Postgraduate MSc

Developmental and Educational Psychology

To understand any psychological phenomenon fully you must first understand how it develops. Study the Developmental Psychology MSc at Kent to explore the psychological processes that affect the social, emotional and cognitive development of a person during their lifetime.

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Overview

Our Master’s gives you a deep understanding of the advanced methods, analytical techniques, and theoretical and practical approaches to developmental psychology and developmental psychopathology. It provides a clear pathway to a career or postgraduate research in this fascinating field and the opportunity to help people of all ages in a range of settings.

Reasons to study Developmental and Educational Psychology at Kent

  • Opportunity to run studies from the Kent Child Development Unit (KCDU), a resource including child-friendly lab space and a register of 5,000 potential child participants. Other facilities include eye trackers, virtual reality and brain stimulation labs.
  • Psychology at Kent was ranked 5th for research intensity in The Complete University Guide 2022. The Developmental Psychology Group has excellent links with the wider community and explores a range of questions.
  • Teaching by academics and professionals such as educational psychologists, clinical psychologists, child therapists, and speech and language therapists.
  • Join the supportive and welcoming community on our Canterbury campus, with access to the world-class resources of our Templeman Library.
  • Support from the Graduate and Researcher College as well as the School of Psychology. You are joining a strong intellectual and social community.

What you’ll learn

We draw on the strengths of our academic staff and researchers working in the field of developmental psychology. Their expertise includes language development, representational ability and early social-cognitive understanding of others, singing, infant face processing, the development of prejudice and social exclusion, and developmental psychopathology.

Your future

Our Developmental Psychology MSc graduates commonly go into the fields of health, teaching or further education. Many of our graduates take up roles as assistant psychologists in the NHS with a view to becoming a professional clinical psychologist, or pursue doctoral study and academic careers at higher education institutions.  Because the MSc Developmental Psychology programme is taught by academics and professionals, it offers students wide opportunities to pursue a variety of careers. 

The programmes we offer help you to develop general critical, analytic, and problem-solving skills that can be applied in a wide range of settings.  For example, last year’s graduates have taken up full-time salaried/funded positions as assistant psychologists, as PhD trainees, as healthcare advisers/workers in the private sector and in Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and as specialist charity workers.

Professional recognition

All of our taught Master’s (MSc) programmes have been recognised by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as meeting the nationally recognised criteria for preparation training for PhD research.

Career support
Whether you want to get ahead in your current career, change lanes, or kickstart a new one – we are here to help you realise your ambition.

Fees and funding

The 2025/26 annual tuition fees for this programme are:

Full-time: Home - £10,000 | EU - £20,700 | Overseas - £23,500

Part-time: Home - £5,000 | EU - £10,350 | Overseas - £11,750

See the Tuition Fees table for the most current information.

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.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk.

Your fee status

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.

For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.

Tuition fees may be increased in the second and subsequent years of your course. Detailed information on possible future increases in tuition fees is contained in the Tuition Fees Increase Policy. If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk.

You'll need regular access to a desktop computer/laptop with an internet connection to use the University of Kent’s online resources and systems. We've listed some guidelines for the technology and software you'll need for your studies.

General additional costs

Find out more about accommodation and living costs, as well as general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.

Search our scholarships finder for possible funding opportunities. You may find it helpful to look at both:

Scholarships

We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.

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Next steps

Ready to apply?

Learn more about the application process or begin your application by clicking on a link below.

You will be able to choose your preferred year of entry once you have started your application. You can also save and return to your application at any time.

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Kent focus

Supporting your success

We are here to support your postgraduate journey.

Top 40

Kent ranked top 40 in The Times Good University Guide 2025.

Fees and funding

Support for funding so you can focus on your studies.

Research excellence

Kent has risen 11 places in THE’s REF 2021 ranking, confirming us as a leading research university.

Accommodation

It’s easy to study on or off campus at Kent – discover what is right for you.