Our Positive Behaviour Support MSc seeks to develop a critical understanding of concepts and principles underpinning positive behaviour support. You'll gain detailed knowledge of intellectual and developmental disabilities and experience of practice or conducting research in this field.
At the Tizard Centre, we offer a suite of courses in Applied Behaviour Analysis and Positive Behaviour Support. There are two routes through the courses depending on the pathway to professional certification you intend to pursue – via ABAI (to pursue certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst®, or via the UK-SBA (to pursue certification as a UKBA(cert). All variations of our courses can be taken on campus or via distance learning. It is strongly recommended that you review all available course options to ensure you select the version that suits you best.
If you have any queries, please contact the admissions team.
Aimed at recent graduates and experienced practitioners, this postgraduate qualification opens up a range of career opportunities. It also provides the necessary coursework for you to pursue professional certification in the field.
You'll benefit from academic and professional support from some of the UK's leading positive behaviour support and intellectual and developmental disability researchers. Through our research, teaching and consultancy, you'll find out more about how to effectively support and work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their support systems, within a PBS framework.
Please note the BACB will not be administering certification exams in the UK from 2025. Please visit this page for more information about this from the UK Society for Behaviour Analysis. Our alternative UK-SBA route of the course is designed to meet the UK-SBA’s coursework requirements for eligibility to pursue certification as a UKBA(cert) – please see all course options here.
ABAI Verified Course Sequence for Fifth Edition Task List
The Association for Behavior Analysis International has verified the following courses toward the coursework requirements for eligibility to take the Board Certified Behavior Analyst® or Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst® examination. Applicants will need to meet additional eligibility requirements and demonstrate they reside in an authorized country and province [Canada] before they can be deemed eligible to take the examination.
The latest VCS pass rates are available here. Pass rate data are not published for sequences with fewer than six first-time candidates in a single year or for sequences within their first four years of operation., meaning that the latest pass rates for the course currently relate to our earlier 4th edition VCS (4010).
A first or second class honours degree in a social science discipline; voluntary, professional or family experience of intellectual/developmental disability. We encourage international applicants with the relevant academic/professional background and competence in spoken and written English.
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
Please see our International Student website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, students who require a student visa to study cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.
This course requires a Very Good level of English language, equivalent to a high B2 on CEFR.
Details on how to meet this requirement can be found on our English Language requirements webpage.
Examples:
IELTS 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component
PTE Academic 67 with a minimum of 59 in each sub-test
A degree from the UK
A degree from a Majority English Speaking Country
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.
The aim of this module is to develop an advanced understanding of elements of the philosophy, concepts and principles underpinning applied behaviour analysis.
Indicative topics include:
Philosophical assumptions including selectionism, determinism, empiricism, parsimony and pragmatism
Rule-governed and contingency-shaped behaviour
Radical behaviourism
Verbal behaviour and private events
Derived stimulus relations
Behaviour analysis of intellectual and developmental disability.
Indicative topics include:
• Behavioural intervention for behaviours that challenge
• Assessment and analysis of systemic factors in relation to behaviour described as challenging and the use of setting-wide positive behaviour support
• Specific intervention areas in autism and IDD (e.g. language, sleep issues, feeding problems, toilet training, social skills, and vocational skills)
• Models of consulting to family and service settings
• Staff training methodologies
• Organisational behaviour analysis and management in a human service context
The aim of this module is to develop advanced understanding of the design and implementation of positive strategies to improve the behavioural and psychological functioning of vulnerable populations, and their support by carers and others.
Topics will include:
Approaches to increasing the frequency of behaviour
Approaches to developing new behaviour
Using assessment information to inform intervention planning
Design of behaviour support plans, instructional strategies and appropriately prosthetic environmental arrangements
Precision teaching, direct instruction and group contingencies
Barriers to implementation
Procedural reliability
Generalisation and maintenance
The aim of this module is to develop competencies in the assessment of both adaptive behaviours and behaviours that challenge in the repertoires of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Teaching on assessment starts from an appreciation of the importance of social validity and referral dynamics. Specific assessment strategies relating to challenging behaviour (including structured descriptive assessment and experimental functional analysis) are considered. The application of similar strategies are also considered with respect to adaptive behaviour and associated instructional technologies. Further, the curriculum includes methods of preference assessment to determine appropriate reinforcers. In all topics there is attention both to the development of practical understanding and skill and to the development of a critical appreciation of the underpinning evidence base. Following consideration of these assessment strategies, attention is given to the development of formulations of the behaviour of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities that can inform the development of behaviour support plans, instructional strategies and appropriately prosthetic environmental arrangements.
