications where appropriate work experience can be demonstrated in lieu of, or in addition to, the published academic qualifications in line with the University’s Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) procedures.
This course does not confer Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) with the British Psychological Society (BPS) – if you're seeking to achieve GBR, please consider applying for our MSc Psychology (Conversion) programme.
If English isn’t your first language you’ll also need IELTS 6.0 with no less than 5.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.

Want some reassurance or advice? Speak to one of our advisors. Email us at admissions@bolton.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)1204 903 394.

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

The MSc in Positive Psychology focuses on the scientific study of happiness, wellbeing, purpose and strength. It looks at the impact of positive emotions on a person’s wellbeing and looks at what makes people thrive.

The course is designed to develop your intellectual and thinking skills, problem solving, interpersonal awareness, communication skills, your ability to develop arguments supported by relevant evidence, and team work, IT and data handling skills.

What can I do with this qualification?

Positive Psychology can be used in a wide variety of job roles within education and training, business, healthcare, charities and government agencies. As a graduate, you could even use the techniques to transform a business or help develop the potential of a group, community or institution.

If you’re a qualified clinical psychologist, counsellor, life skills coach, wellbeing practitioner, or psychotherapist, the theory and transferable skills you could learn should also benefit your clinical work. Teachers, youth workers and educators can also use Positive Psychology expertise in their work.

Some graduates choose to continue their education by completing a PhD. Continuing your education would give you the opportunity to develop your skills further and research your area of interest.

Alternative career options

Graduates can use the qualification to enter a range of other careers, and for some of these roles, both relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. Some of these careers include:

Teaching and education
Careers guidance
Human resources
Probation services
Prison services
Social work
Counselling
Family mediation and support
Nursing
Police
Media and advertising
Communications
Sport and recreation
Brand consultancy
Advertising
Child protection
Sales
Youth work

Course fees

Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £3,600 for the academic year 2020/21.

Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £12,450 for the academic year 2020/21.

Useful information

Please note, the total course fee for a Home student starting this course in 2020/21 will be £5,400. As this is an 18 month course, the fees are £3,600 for the first year and £1,800 for the final semester.

The fees for a student’s course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

The university is currently awaiting government guidelines as to EU fee charges for students commencing study in 2021/2022.

Bursaries

Click here for more information on our 2020 Master's Bursaries.

For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:

You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:

You should have to hand:

Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference

Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.

Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.

If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions@bolton.ac.uk

Apply online: University of Bolton MSc Positive Psychology - 25 January 2021
Apply online: University of Bolton MSc Positive Psychology - 20 September 2021

The University welcomes applications from international students from all over the world. We try to make the application process as simple and as fast as possible for our international applicants.

How you apply is determined by your current location and what you are choosing to study:

Apply direct to the University. Links for the next available intakes of this course are shown below. Please click the link which will direct you to the online application form. Please read the user guidance before completing this.
Apply via one of our approved in-country referral partners. A list of our partners may be found on the International pages of this website.
Apply via UCAS for courses starting in September only – visit www.ucas.com.

Should you have any queries please contact the International Team on +44 (0) 1204 903110 or email international@bolton.ac.uk

Apply online: University of Bolton MSc Positive Psychology-25 January 2021 (Course not available to international students)
Apply online: University of Bolton MSc Positive Psychology - 20 September 2021

We use a diverse range of teaching methods, designed to complement each other and help you achieve the course’s intended learning outcomes. We offer lectures, seminars, workshops and one-to-one sessions – but you’ll also be expected to undertake significant independent reading and investigation, as well as completing seminar-related work and preparing for workshops, presentations and group discussions. Some modules will require you to follow up taught sessions by using online resources and completing complementary tasks.

Assessment methods are also varied, allowing you to demonstrate your learning in a range of ways. For example, module assessments may require you to complete reports, essays, presentations, literature reviews, or review journal articles, write up case interventions, treatment evaluations, complete short question and answer sessions relating to statistical analysis, and present reflective journals.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

Psychological and Social Research: Review, Evaluation and Design
Quantitative Inquiry 1
Quantitative Inquiry 2
Qualitative Inquiry
Foundations of Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology in Practice
Critical Positive Psychology
Psychology Dissertation

Assessment methods

Level	Assesment method
Level one	Coursework 100%

Learning activities

Level	Learning activity
Level one	Guided independent study 85%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 15%

Disclaimer

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.