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Key information

Location
Edinburgh
Mode of delivery
On-campus
Delivery type
Full-time, Part-time
Start date
September
Duration
1 year
Qualification
MSc

Contact

Contact our enquiries team

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Overview

Coaching psychology is a thriving area of applied psychology. This programme is accredited by International Coach Federation and combines Heriot-Watt's MSc in Business Psychology, the most established in Europe, with the study of professional coaching.

Coaching psychology is a thriving area of applied psychology which deals with professional and personal issues in a practical way.

There is a growing demand for experts in evidence-based coaching who can offer effective non-clinical interventions to help individuals and teams by increasing productivity, managing talent and dealing with conflict, stress and change. This demand exists across a number of sectors and areas of performance, including:

  • occupational
  • educational
  • health
  • counselling
  • sports psychology
  • leadership
  • management
  • organisational development 
  • human resources.

Heriot-Watt University's masters degree in business psychology is the most established MSc of its kind in Europe, enjoying a well-earned reputation for producing graduates who can improve the performance and behaviour of individuals and teams. This programme, MSc Business Psychology with Coaching, balances practical and theoretical learning to ensure that graduates can make positive and effective contributions that help people and organisations flourish. You will learn to apply positive psychology through tried and tested coaching practices and combine this with an understanding of established theory from business psychology.

Your learning will be guided by experienced researchers and practitioners from the fields of psychology, counselling and coaching. Their expertise and experience will help you develop key skills for a career in coaching in the workplace or as a step to becoming an accredited coach for other contexts such as education, counselling, or sports.

These skills can also be applied in the workplace through various wider roles such as management, consultancy and HR, as well as through specific coaching roles such as executive coach, talent management, career coaching and mentoring.

September 2024 entry

The deadline for applications from UK students is 30 August 2024. For EU and overseas applicants, we guarantee to consider applications submitted by 2 August 2024.

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Course content

Year 1

Semester 1

  • Intercultural Communication in the Workplace
  • Coaching Psychology
  • Organisational Culture
  • Social and Organisational Culture

Semester 2

  • Coaching Psychology Practice
  • Diversity
  • Psychology of Leadership
  • Research Methods

Go Global

Some of our Postgraduate Taught Masters Programmes are eligible for Inter-Campus Transfer. Please contact studywithus@hw.ac.uk for further information.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

Tuition fees
Status [footnote 1] Full-time Part-time
UK 9152 4576
Overseas [footnote 2] 20376 10188

Footnotes

  1. Your residency 'status' is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course. Find out more about tuition fees.
  2. Overseas includes applications from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in the UK. Read more about the application process for EU nationals.

Scholarships and bursaries

We aim to encourage well-qualified, ambitious students to study with us and we offer a wide variety of scholarships and bursaries to achieve this. Over £6 million worth of opportunities are available in fee and stipend scholarships, and more than 400 students benefit from this support.

View our full range of postgraduate scholarships.

Entry requirements

Entry

For MSc entry, students will typically have a first or second class honours degree. Given the clear practical element of the programmes, we will also consider non-graduate candidates for the certificate if they have a decade of experience in senior roles in business, such as management or other high-level work. We offer individual courses on a continuing professional development basis to candidates without any previous qualifications. Satisfactory completion of the certificate will make the student in question eligible for entry on to the diploma, and assuming they are successful, the MSc.

English language requirements

If your first language is not English, or your first degree was not taught in English, we'll need to see evidence of your English language ability. The minimum requirement for English language is IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.

We offer a range of English language courses to help you meet the English language requirement prior to starting your masters programme:

  • 14 weeks English (for IELTS of 5.5 with no more than one skill at 4.5);
  • 10 weeks English (for IELTS of 5.5 with minimum of 5.0 in all skills);
  • 6 weeks English (for IELTS 5.5 with minimum of 5.5 in reading & writing and minimum of 5.0 in speaking & listening)

Why Heriot-Watt?

We are accredited by the following organisations

At Heriot-Watt University we develop degrees that are relevant for the world of work. We work with Professional bodies and Institutes to gain appropriate Accreditations and Professional Memberships for your industry. Find out below how this degree aligns to industry.

ICF Continuing Coach Education

ICF Continuing Coach Education

This degree is accredited as Continuing Coach Education (CCE). Therefore, a number of hours from the MSc courses can be used to apply for the personal credentialing process should the student wish to pursue accredited Coach status with the ICF. A certificate will be issues on completion of these hours.

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