The aim of this module is to develop an advanced understanding of values, ethics, and professional practice relevant to the field of applied behaviour analysis, with a particular emphasis on its use in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Indicative topics include:
• Ethical and legal issues
• Philosophical underpinnings of ethical practice
• The role of ideology in the development of intellectual disability services
• The development of approaches to individual planning and needs assessment, particularly the role of "person-centred planning"
• Ethical codes and guidelines – does Behaviour Analysis raise special ethical issues?
• Codes of professional practice
• Discrimination and abuse
• Adopting person-centred, values-based approaches to children and adults with complex needs.
• Evidence based practice and practice based evidence
The aim of this module is to develop an advanced understanding of elements and characteristics of the concepts and principles underpinning applied behaviour analysis (ABA). The module will start from an appreciation of the roots of ABA in the experimental analysis of behaviour. Operant and respondent conditioning will be considered, starting from fundamentals but proceeding to an advanced understanding of the necessary concepts and their underpinning in research. Particular attention will be given to elucidating both the conceptual basis and the applied implications of reinforcement, extinction and punishment, avoidance and escape, stimulus control and generalization, establishing operations and setting events. The interpretation of complex behaviour will be considered both with respect to the integrated application of fundamental concepts and the conceptual extensions and developments required.
The aim of this module is to develop competencies in the definition, observation, recording and analysis of behaviour and its controlling variables. While the module provides an introduction to research methodology more generally, the focus is primarily on those data collection methods and experimental designs used in applied behaviour analysis. Topics will include:
Observational methods of data collection
Reliability and validity of observational data
Practical approaches to checking and calculating reliability
Visual representation of data
Internal and external validity
Practical and theoretical aspects of using reversal, multiple-baseline, alternating treatments and changing criterion designs
Visual and statistical interpretation of single case data
Comparative, component and parametric analyses.
During the first term of the course students will develop ideas for their dissertation and will be given the opportunity to choose an empirical or non-empirical research project proposed and supervised by members of the course team or other Tizard staff. Subject to staff agreement, students may choose to design their own project and will be allocated a project supervisor. Students may complete either an empirical or a non-empirical (e.g. policy or research review) project. Students are expected to complete a dissertation on a topic relevant to their degree title.
Students develop a proposal for their dissertation with advice from their supervisor and, where applicable, apply for ethical approval either to the Tizard Ethics Committee (Ethical Review Checklist available on web-based resources) or to another ethics committee such as those in the NHS.
Duration: One year full-time
The course is taught in workshop weeks across the year, and each workshop week is either 4 or 5 days long. Workshop weeks are held roughly twice per month for full time students (with students expected to work on assignments, independent and directed readings, and research dissertations outside of these weeks).
Please note, the MSc (ABAI route) can only be studied on a full-time basis.
Teaching includes lectures, guided study using Moodle, with seminars and group exercises and discussions to enhance understanding of the content.
A range of assessments are employed including examination, essay, and practice-focused assignments.
All teaching takes place at the Tizard Centre. Postgraduate research students have a shared office space with a computer and telephone.
The Tizard Centre runs an annual seminar series where staff or guest lecturers present the results of research or highlight recent developments in the field of social care. The Jim Mansell Memorial Lecture invites public figures or distinguished academics to discuss topics that could interest a wider audience. The Centre also publishes the Tizard Learning Disability Review (in conjunction with Emerald Publishing) to provide a source of up-to-date information for professionals and carers.
The Tizard Centre provides consultancy to organisations in the statutory and independent sectors, both nationally and internationally, in diversified areas such as service assessment, person-centred approaches, active support and adult protection. The Centre also teaches a range of short courses, often in conjunction with other organisations.
The Tizard Centre also hosts two journal clubs, relating to behaviour analysis and to autism. Journal club events are held regularly where speakers are invited to discuss key research papers or topics in the field.
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Journal of Mental Health; Journal of Applied Research and Intellectual Disabilities; American Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; and Journal of Intellectual Disability Research.
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.
Current research areas include: social inequalities and community care; IDD and challenging behaviour; offending and IDD; early intervention; autism; abuse; service quality.
Full details of staff research interests can be found on the School's website.
The 2024/25 annual tuition fees for this course are:
For more information, please contact the admissions team.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Find out more about general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
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Next steps
Learn more about the application process or begin your application by clicking on a link below.
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