Become a Psychologist

Psychology at Kent offers a supportive, dynamic and diverse environment for creative research and learning.

During your research, you are supported by a panel including a main and secondary supervisor. Your supervisors are individually selected for you based on their compatibility with your research interests. Typically, you meet with your supervisors more frequently at the initial stages of research than during the phases of data collection and analysis.

You receive training in research-specific and broader ‘transferable’ skills, including academic writing, career management and presentation skills. You also have the opportunity to train for an advanced teaching qualification (ATAP). The Advanced Statistics and Methodology module from our taught MSc programme is available for doctoral students that have not already completed an advanced statistics and methods course.

The School of Psychology

Kent's School of Psychology supports research in a number of areas, including: social psychology; developmental psychology; forensic psychology; cognitive psychology; existential psychology; personality and motivation.

We conduct both basic and applied research in several areas, and we are highly regarded as a leading European centre for postgraduate research. We have a long-established international reputation in social psychology, and this is complemented by our strengths in cognitive, developmental and forensic psychology.

PhD funding

The School attracts excellent visiting scholars and postgraduate students from both within the UK and overseas. Some of our PhD students are self-funded, and others are funded by grants or awards either from the School, UK or their countries of origin. You may also fund your studies through part-time teaching within the School. The School has a strong track record of attracting ESRC research studentship funding, which involves partnerships with external organisations such as Age Concern England and the Equality and Human Rights Commission and collaborative studentships with partners such as People United.

National ratings

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, research by the School of Psychology was ranked 11th in the UK for research intensity.

An impressive 95% of our research-active staff submitted to the REF and 97% of our research was judged to be of international quality. The School’s environment was judged to be conducive to supporting the development of world-leading research.

Careers

Our postgraduate students commonly go into the fields of health, teaching or further education. For instance, many of our graduates take up roles as assistant psychologists in the NHS with a view to becoming a professional clinical or forensic psychologist. Upon completing our Master’s courses, graduates have also pursued doctoral study and academic careers at higher education institutions.

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.