Business Psychology with Coaching Heriot-Watt University

Overview

The MSc Psychology with Coaching programme at Heriot-Watt University is the most established master’s degree of its kind in Europe as it has a well-earned reputation for producing graduates who can improve the performance and behaviour of individuals and teams.   

Coaching psychology is a thriving area of applied psychology which deals with professional and personal issues practically. 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 several sectors and areas of performance, including:  

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

This degree programme balances practical and theoretical learning to ensure that you’ll make positive and effective contributions that help people and organisations flourish. You’ll learn to apply positive psychology through tried and tested coaching practices and combine this with an understanding of established theory from business psychology.   

You’ll develop numeracy and ICT skills using statistics software packages and by conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis. You’ll also be able to develop communication skills through coursework and group discussions/presentations.  

You’ll learn key skills that can be applied in the workplace through various wider roles such as management, consultancy and HR, as well as specialised coaching roles such as executive coach, talent management, career coaching and mentoring.   

Your Student Experience

Our Expertise

Our MSc Business Psychology with Coaching degree is taught 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.  

Your Learning Environment

The MSc Business Psychology with Coaching programme at Heriot-Watt University has excellent research facilities such as eye trackers, driving simulators and consistent environment labs which will support your independent research projects.    

This degree is taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, practical coaching sessions and seminars involving multiple modes of learning including case studies, workshops, research papers and electronic formats. You’ll also take part in specifically designed group tasks and presentations which will allow you to develop your interpersonal and communication skills, giving you the platform to implement your expertise and directly improve the performance of diverse groups of individuals and teams at any level within an organisation.  

You’ll be assessed through a mix of formative and summative assessments. You’ll receive support and feedback throughout the programme.  

Customise Your Learning

You’ll learn from eight courses on the syllabus and take part in an independent project. Every course focuses on enhancing your subject-specific knowledge and will allow you to develop your research skills which can be applied to coursework and your postgraduate project.   

Through your dissertation, you’ll critically evaluate relevant literature and psychological theories to support a rationale for a selected subject area of coaching and coaching psychology. You’ll have the opportunity to learn and demonstrate a critical ability to use a range of techniques and research methods to produce this project. You’ll present your findings of the research in an appropriate academic form.   

You can choose whether to study the programme full-time or part-time. This flexibility allows you to fit your postgraduate studies around your lifestyle.    

You may have the opportunity to Go Global on our Inter-Campus Transfer. Opportunities for postgraduate study abroad are assessed on a case-by-case basis and if you are interested in studying at our Dubai campus or Malaysia campus for a semester or longer, you should contact the Go Global Team.   

Accreditation

MSc Business Psychology with Coaching is accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF) as continuing coach education (CCE). Therefore, a number of hours from the postgraduate courses can be used to apply for the personal credentialing process if you wish to pursue accredited coach status with the ICF. A certification is issued on completion of these hours.