Forensic psychology applies psychological science to the criminal justice system: to why people offend, to assessing risk of reoffending, to how evidence and testimony behave in court, and to the design of interventions in prisons and secure hospitals. An MSc Forensic Psychology is a one year postgraduate degree and it is the standard first step towards practising in the field.
It is a serious, evidence-led discipline and it looks nothing like its television portrayal. There is very little criminal profiling and a great deal of statistics, structured risk assessment and research methodology.
What you study
Twelve months full time, generally two taught semesters and an empirical dissertation.
- Psychological theories of offending behaviour
- Risk assessment and risk management, including structured professional judgement tools
- Forensic mental health and personality disorder
- Investigative psychology, interviewing and eyewitness testimony
- Psychology in the courtroom, including expert evidence
- Interventions and rehabilitation with offenders
- Advanced research methods and statistics, then a dissertation
Read this before you apply: the route to practising
This is the part applicants most often get wrong, so we set it out plainly. In the United Kingdom, becoming a registered practitioner psychologist is a regulated, multi-stage process. It normally requires an undergraduate psychology degree that confers Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the British Psychological Society, then an accredited masters, then a further period of supervised practice, before Health and Care Professions Council registration.
An MSc alone does not make you a forensic psychologist, and not every MSc in this area is BPS accredited. If practising in the UK is your goal, the accreditation status of the specific course matters enormously and you must check it before you accept an offer. Ask us and we will confirm the current position for any course we recommend, in writing.
If your goal is research, policy, prison and probation work, or returning to Nepal with advanced training in offender assessment, the accreditation question matters far less and the degree stands on its own merits.
Entry requirements from Nepal
Requirements vary between universities and can change from one intake to the next, so treat the figures below as the usual range rather than a promise. We check your documents against each university current criteria before we submit anything.
- Academic: a recognised bachelor degree, normally three or four years, at around 50 to 60 per cent or a UK 2.2 equivalent. Applicants a little below that are often routed through a pre-masters or a postgraduate diploma that tops up into the full masters. A psychology bachelor is normally required, and for BPS accredited routes it usually has to be an accredited one. Some universities accept related social science degrees onto non-accredited variants of the course.
- English: IELTS 6.5 overall with no band below 6.0 is the usual postgraduate requirement, although a number of universities will accept 6.0 overall for some courses. A number of our partner universities also accept PTE Academic, Duolingo or a Medium of Instruction letter from Tribhuvan, Pokhara or Kathmandu University. Our IELTS score comparison shows how the tests line up, and we list the routes that do not need IELTS.
- Study gap: gaps are accepted by most universities, commonly up to five years and in some cases up to ten, provided you can account for the time.
- Finance: for the student visa you must evidence your first year tuition plus living costs. Current maintenance rates are 1,529 pounds a month for London and 1,171 pounds a month elsewhere, held for nine months. See our page on UK university fees for international students.
Where the degree leads
- Prison and probation services, in assessment, intervention and research roles
- Forensic mental health and secure hospital settings
- Police and criminal justice research and analysis
- Policy and evaluation work in government and charities
- Assistant psychologist posts, which are the usual stepping stone towards full registration
- Doctoral study
Related interests are also served by criminology at undergraduate level, which many students take before this masters.
Talk to Real Dreams before you apply
Real Dreams has been placing Nepalese students in UK universities since 2003, and course choice is where most applications are won or lost. Bring us your +2 or bachelor transcripts and we will tell you honestly which universities are likely to take you for forensic psychology, which intake gives you the best chance, and what the first year really costs once tuition, deposit and maintenance funds are counted.
Counselling is free. Visit our offices in Kathmandu, Chitwan, Pokhara, Butwal or Bhairahawa, or our London office in the UK, and get in touch whenever you are ready. You can also start your application, read our guide to studying in the UK from Nepal, or browse the full course list.
