The first Master’s course of its kind, our MSc Behaviour Change programme opens doors to a wide range of fulfilling careers which focus on changing people’s behaviour and helping them to make positive choices.
- Develop an in-depth understanding of human behaviour and behaviour change
- Increase your confidence, skills and abilities to foster behaviour change in the context of a range of areas, such as wellbeing, safety or the natural environment
- Specialise by selecting behaviours as part of the assessment process that align with the areas in which you wish to develop your expertise
- Devise practical ways to promote behaviour change, underpinned by theory and evidence-based science
- Learn from an enthusiastic and experienced team of research-active psychologists and ergonomists
- Take a flexible route to a masters degree: you only need to visit the campus for an induction event and then for nine days each year
- Progress your career in a vast aray of areas, such as the health and wellbeing sectors, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, local government and occupational health and safety – or take your learning to PhD level.
This is an original and topical course which challenges assumptions about behaviour change. It is aimed at professionals who want to gain new knowledge and skills to support their work, and at graduates from a broad range of disciplines who would like to specialise in behaviour change and add social science to their skill set.
Pioneering a new area of study
Behaviour change has found a place at the heart of UK policy making, with an emphasis on finding innovative ways of encouraging, enabling and supporting people to make better choices for themselves. It plays a key role in health, safety and environmental initiatives.
Our MSc fills a gap in high quality postgraduate education covering this topical subject. It covers psychological theories and models so that you can develop a greater understanding of human behaviour and behaviour change.
You’ll also gain the transferable skills you need to design, deliver and evaluate interventions that provide opportunities for people to change in a variety of practical contexts.
A flexible learning experience
Our course has a structure as innovative as its content, enabling you to integrate your studies with your work and other commitments. It features three-day study blocks at our Kedleston Road campus, totalling nine days per year. You’ll also engage in guided learning and research activities at times to suit you.
You can either complete the full MSc over three years, or take a ‘step-off’ award after one year with the generic Postgraduate Certificate or after two years with the Postgraduate Diploma.
You will have the chance to apply module coursework to specialist contexts that matter to you, are career relevant, and aligned with practical experience.
In your masters research project in the final year, you will then conduct an independent study into an aspect of behaviour change which relates to your chosen area.
The campus-based induction of this programme tends to fall within the middle week of September.
A teaching team to inspire you
You’ll be taught by a dedicated team of psychology and ergonomics experts whose research underpins and enriches this course. They are conducting studies into a broad spectrum of topics including body esteem, the management of painful conditions, smoking cessation, coping with stress, ageing and social inclusion, health and safety, people’s connection to nature, and language and communication.
Our staff have close links with professional bodies such as the British Psychological Society as well as major employers and stakeholders within the health, ergonomics and environmental sectors. Thanks to these wider professional networks, the course features opportunities for you to hear from influential guest speakers who can share their experiences of behaviour change interventions.
As part of our thriving academic community, we also have a which advances our studies in everything from wellbeing, health and weight loss to anxiety and compassion. It offers a range of consultancy services and runs regular research seminars.
This course is made up of three stages: Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, and MSc.
Postgraduate Certificate
In year one, you’ll study three modules such as:
- Psychology for Behaviour Change - You will learn about psychology as a science and explore psychological approaches to learning, cognition, individual differences and social factors in order to critically reflect on how research in these areas is relevant to an understanding of behaviour
- Theories and Models of Behaviour - You will learn about the major models, theories, and approaches to behaviour. You will critically consider how intentions, attitudes, values, and other factors shape behaviour and behaviour change. Factors impacting on behaviour will be considered including the individual, the social environment, and the physical environment, and both short-term and long-term aspects of behaviour and behaviour change
- Applied Behaviour Change Interventions - You’ll gain the knowledge and skills required to propose, design and evaluate an evidence-based workplace or community behaviour change intervention
Postgraduate Diploma
In your second year, you’ll study a further three modules. The first two modules will help you develop an extensive repertoire of research and evaluation skills applicable to running projects and initiatives in a variety of settings. In your third module you'll develop your skills in embedding behaviour change.
- Quantitative Research, Evaluation and Behaviour Change Application - you'll analyse, report and evaluate empirical quantitative research and behaviour change interventions in applied contexts.
- Qualitative Research, Evaluation and Behaviour Change Application - you’ll design, conduct, report and evaluate empirical research in an applied leadership context using text-based data and a qualitative approach. Qualitative approaches add rich insights to the evaluation of interventions in real world settings.
- Sustaining Behaviour Change - for the final taught module, attention shifts to considering the psychological and contextual conditions for sustaining behaviour change in the realities of organisational settings. This will draw on systems thinking and research and be considered against the context of established and emerging areas of behaviour change application including Positive Psychology, Environmental Sustainability, Health and Safety and Organisational Culture.
MSc
At this final stage, you only study one module which runs over three terms:
- Research Project in Behaviour Change - you’ll identify a research issue related to behaviour change in your chosen area, review existing literature, formulate novel research questions and test these questions.
Under the supervision of a member of the programme team, you’ll identify a research issue related to behaviour change in your chosen area, review existing literature, formulate novel research questions and - applying all relevant ethical guidelines and principles - test these questions through the application of contemporary psychological methodologies and appropriate data analysis and scientific report writing.
Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.
You’ll be taught by a dedicated team of research-active psychologists and ergonomists who all have expert knowledge of psychological theory, practice, and research. You’ll benefit from exchanges with students across our behaviour change areas, thus increasing your multidisciplinary outlook. As part of the course you’ll undertake your own research project, specialising in an area of behaviour change that particularly interests you and that is relevant to your current work or career aspirations.
