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Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology MPhil/PhD

London, Bloomsbury

This is the programme information for 2025 entry

If you require details of the previous year's programme, Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology MPhil/PhD (2024), click here

UK students International students

Study mode

UK tuition fees (2025/26)

£6,215

£3,105

Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)

£36,500

£18,250

Duration

3 calendar years

5 calendar years

Programme starts

October 2025

Applications accepted

Scholarship applicants: 14 Oct 2024 – 03 Jan 2025

Applications closed

Self-funded applicants: 14 Oct 2024 – 30 Jun 2025

Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

Applicants should have a minimum of a high upper second-class first degree in a relevant subject, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. Applicants should also have a demonstrated commitment to, and ability in, research. All applicants are expected to have met with and discussed their project proposals with a prospective supervisor before applying to the programme.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

Students will join ongoing programmes of research led by leading scholars and develop their own original lines of research to complement the department’s strengths.

Following completion of the PhD, students will have the necessary skills and experience to independently design and lead their own research. In addition, students may undertake training courses appropriate to their projects, as well as developing adjacent skills.

There is an extensive range of training courses offered through UCL’s Doctoral School, for example, in statistics, coding and public engagement skills (e.g. media training), allowing students to gain multidisciplinary skills that are highly sought-after in post-doctoral employment.

Who this course is for

If you meet the entry requirements, it is important to check whether we can supervise research in your chosen area. We only take MPhil/PhD students to whom we can offer expert research supervision from one of our academic staff. Therefore, your research question needs to engage with the research interests of one of our staff.

You can learn more about our research themes and the projects within these themes in our Research section.

Read about what it takes to become a UCL graduate research student

What this course will give you

In studying within the Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology (CEHP), you will have the opportunity to work directly with leading researchers in mental health, developmental psychopathology, psychometrics, psychopharmacology, educational psychology, clinical psychology and health psychology, amongst other topics.

Our PhD students have excellent networking opportunities across UCL, nationally and internationally. On graduating, they progress to postdoctoral positions at home and abroad, work in industry or as clinical, health and educational professionals.

Find out how your research could have an impact

The foundation of your career

UCL’s Psychology department is an internationally leading research environment and a graduate research degree from the department allows entry into a number of academic and non-academic career roles.

Recent doctoral graduates have typically been offered employment in the UK and internationally in academic posts, postdoctoral research, health services, industry (e.g. Med-tech or consulting) and third sector (voluntary) organisations.

Employability

The majority of PhD students go on to postdoctoral positions and academic careers at institutions in the UK, EU and USA.

Networking

The department has research collaborations with many institutions both nationally and internationally.

There are regular seminars within the research department and across Psychology and Language Sciences, including the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.

We regularly invite leading researchers from other institutions and professionals working for health and private sector services to give talks to our students about active research and career opportunities.

Within your research group, you are likely to have regular lab meetings and there is a student-led graduate research group who organise regular social and discussion meetings for students.

Teaching and learning

Students will complete taught modules via examination or audit within their first year, particularly for training in research methods and statistics. The requirement for examination is determined by prior qualifications and individual training needs. All students will complete training in research ethics.

Students undergo an ‘upgrade’ assessment between 12 and 18 months after initial registration for full-time students and between 15 and 30 months for part-time students. The upgrade involves an oral presentation and a report outlining a substantial piece of work conducted since initial registration. This interim assessment is intended to ensure that students are on track to complete their PhD within a reasonable timeframe.

At the end of their PhD, each student submits a thesis of 100,000 words or less. This is examined in a viva voce examination with one internal examiner (usually a member of UCL staff who has had no involvement in the submitted work) and one external
examiner (from another university).

A typical full-time PhD student is expected to spend an average of approximately 36.5 hours per week working on their PhD, although this will vary, with some periods of more intensive research.

The contact time that a student spends with their supervisory team, thesis committee members and training courses will vary from student to student depending on need throughout their PhD.

Initially we recommend that supervisors meet with students on a weekly basis, but this frequency is likely to reduce subsequently. There are four required meetings of your thesis committee, one of which coincides with your upgrade-to-PhD viva. Part-time student hours are pro-rata.

Research areas and structure

Research environment

The research department is a vibrant environment for both taught courses and research, with extensive connections to other departments and institutions at UCL.

The department’s strengths lie in autism, business psychology, dementia, developmental psychopathology, developmental risk and resilience, eating disorders, personality and psychometrics, psychopharmacology, psychology of risk and psychological treatments.

We have close links with schools and clinical services throughout London, ensuring that our research is closely tied to national priorities on well-being.

The department has access to exceptional resources, including state-of-the-art fMRI, fNIRS, EEG, TMS and eye-tracking facilities.

: The full-time PhD is typically three years, including the time registered as an MPhil student, and if the thesis is not submitted within this time then students may register as Completing Research Students for one additional year.
: Part-time students are normally required to be registered for five years, with two additional years in Continuing Research Status if needed.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time	Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£6,215	£3,105
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£36,500	£18,250

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

There are no additional costs for this programme.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

To be considered for competitive funding awarded by UCL, applications must arrive by the 3rd January. Applications must be complete with references, so please allow time for references to be submitted. Before applying, it is essential that applicants discuss their PhD project ideas with a member of staff and ensure that the member of staff is able to supervise the project. Applications are rated by academic staff members; suitable candidates present their research proposal at an interview. Offers are normally made within one month of the interview. If other sources of funding are being considered, it is still in your interest to apply by the early January deadline.

Part-time PhD applications are considered in a single annual round: applications complete with references must be submitted by 30 June, for a October start date. Interviews for places not funded by UCL may take place at any time until late summer.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

This programme requires two references. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.