Entry

1. The degree of Master of Philosophy (Research Methods) in Health Psychology is awarded by Senate on the recommendation of the Board of the Faculty of Social Sciences to postgraduate students who have successfully pursued a course of study as prescribed below to the satisfaction of the Faculty Board and have fulfilled any other University requirements. The course of study will consist of a period of supervised practice, attendance at specified supervision sessions, workshops and other courses of study agreed by the supervisor, and the completion of a portfolio of evidence of competence in research, consultancy, teaching and training and professional issues.

2. The requirements for candidature shall be an undergraduate degree which confers the British Psychological Society's 'graduate basis for registration', and a British Psychological Society-accredited MSc in Health Psychology or a pass in an equivalent British Psychological Society examination in health psychology.

3. Candidates satisfying the requirements for candidature may be admitted provided the Board of the Faculty of Social Sciences is satisfied as to both their chosen subject for research and the supervisory arrangements. A formal supervision plan will be submitted for approval at the outset of the candidature, and any changes to the plan will also be submitted in writing for approval, in advance.

4. In approving candidature the Faculty Board shall state the effective starting date, which may be backdated to the day after the last Faculty Board meeting in certain cases, at the discretion of the Board.

5. For the purposes of these regulations the University shall be deemed to include any clinical institutions in the South and West Regional Health Authority area where the Board of the Faculty of Social Sciences is satisfied that University staff can arrange proper supervision of a research candidate.

   Candidature

6. The course to be followed shall be one of supervised research, consultancy, teaching and training, professional practice and study and shall be part-time. The portfolio of evidence of competence in each of those elements shall be presented in the form specified for examination by scrutiny and viva voce at the end of the course of study.

7. The Faculty Board may approve arrangements for an individual candidate to receive supervision provided jointly by the University and a suitably qualified supervisor (ie a Chartered Health Psychologist with experience of postgraduate supervision) in another institution. In such cases, the Faculty Board may permit a period or periods of study to be undertaken at the other institution. Such arrangements must be formally notified and agreed in the supervision plan, to be submitted to the Board at the outset of candidature, or in the changes to supervision plan, to be submitted during candidature.

8. A candidate will be required to register for the degree of M. Phil (Res. Meth.) in Health Psychology.

9. The period of study for the M. Phil (Res. Meth.) in Health Psychology ends when the portfolio of evidence of professional competences is submitted. The minimum period of study in part-time candidature is two years and the maximum is five years. A candidate who fails to submit a portfolio by the end of the maximum period of study shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the course.

   Temporary Suspension and Nominal Registration

10. Candidates for the M. Phil (Res. Meth.) in Health Psychology must continue in registration for the degree until such time as they submit their portfolio or withdraw, except that the Faculty Board may, on the recommendation of the Head of the Psychology Department, permit temporary suspension of candidature. Periods of temporary suspension shall not count towards the maximum period of study. The submission following part-time candidature shall be made not later than five years from the date of first registration. The time-limit may be extended by the Faculty Board on the recommendation of the Psychology Department in special circumstances.

11. If, having completed not less that the minimum period of supervised study, a candidate ceases to receive supervision, the Faculty Board may allow transfer to nominal registration for a period not exceeding twelve months in the first instance, after submission of a change in supervision plan. A candidate wishing to extend the period of nominal registration beyond twelve months must apply in writing through the Social Sciences Faculty Office.

12. Candidates in nominal registration shall, on transfer, pay the fee prescribed in the Fees Regulations.

13. Periods of nominal registration shall count towards the maximum period of study.

    Submission of the portfolio

14. After completion of the necessary period of study a portfolio shall be submitted for examination. The thesis component of the portfolio shall be examined in accordance with the instructions in the leaflet The Completion of Research Degree Candidature issued to candidates by the Academic Registrar. The thesis will form part of the portfolio of evidence of competence in skills relevant to professional practice, specifications for which are set out in a leaflet issued by the Psychology Department and the Social Sciences Faculty Office. The portfolio shall be not longer than 50,000 words in total, of which approximately half shall be the thesis. The remaining documents to be examined shall be the Supervision, Plan, Practice and Supervision Log (approximately 12,000 words); two reports on consultancy activities (approximately 6,000 words) and three reports on teaching and training activities (approximately 3,500 words and a ten-minute video).

15. A candidate who is about to submit a portfolio of evidence of competence shall give to the Academic Registrar through the Faculty Office at least two months' prior notice in writing. Such notice of intention to submit shall be given not later than 1 February if the candidate seeks award of the degree by the following July.

    The Thesis

16. With the exception of restrictions on access as defined in Paragraph 18 below, research work submitted as a thesis for a higher degree shall be openly available and subject to neither security classification nor restrictions on access, and candidates may publish the whole or part of their work prior to its submission as a thesis, provided that in the published work it is nowhere stated that it is in consideration for a higher degree.

17. In exceptional circumstances access to a thesis may be restricted by the Senate on the recommendation of a Faculty Board, where such restriction is regarded as desirable on commercial grounds or pending patent applications, or as necessary to maintain confidentiality. The period of restriction shall be determined by Senate on the recommendation of the Faculty Board, but shall not exceed three years from the date of examination.

18. On submission of a thesis a candidate shall be required to sign two documents:
    1. a form of consent that the thesis, if successful, may be made available for inter-library loan or photocopying from a date stipulated (subject to the law of copyright)
    2. a declaration stating:

       that the thesis is the result of work done wholly or mainly while the student was in registered candidature; that where the thesis is based on work done by the candidate jointly with others, a substantial part is the original work of the candidate; the extent to which the thesis incorporates material already submitted for another degree.

19. A thesis may not exceed 25,000 words in length, unless prior permission to exceed this length has been given by the Faculty Board on the recommendation of the supervisor. Candidates who exceed this limit without Faculty Board permission will normally be required by the examiners to resubmit in a form, which does not exceed the stipulated length. Candidates may in addition submit a separate volume of factual information only, related to the content of the thesis, which must be prepared and bound in the same style as the thesis. Such additional information will be available to the examiners and will form part of the record.

    Examination

20. Candidates are required to complete successfully all specified documents in the portfolio.

21. For each individual candidate, normally one internal and one external examiner shall be appointed to examine the thesis. The examiners will be Charted Health Psychologists. The supervisor may not be appointed as an examiner.

22. Candidates will be required to attend for an oral examination.

23. All elements of the portfolio must be passed in order for the degree to be awarded.

24. The examiners for each candidate shall recommend one of the following courses of action:

    that the degree be awarded.
    that the degree be awarded, subject if necessary to minor amendments to the thesis or other documents in the portfolio being made by the date specified by the Faculty Board;
    that the candidate be permitted to submit a revised thesis or other document in the portfolio, for re-examination on one subsequent occasion only, by a date specified by the Faculty Board.
    that the degree be not awarded and that resubmission of the portfolio be not permitted.

25. A candidate who fails to submit a corrected or revised thesis or other document(s) by the date set by the examiners shall normally be regarded as having failed the examination and the recommendations of the examiners shall lapse.

26. Where the examiners recommend that the degree be not awarded and that submission of a revised thesis and or other document(s) in the portfolio be not permitted, the candidate may ask for the case to be reviewed in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Senate. A copy of the procedures may be obtained from the Academic Registrar.