Intro

Community psychology brings social change to the forefront of the way that we understand and promote psychological wellbeing.

It provides an alternative to the standard model of psychological enquiry that foregrounds the individual at the expense of the collective, instead contextualising the difficulties faced by particular communities before seeking to develop solutions through participatory and action-oriented research.

The central focus of this course is to provide knowledge and training platforms that allow you to work towards addressing the institutional marginalisation and disempowerment that drives local and global community issues. It introduces critical, liberation and human rights perspectives, reflecting on traditional modes of scientific enquiry and what they mean for groups and individuals struggling with issues of marginalisation.

Our degree programme is among the few in the country that allow you to work directly with local communities to facilitate social change. With the help of our award-winning Community University Partnership Programme (Cupp), it gives you the opportunity to apply your skills as a psychologist and gain professional experience in the field.

This course will be of particular interest to those interested in developing a career in mental health.

Find out about postgraduate events

Key facts

Location Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Full-time 1 year
Part-time at least 2 years (UK students only)

Apply now for your place

Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions do get in touch with us.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Degree and experience
Normally a 2.1 degree in a social science subject but candidates with professional qualifications and directly relevant work experience may be considered.

English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International requirements and visas

International requirements by country
Country name
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

View our English language courses

For pre-sessional English preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

Course content

Course structure

Through lectures, workshops, seminars and the facilitation of community research partnerships, the course provides opportunities to explore the appropriateness and significance of how we work as community psychologists and to better understand the role of ideology inherent in the creation of an effective community psychology. It achieves this while retaining a degree of flexibility within the syllabus such that you are able to tailor your learning towards the kinds of areas most relevant to your work and interests.

The programme also offers an extended masters route for international students, allowing you to combine the degree itself with an English language course. Depending on your present language level, you will study English for between two and four months before starting your MA.

School of Applied Social Science student in seminar

Areas of study

Community psychology is a culturally relative discipline and therefore takes different forms in different parts of the world. To help you maintain an open-minded approach to the subject, we introduce you to both local and international examples of community psychology in practice.

The syllabus is informed by contemporary research into such diverse areas as homelessness, older adults, disadvantaged young people, LGBTQ mental health, organisational wellbeing and mental health literacy in Cambodia, as well as by the experiences of our core teaching staff, Carl Walker, Katherine Johnson and Liz Cunningham.

For the Social Research Practice module, you undertake an action-orientation project in a community psychology setting. Those who are working in a related profession can relate the project to their employer’s needs; those who aren’t have the opportunity to work with community and voluntary organisations including Mind, Age Concern and the Richmond Fellowship.

Modules

  • Community Psychology – Theory and Practice

    This module gives you a grounding in the values and principles of community psychology. You will gain insights into the theory and practice of psychology in the community from academic practitioners within a variety of contexts. You will have the opportunity to reflect on the process of social change in relation to your own communities and to wider notions of community.

  • Research Methods in Community Research

    This module provides you with advanced training in community research methods including research design, ethics, quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques and data analysis strategies. It includes an overview of the practicalities of conducting research within communities, creative research methods and conducting participatory action research.

  • Social Research Practice

    In this modules you will gain experience in the management and application of social research methods. You will explore theoretical, practical and ethical issues related to social research practice and work with community partners to apply social research methods in a professional context. You will also learn how to reflect on and evaluate social research and produce a social research report.

  • Community and Clinical Approaches to Mental Distress

    This module draws from disciplines including medicine, health, geography, sociology and critical community psychology to provide you with a grounding in the key debates around what constitutes mental distress and how to address it. Starting with a critical appraisal of the current dominance of clinical approaches, the module examines controversies in diagnosis and treatment, using examples from around the world to outline alternative approaches to addressing mental distress.

  • Community Psychology Dissertation

    In this dissertation module you will identify and pursue an original empirical research question that addresses a clearly articulated pressing social problem within the field of community psychology. You will develop and apply a depth of knowledge about relevant research, theory and practice and use this to provide a compelling rationale for the research.

