Study options
- Starting in
- September 2025
- Location
- Whitechapel
- Fees
- Home: £8,200
Overseas: £17,000
EU/EEA/Swiss students
What you'll study
This postgraduate diploma provides a multidisciplinary understanding of the connection between mental disorder and criminal behaviour, and the approaches for reducing violence through appropriate care and management of those at risk of offending. It encompasses approaches from forensic psychology, psychiatry, criminology and sociology as well as public health.
We offer you a distinctive psychosocial focus, a key component of current Ministry of Justice and Department of Health Policy. This approach helps you to reflect on your own experiences and practice in a way that develops your skills as a clinician, researcher or leader in the field, as well as providing a framework for safe and therapeutic work with offenders.
This programme is intended for students who are interested in an applied course in forensic psychology, forensic psychiatry and/or criminology but do not require Stage 1 accreditation for the British Psychological Society for the Qualification in Forensic Psychology (QFP). Those who do require accreditation should apply to the Forensic Psychology and Mental Health Pathway.
Structure
- Three compulsory modules
- Four elective modules from a selection
- In Semester 1, an elective choice of one from two modules
- In Semester 2, an elective choice of three modules from a selection
Compulsory/Core modules
This module provides an overview of the theory, practice and evidence base for forensic mental health services in the UK and internationally. It provides a focus on the practices of violence prevention, risk assessment and management, as well as legal frameworks and the role of different professionals with the forensic mental health system.
This 15-credit module provides students with advanced-level training in research techniques appropriate for postgraduate research projects. It includes lectures on key research principles, such as research methodology; writing up research; and conducting ethical research projects, as well as practical workshops focused on developing skills in data analysis.
This module provides students with essential knowledge and skills about Applied Research Methods. The general aim is to equip students with transferable skills that can be either used towards completing an empirical project or conducting a systematic review.
Elective modules
The module will introduce learners to key microeconomic concepts and principles, their relevance to the health economy and the need for alternative approaches to priority setting and resource allocation. The module will then discuss key health economic analytical frameworks to inform resource allocation in health, exploring methods of economic evaluation, health policy evaluation, economic analysis of public health interventions, and analysis of inequalities in health and health care. Throughout the module, the focus will be on developing learners¿ ability to critically appraise, conceptualize, design, and carry out appropriate health economic analyses.
Recent government policy acknowledges that professionals from criminal justice, mental health and third sector agencies are expected to work with personality-disordered offenders. These individuals¿ complex emotional, inter-personal, behavioural and social difficulties can result in great personal distress, and sometimes a significant risk of harm, to themselves and/or those around them. In this module, students will be developing a better understanding of the interpersonal, team and organisational dynamics that can help or hinder this work.
This module provides students with major theories of different schools of thought and paradigms within psychology, such as the Psychoanalytic Paradigm, the Sociocultural Paradigm, the Trait Paradigm, the Learning Paradigm, the Evolutionary Paradigm and the Existential-Humanistic Paradigm. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the history of psychology and the nature of psychopathology. This module also touches upon branches of philosophy such as epistemology, rationalism and empiricism and explores how contemporary philosophers, such as Kuhn's and Popper's view of science.
The module links theory to practice, providing an overview of culturally competent approaches to the assessment, treatment and prevention of mental illness in local and global contexts. Students are introduced to research evaluating cultural competency at different levels of service delivery including culturally adapted psychological therapies, culturally appropriate assessment tools, clinical and organizational strategies to improve accessibility of mental health services, cultural competency training frameworks as well as strategic approaches to equitable global mental health care. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the importance and effectiveness of these different approaches and how they are used to enhance and improve available psychological interventions and systems of service delivery to treat a range of mental illnesses across diverse populations. Students will be also submitting a reflective piece based on their work/clinical placement.
This module equips students with knowledge of core skills employed by Mental Health professionals in their workplace. The module maps out both classic and contemporary work in mental health settings and relates theory and research to practice, particularly in psychotherapy. Theory and research are drawn from a number of distinct areas, such as clinical and counselling psychology with a review of core mental health skills, such as assessment, diagnosis and formulation.