Our MSc Behaviour Change programme combines research-led teaching with an innovative portfolio of assessments to ensure you develop both the knowledge and transferable skills necessary for employment in a number of sectors promoting behaviour change.
The course is offered as a part-time degree and it is unique in that it combines periods of flexible learning throughout the duration of each term with on-campus study blocks amounting to a total of nine days attendance per year. Each module has an on-campus study block of three days of lectures, seminars and guided activities. In addition, you have access to our bespoke study materials and learning activities which you’ll engage with in your own time, giving you the flexibility to study at the most convenient time and place for you. The nine-day on-campus attendance per year fits well with a typical ten-day industry allocation for staff development, so if you’re self-funding it allows you to continue to work full-time. In addition, new students attend our two-day induction event at the start of the academic year.
Assessment
You'll be assessed via coursework. There will be many activities to thoroughly prepare you for your coursework. Assessments are matched to the individual module learning outcomes, which are derived from the course aims and learning outcomes.
An expert teaching team
- Dr Jenny Lunt - Managing occupational conditions in the workplace, including recovery at work, and organisational cultures as applied to health and safety and the broader sustainability agenda
- Dr Sigrid Lipka - Language and communication, working memory, dual-tasking, exam anxiety, attentional biases to compassionate and critical emotions, malingering in neuropsychological and forensic settings
- Dr Fiona Holland - Health and wellbeing, especially body esteem, experiences of living in non-normative bodies, motivational interviewing, behaviour change and the benefits of well-being interventions on psychological health
- Dr Amy Baraniak - Behaviour change interventions for smoking cessation and reducing cardiovascular disease risk, the psychological impact of informal caregiving, management of long term illness and disability
- Professor James Elander - Coping and pain management in painful chronic illnesses such as haemophilia and sickle cell disease, educational transitions, student writing and student assessment
- Prof David Sheffield - Performing under pressure; coping with stress; cultivating compassion
- Dr Ruth Sims - Inclusive design/design for all, accessibility and usability of products, services and environments by older and physically impaired individuals, ageing and social inclusion, digital exclusion, ageing workforce
- Dr Caroline Harvey - Embedding compassion in the Higher Education curriculum and supporting students to develop compassionate communication skills and researching the relationship between nature and wellbeing and the benefits that people can gain from nature
- Dr Carol Stalker - Health psychology and wellbeing, exploring the quality of life in patients with coronary heart disease, compassionate approaches to weight loss maintenance and the impact of acceptance of illness and the impact on the quality of life for haemodialysis patients
- Dr Ann Kirkman - Positive Psychology, Optimism, and Wellbeing including student wellbeing and embedding wellbeing into the curriculum. Development of online wellbeing toolkits for education and learning
- Dr Charlotte Scott - Exercise psychology, eating disorders, compulsive exercise behaviours, athlete wellbeing and advanced quantitative methodology
- Dr Carlos Aceves-Gonzalez - Applying ergonomics and human factors to understand complex systems, the role or ergonomics and human factors in behaviour change and studying healthcare systems to improve quality, patient safety and the well-being of healthcare workers.
Our MSc Behaviour Change course could be your stepping stone to employment and promotion opportunities in areas, such as the health sector, local government, environmental and occupational health and safety roles.
It also provides a suitable qualification if you’re working in allied areas and want to progress your career by branching out into a specialist area. You could, for instance, be a physiotherapist or an occupational health and safety professional keen to broaden your skill set by focusing on behaviour change.
In addition, the MSc Behaviour Change provides a strong basis for further study in the form of a PhD.
You will need an undergraduate degree (lower second or above) or equivalent in a relevant subject or substantial professional experience.
The programme is currently only offered as a part-time degree.
Please note that the content of this programme is subject to change.
2024/25 (August 2024 - July 2025)
| Type | Full-time | Part-time |
|---|
| UK | N/A | £1,050 per 20 credits |
| International | N/A | N/A |
Please note fees normally increase in line with inflation and the University's strategic approach to fees, which is reviewed on an annual basis. The total fee you pay may therefore increase after one year of study.
* UK full-time fees paid within one academic year are rounded down to the nearest £50 if applicable
2025/26 (August 2025 - July 2026)
| Type | Full-time | Part-time |
|---|
| UK | N/A | £1,080 per 20 credits |
| International | N/A | N/A |
Please note fees normally increase in line with inflation and the University's strategic approach to fees, which is reviewed on an annual basis. The total fee you pay may therefore increase after one year of study.
* UK full-time fees paid within one academic year are rounded down to the nearest £50 if applicable
About postgraduate awards
Please note at postgraduate level, you’ll need to gain the following number of credits in total to obtain the respective awards. If you have any questions please contact us.
| Award | Credits |
|---|
| Postgraduate Certificate | 60 Credits |
| Postgraduate Diploma | 120 Credits |
| MA or MSc | 180 Credits |
This means you will gain 180 credits in total to complete the full MA or MSc. If you are studying part time you will normally complete your studies over two or three years, depending on the course structure.
Funding your studies
Find out more about fees, postgraduate loans and support you may be entitled to.
Find out about funding your studiesFind out about funding your studies
Alumni discount for Derby graduates
We offer a discount on postgraduate course fees for all Derby alumni.
Find out about the Alumni discountFind out about the Alumni discount
How to apply
Please look at our before you apply.
Teaching hours
Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.
Minimum numbers
Please note that this course is subject to minimum numbers in order to run.
If you need any more information from us, eg on courses, accommodation, applying, car parking, fees or funding, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.
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