Dissertation

The dissertation forms a focal part of the MA and allows you to gain practical skills as a psychologist by doing fieldwork in the community. Previous students have used the opportunity to:

  • do a piece of participatory action research to explore the challenges faced by the growing population of Brazilian women in Brighton
  • use life-history narratives to investigate experiences of academic and social acculturation for international students
  • work with a local LGBTQ mental wellbeing service in order to reflect on the way that the development of a community has affected not only the wellbeing but the identities of its members
  • make a film with service users from an unemployed families centre to challenge perceptions of austerity in the UK
  • take a community psychology, values-led approach to redesigning human resource services for international NGOs working in humanitarian crises
  • use visual methods to work with homeless services users to improve support services in Brighton.

Why Brighton?

  • This course is based around students not only engaging with the concepts and theory of community psychology but applying their skills in collaborative practice with community organisations and partners.
  • Brighton is a thriving and vibrant city with a strong community ethos and over 500 community and voluntary organisations around the local area.
  • We attract a strong mix of domestic and international students. So far in our short history we have had applicants and students from Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Russia, Greece, the USA, Germany, China, Saudi Arabia, Uganda and South Africa.
Brighton pier at sunset

Lab facilities

Mithras House is home to all our School of Humanities and Social Science courses. It has a series of ‘labs’, which may be used for teaching on your course or in your independent research work.

VR and eye tracking lab
This lab is used for psychological research, specifically:

  • eye-tracking research – eye-tracking (using an eye-tracking nano bar and eye-tracking glasses) is used to study visual attentional patterns across areas including CCTV observation and analysis, marketing and advertising research, and police and offender perceptions

  • virtual reality research – VR allows participants to immerse themselves in virtual environments, so that researchers can study typically impractical situations. Research areas include the effects of virtual interactions, phobias, wellbeing, mediation, and city architecture

  • measuring physiological responses within participants in response to external stimuli – equipment includes an electroencephalography (EEG) headset and Electrodermal Activity (EDA) equipment.

Stats lab
A specialist workspace with computing equipment for statistical analysis and projects involving video and audio editing software. The lab is accessible as a study space to students on psychology courses. 

It is also available to students studying courses involving video and audio recording and editing, such as politics degrees and our creative writing programmes. The stats lab contains eight soundproof booths for recording or transcribing interviews undertaken as part of dissertation research. 

Life lab
A comfortable space with lounge furniture intended for qualitative research with larger groups. Due to its relaxed layout and naturalistic environment, the space is suited to research using focus groups, research using observation-based methods and child research.

The space is also used for teaching on some social science courses, as well as for dissertation research for projects.

City lab
A space designed for collaborative student learning. It is used by students and staff involved in the university’s Global Challenges programme, our collective mission to contribute towards tackling the pressing issues facing our world.

Design lab
A space housing our extensive collection of historic dress and textiles, which are used in some teaching on our History of Art and Design courses. It has the space and equipment to work on textile projects. Displays created by students on these programmes are on view in the social spaces of the building.

CUPP

We strongly believe that it is our duty to use our knowledge and resources for social benefit, which is why we set up the Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) back in 2003.

CUPP is an award-winning project that aims to tackle disadvantage and promote sustainable development through partnership with local organisations. Our combined efforts have made a tangible difference to the effectiveness of community sectors and the lives of local people.

As a Brighton student, you will have the opportunity to volunteer through CUPP and work in the community yourself, all the while developing your vocational skills and gaining valuable work experience.

Meet the team

Anna Zoli, course leader

Anna’s work is rooted in the disciplines of social and community psychology, with a transdisciplinary ethos. Her PhD, and her work with local communities, focused on the communities’ actions to face the effects of the global crisis, particularly promoting economic and social resilience. By facilitating communities’ development and environmental sustainability, she studied and worked on issues including: peak oil, climate change, people and environmental care, social justice and fair share, community engagement and social inclusion. A major research focus for Anna is discursive psychology, in particular the religious ideological discourse of the Roman Catholic Church on LGBT+ people.

Read Anna’s full profile. 

Carl Walker, senior lecturer

Dr Carl Walker founded the course in 2011. He sits on the British Psychological Society’s national community psychology section committee and is chair of the European Community Psychology Association Group on austerity and mental health.

Carl graduated from Royal Holloway College with a biology degree in 1996 before going on to complete a postgraduate diploma in psychology. He gained his PhD in health psychology at London Metropolitan University.

Carl was a senior research fellow in the Department of Mental Health Sciences at UCL before coming to the University of Brighton. He is interested in exploring the structural and economic elements that relate to concepts of mental distress and the use of community initiatives to work toward addressing mental health needs.

