Occupational and Business Psychology

30 credits

This module equips you with the methodological, ethical, and professional capabilities needed to investigate and intervene in people-related challenges in organisational contexts.

It develops advanced skills in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research, diagnostic consultancy, and ethical decision-making. You will learn to scope organisational problems, design investigations, analyse data, and deliver evidence-informed recommendations to stakeholders.

Emphasis is placed on evidence-informed practice, critical reflection, and the application of professional standards in line with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Association for Business Psychology (ABP).

You will gain confidence in research design, data interpretation, client communication, and reflective practice, laying a strong foundation for ethical consultancy and future professional accreditation (e.g. BPS Stage 2, ABP certification). This module supports the development of advanced practitioner skills, in line with the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Psychology at Master’s level, enabling you to integrate scientific inquiry with business and occupational practice.

Teaching and learning

The delivery for this module consists of one, one-hour lecture and a three hour seminar each week.

Lectures will cover theory and profession guidance, while seminars will consist of skill development and professional practice. 

You will also have an additional 30 minutes of online support each week to enhance your understanding and learning.

Assessment

This module will be assessed by a consultancy investigation report (70%) and EIP Reflective Practice and Ethics Portfolio (30%).

30 credits

This module provides you with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to design and implement physical and psychological safety strategies in organisations, alongside managing organisational change.

You will learn to assess and mitigate physical and psychological risks in the workplace, with a focus on fostering environments that promote employee wellbeing and organisational resilience. The module also explores how organisations can be transformed through change processes that maintain or enhance safety and wellbeing for all stakeholders.

Key themes include the role of organisational culture in safety, psychological risk factors, legal and regulatory frameworks, and strategies for managing both incremental and transformational change.

You will critically engage with real-world case studies, develop practical intervention plans, and learn how to evaluate the effectiveness of safety and change initiatives within organisations.

This module supports the development of advanced practitioner skills, in line with the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Psychology at Master’s level, enabling you to integrate scientific inquiry with business and occupational practice.

Teaching and learning

The delivery for this module consists of one, one-hour lecture and a three-hour seminar each week.

Lectures will cover theory and profession guidance, while seminars will consist of skill development and professional practice. 

You will also have an additional 30 minutes of online support each week to enhance your understanding and learning.

Assessment

This module will be assessed by a consultancy investigation report (70%) and a Reflective Practice Portfolio (30%).

30 credits

This module equips you with the knowledge, skills, and practical experience to design, implement, and evaluate effective assessment methods in the workplace. You will explore the science and practice of assessing people for recruitment, selection, development, and performance management, guided by the latest occupational psychology research and professional standards.

Across the semester, you will cover topics such as job analysis, competencies, psychometrics (including Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory), personality and ability assessment, interview and roleplay techniques, and the design of assessment centres. Practical workshops will give you hands-on experience in test design, scoring, and delivering feedback, while case studies and discussions will connect theory to real-world workplace challenges.

You will learn in a supportive, collaborative environment through weekly lectures, interactive seminars, and digital learning resources. A strong experiential learning focus means you will not just learn about assessment - you will do assessment, applying the scientist-practitioner model and developing the core skills expected of workplace psychology professionals.

By the end of the module, you will be confident in evaluating and applying assessment methods, enhancing your employability in HR, talent management, consultancy, and occupational psychology roles.

Teaching and learning

The delivery for this module consists of one, one-two hour lecture and a one two-hour seminar each week.

The teaching approach emphasises how theory is applied in practice, so many sessions include a practical component including case studies to highlight how occupational psychology research influences the workplace. 

It also follows a community of practice philosophy and the scientist-practitioner model. Therefore, the module adopts a strong experiential learning focus and consists of range of learning approaches including seminars, practical workshops, presentation, class discussions and lectures.  There is a strong use of web-based learning to support learning. In order to benefit from the module, you will be expected to prepare work in advance for many of the sessions.  

You will also have an additional 30 minutes of online support each week to enhance your understanding and learning.

Assessment

This module will be assessed by a written client report (70%) and an oral feedback session (30%).

30 credits

This module will provide a critical perspective of the ways in which individuals learn and develop in the context of work and organisations.

The module explores the theories of behaviour change, which includes how coaching and training can be used to initiate individual, or group change and development. The module will cover behavioural, social-learning, psychodynamic, and cognitive theories of learning. Skill development and the factors that influence occupational choice will be explored also.

Different applications of learning theory are contrasted including coaching and training, with particular reference to their psychological underpinnings. Coaching and training evaluation to assess the extent of change will also be considered. As part of the module, you will have an opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in coaching psychology and to undertake a related work-related contract.

The module aims to provide you with an overall understanding of the theories and processes of learning, and their application within training and development. It seeks to provide a practical application of these theories with a focus on issues around workplace learning as provided by occupational and business psychologists.

Teaching and learning

The delivery for this module consists of one-two hour lecture and a one two-hour seminar each week.

This specialist module will give you a chance to develop highly effective skills to respond to the needs of individuals in occupational settings. It incorporates practitioner training in psychometrics, and a range of other coaching models.  Additional training is provided on stress management, to help give coachees strategies for coping with chronic stress, and entrepreneurship, to improve the employability of graduates so they know how to turn their practitioner skills into a successful career.

This course is particularly interesting if you are keen to make a long term and profound difference to your coachees lives. It is specially designed to develop a unique and diverse set of skills devised to dramatically improve coachee-organisational fit, facilitate change, overcome barriers to change and improve wellbeing. The module will also equip you with the knowledge and skills to help coaches change long held and defeating habits and beliefs and develop personally and professionally. 

Theoretical components are taught mainly via online materials. The coaching skills are taught mainly through a series of workshops, with teaching and feedback on skills development from experienced tutors.

You will also have an additional 30 minutes of online support each week to enhance your understanding and learning.

Assessment

This module will be assessed by a recorded coaching session (30%) and a coaching portfolio (70%).

60 credits

This research dissertation module requires you to execute and document an original research investigation. The focus can be on any area related to occupational psychology, and can take place in either a laboratory or field setting, using a specific population (e.g. customer service assistants) or the general public.

It is also possible to conduct a piece of archival research (e.g. meta-analysis), if your supervisor agrees that this is appropriate.

You normally begin the research dissertation after your second semester ends, together with necessary literature reviews and research design.  

Teaching and learning

The delivery for this module will consist of tutorials and independent learning, and supervision sessions. Tutorials will cover elements of research methods practice will, while you should use independent learning hours to further your knowledge and skills.

You will have the opportunity to independently conceptualise, plan and undertake a novel piece of research that contributes to psychological knowledge and understanding.

You will critically evaluate current theories and evidence in order to generate your own research question. You will engage with the relevant ethical guidelines to design a feasible project plan and develop your independent research skills during this module as well as identifying points of collaboration with supervisors, research staff and other potential stakeholders.

You will use a variety of relevant skills, techniques, and research methods in order to implement your study and finally you will have the opportunity to disseminate your findings in written form.

Assessment

This module will be assessed by a final 12,000 dissertation report (100%).