Sport Psychology

Overview

The MSc Sport Psychology programme at Heriot-Watt University combines expertise from our Department of Psychology with the sporting excellence of Oriam, Scotland’s Sport Performance Centre.

This programme is led by expert sport and exercise psychologists and is accredited by the British Psychological Society, a highly regarded marker of quality assurance that prospective employers value.

This degree will provide you with a stepping-stone towards the qualifications you need to work with athletes, coaches, and exercisers in psychological settings across community and elite sports. This master’s degree is also ideal if you want to pursue further academic study in research-driven environments and a research career.

While studying MSc Sport Psychology, you’ll gain a critical understanding of the knowledge and skills involved in Sport Psychology practice, together with developing specialist psychological knowledge within principal contexts in Sport Psychology including elite sports, community sports, team sports, and individual sports. You’ll be able to apply advanced research knowledge and skills which are relevant to psychology, including completing a significant independent project. You’ll also obtain transferrable skills that will be useful in careers outside of sport and exercise psychology, both in the public and private sectors.

Each course included in the programme will equip you with highly employable expertise and skills in sports psychology, from the psychology of team sport, professional practice in sports psychology and the psychology of elite sport. You’ll benefit from the industry relevance and connections that are embedded in the programme, which afford a highly successful trajectory in your career after graduation. Assessments on the programme are designed such that you will build a portfolio of resources and experiences as trainee sport and exercise psychologists, providing a firm foundation towards progressing in the profession. Upon completion, you’ll be able to use a significant range of professional skills, techniques, and resources to understand the application of good ethical practice across the entire research process.

Expertise

The MSc Sport Psychology degree is taught by experienced, leading academics who have published research which shapes their discipline, and which will guide your learning. Academics delivering courses on the programme balance teaching time with research and professional practice in their discipline, including sports and exercise psychologists. They bring real-world experience to the classroom. Collectively, staff have practised as sport and exercise psychologists with elite national sporting organisations, have edited leading international academic research journals, and are internationally recognised, publishing widely in their disciplines.

Your learning environment

The MSc Sport Psychology programme uses teaching and research expertise within Sport Psychology to deliver a high-quality learning and teaching experience. The programme is supported by sport and exercise science provision across Heriot-Watt University and uses world-leading sports facilities and resources at Oriam – a trusted training base of many of Scotland’s top sports teams and athletes. Our facilities include a high-performance sports laboratory with specialist equipment, sports halls, pitches, gyms, studios and squash courts.

Our small and interactive group teaching approach is provided by a team with diverse academic and practice skills. Our exclusive sport and exercise partnerships on campus will provide you with a truly unique community where your learning and professional development will thrive.

This degree is taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, workshops, and practical labs to allow you to develop a wide range of relevant theoretical and practical skills and knowledge. You’ll also have the opportunity to work in partnership with practitioners, coaches, individual sports people and/or teams as you develop your skills (e.g., through the development of educational workshops).

You’ll be assessed through a mix of authentic formative and summative assessments. Reflective learning is embedded throughout the programme and in summative assessments, you’ll be required to show how you creatively explored and solved problems to industry-relevant global matters.

Customise your learning

Accreditation is a highly regarded marker of quality assurance that prospective employers value. It provides you with a route to society membership, which is an integral part of your development as psychologists, or as part of the wider psychological workforce. It is a high-quality benchmarking process aimed at getting the best out of programmes and provides an opportunity for you to influence the society and its support for education providers and students. Through Society membership, you’ll engage with a community that, collectively, has a powerful voice in raising the profile of psychology and psychological practice in the UK and internationally.