His current projects include:

  • Exploring informal therapeutic spaces for mental distress
  • Using participatory video and visual methods to explore informal therapeutic spaces
  • Exploring peer support for the parents of young people diagnosed with mental health conditions
  • Multi-agency work on building community and voluntary sector capacity regarding data and evaluation practice
  • Exploring the use of a citizens health survey to address a potential deficit in public accountability regarding NHS privatization.
Carl Walker profile picture

Helen Johnson, senior lecturer

Dr Helen Johnson (née Gregory) holds a Postgraduate Certificate of Higher Education in Teaching and Learning (passed with distinction) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She teaches across the undergraduate and postgraduate curricula on topics including qualitative research methods, the psychology of creativity and the arts, critical community psychology and the history of psychology.

Helen’s research focuses on the study of arts and creativity and on performative social science (or arts-based research). Her work seeks both to better understand the arts and to use the arts as a tool for data collection, analysis and dissemination. She is particularly interested in educational applications of the arts (eg, youth spoken word), health/wellbeing applications (eg, uses of the arts in dementia) and the construction of identity in different communities.

Helen uses a range of research methods, but concentrates on qualitative methods such as interviewing, ethnography, thematic analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis. In recent years, she has carried out work exploring innovative combinations of social scientific research with poetry and visual arts. Helen is also a performance poet, and runs the poetry stages at Glastonbury and Larmer Tree Festivals.

Helen Johnson profile picture

Rebecca Graber, lecturer

“I am a health and social psychologist interested in how supportive social relationships facilitate psychological resilience in the face of adversity. I am particularly interested in how peer relationships foster resilience by providing social support. My research, teaching and project supervision covers:

  • psychological resilience in the face of socioeconomic disadvantage, health risks and childhood disadvantage
  • friendships, social relationships and the self
  • understanding healthier patterns of risk behaviours (such as alcohol use) in young people.

“I recently collaborated with the Overseas Development Institute on the ‘state of the evidence’ for psychological resilience to draw lessons for practitioners working in climate change and disaster response. Alongside colleagues at the University of Sussex, I helped develop a resilience-based classroom programme to promote healthier choices about alcohol, drawing upon the lived experience of young moderate drinkers and abstainers.

“During my PhD at the University of Leeds, I identified a best friendship as a facilitator of resilience among socioeconomically vulnerable young people and explored how young people’s experience of friendship and resilience is shaped by their environment. I also have experience with educational uses of social media, international clinical psychology training, and trainees’ clinical skills.”

Rebecca Graber profile picture

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Careers

The course explores processes of social change and participatory engagement and equips graduates with the theoretical knowledge, research skills and practical insights necessary for working in the field of community psychology.

It also serves as an ideal grounding for the further use and study of participatory modes of enquiry at doctoral level.

Two people looking at a computer

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK (full-time) 9,250 GBP

International (full-time) 16,900 GBP


Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

What's included

Here you’ll find details of specific resources and services that are included in the tuition fee for our psychology students. To help you to budget for your studies, there is also information on any additional costs that you may have to pay or can choose to pay in addition to your tuition fee.

Find out how tuition fees enable us to support all of our students with important services, facilities and resources across the university and check out our finance pages for info about fees, funding and scholarships along with advice on international and island fee-paying status.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information.

What's included in your tuition fee

  • Course books, magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies. See the subject area in the library for an up-to-date list of key subject journals and databases.
  • You will have access to computers and necessary software on campus – and can borrow a laptop from us if yours is broken or you don’t have a computer at home. Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning.

Additional costs

  • Most coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £100 for printing.
  • For some assessments you may be required to print large format posters for presentations at a cost of £5–£10 per poster.
  • Some courses include an optional placement module for which students will need to cover the costs of travel to and from the placement and DBS checks as required.
  • You may have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but if you choose to go on optional trips you can expect to pay either a contribution towards, or the full cost of, travel as well as for your food. Under normal circumstances we would expect a budget of approximately £150 per year will cover the costs of particular trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
  • You’ll need to budget for printing and stationery for personal study, and books if you decide to buy your own. Many of the set texts are available as cheap editions and we estimate that students will not need to spend more than £200.
  • Many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices, but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
  • Our undergraduate degrees are accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), making you eligible for student or graduate membership of the Society upon the award of an honours degree. BPS membership costs apply.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Moulsecoomb campus

Two miles north of Brighton seafront, Moulsecoomb is our largest campus and student village. Moulsecoomb has been transformed by a recent development of our estate. On campus you'll find new Students' Union, events venue, and sports and fitness facilities, alongside the library and student centre.

Over 900 students live here in our halls, Moulsecoomb Place and the new Mithras halls – Brunswick, Goldstone, Hanover, Preston and Regency.

Moulsecoomb has easy access to buses and trains and to all the exciting things happening in our home city.

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Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students. So if you applied for halls by the deadline you are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence.

Brighton: Moulsecoomb

Halls of residence
We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:

  • Mithras Halls are stylish new high-rises in the heart of the student village at our revitalised Moulsecoomb campus with ensuite rooms for more than 800 students.
  • Varley Park is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre, and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently?
We can help – find out more about private renting.

Relaxing in halls

Modern accommodation at Moulsecoomb

Mithras halls room with a view

Relaxing in halls near the campus

Student Union social space

Student Union social space at Moulsecoomb

Local area

One of Time Out's 50 best cities in the world

“Brighton has… all the important parts of a sprawling cosmopolitan metropolis (connections to London in under an hour, an array of properly excellent restaurants, energetic late-night spots) … with the easy-breezy beachy attitude to life that makes you feel welcome in an instant.”
Time Out’s 50 Best Cities in the World, 2025

About Brighton

The city of Brighton & Hove is a forward-thinking place which leads the way in the arts, technology, sustainability and creativity. You'll find living here plays a key role in your learning experience.

Brighton is a leading centre for creative media technology, recently named the startup capital of the UK.

The city is home to a national 5G testbed and over 1,000 tech businesses. The digital sector is worth over £1bn a year to the local economy – as much as tourism.

All of our full-time undergraduate courses involve work-based learning - this could be through placements, live briefs and guest lectures. Many of these opportunities are provided by local businesses and organisations.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and there are daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Maps

Moulsecoomb campus map

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing.

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Students playing frisbee

Student views  

Bruno de Oliveira 

“The Community Psychology MA was key for my development as an academic and as an advocate for social change. Studying for a masters is challenging, but the support offered to you is unprecedented. I enjoyed learning from people who take social action and social change as the core of who they are. So, I understood CP as a practice.

“There is a unique element to the course which is applying the theory as you go along. During the course, I started to develop my approach to questioning social issues because of the wealth of experience from the academic team. I have used the skills that I have gained during the course in my professional career on national and international community-based projects.”

Bruno de Oliveira, Community Psychology MA graduate

Bruno de Oliveira profile picture

Jaimie Deane 

“The Community Psychology MA gave me the flexibility and independence to explore fields of interest related to my career goals with collaboration and support from a friendly community of staff and students.”

Jaimie Deane, Community Psychology MA graduate

Jamie Deane profile picture

Valentina Gonzalez 

“The Community Psychology MA was exactly what I was looking for as I wanted to learn participatory theories and methods to empower people and change things in a collective way.

“I really liked that the learning process had the right balance between theory and practice, the professors were really approachable and the group of people I studied with were very diverse, which made the experience more meaningful.

“I also liked the systemic approach that CP has towards social justice; this really opened my eyes to view issues in a holistic way, understanding the endless possibilities to change things once you start uncovering the roots of social injustice.”

Valentina Gonzalez, Community Psychology MA graduate

Georgia Petrousa 

“A unique educational experience. A course tailored to my needs with exceptional educators.”

Georgia Petrousa, Community Psychology MA graduate

Dr Kate Danvers

“I started the Community Psychology MA in October 2011 and handed in my final thesis in January 2014. I studied part-time alongside family commitments and working for the NHS. Studying Community Psychology gave me the additional skills and knowledge that were invaluable in my next role as part of the senior management team of an anti-slavery children’s charity in Ghana.

“The course has enhanced my thinking and practice as an NHS Clinical Psychologist and challenged me to think creatively about service design and commissioning. I would recommend it to anyone interested in social justice and interrogating the medical model of distress.”

Dr Kate Danvers, Community and Clinical Psychologist

Stay in touch

Find out about postgraduate events

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If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

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