This module equips students with knowledge of practical application of theoretical knowledge bases related to investigative and legal processes within the discipline of Forensic Psychology and Forensic Mental Health. The contribution of Forensic Psychology to the English Legal System will be introduced prior to students reviewing involvement of related theory and practice in the investigative system. Theory and research are drawn from a number of related areas, including the link between forensic psychology and: policing; interrogative interviewing; working with witnesses; eyewitness testimony; behavioural investigation, and offender crime scene behaviour.
In this module we address the fundamental public health question of how best to finance and organise health systems in order to achieve universal health coverage and the effective delivery of comprehensive PHC. We will be particularly concerned with the ways in which health care systems differ from the perspective of access to services among different social groups within the population, and also with the distributive effects of different organising principles such as market and public control. The relationship between health systems and the Primary Health Care Approach will be covered, as well as key debates around the interface between aid, global health governance and national health systems. This module will also cover the essential economic theories used to inform health systems policy.
Assessment
- 100% Modules
- %
You’ll be assessed by coursework, oral assessments and written exams.
Teaching
You’ll be taught through a mix of formal lectures and small group seminars. The seminars may involve student presentations, group exercise and role-play.
We take pride in the close and friendly working relationship we have with our students. You’ll be assigned an Academic Adviser, who will guide you in both academic and pastoral matters throughout your time at Queen Mary.
If you want to study part-time, the pathway is designed to fit with the requirements of professionals, including psychiatry trainees already working in forensic psychiatric or comparable services.
You’ll complete core clinical and theoretical learning modules in your first year of study, then research modules in your second year.
Where you'll learn
Facilities
Access to Queen Mary’s comprehensive libraries, including the Postgraduate Reading Room
Access to the large medical and dental archives at the Royal London and at Barts
Mentors for non-programme related support, including careers advice
Campus
You’ll be based at our Whitechapel campus, the main home of Queen Mary University of London's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, close to The Royal London Hospital. Whitechapel is a vibrant area, famous for its street market, variety of curry houses and the Whitechapel Gallery. The campus has its own library, state-of-the-art labs at the Blizard Institute and a Students Union with a cafe, bar, computers and bookshop. You can also use all the facilities at the Mile End campus, which is ten minutes up the road.
Queen Mary University of London's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry's fantastic locations in both east and central London mean that you will develop your clinical skills and knowledge within a diverse local community.
We’re proud to work closely with linked NHS hospital trusts including Barts Health, Homerton, Newham, Whipps Cross and Queens’ (Romford).
We bring research, teaching and practice together, to create an exceptionally wide-ranging, inspiring clinical environment in which you'll study.
About the Institute
Wolfson Institute of Population Health
This course is based at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, which delivers internationally recognised research and teaching in population health. The Wolfson Institute is a part of Queen Mary University of London’s faculty of medicine and dentistry.
The work of our researchers and educators has had a significant impact on lives across the world. We provide integrated teaching and training opportunities delivered by leaders in the field. By sharing knowledge and pushing the boundaries of research, we will continue to advance population health and preventive medicine on a global scale.
Queen Mary is a member of the Russell Group of leading research universities in the UK and the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry proudly holds an Athena Swan Gold Award in recognition of our commitment to gender equality.
Career paths
This programme is aimed at you if you want to learn more about forensic mental health but are not currently interested in training as a forensic psychologist. It will ideally suit you if you have a research interest in forensic mental health and/or an existing professional identity in criminology, nursing, psychiatry, probation or social work.
- 92% of Institute postgraduate taught graduates are in employment or further study 15 months after graduation (2020/21)
- 84% of Institute postgraduate taught graduates are in highly skilled work or graduate study (2020/21)
Fees and funding
Full-time study
September 2025 | 9 months
- Home: £8,200
- Overseas: £17,000
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Unconditional deposit
Home: Not applicable
Overseas: £2000
Information about deposits
Part-time study
September 2025 | 21 months
- Home: £4,100
- Overseas: £8,500
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Unconditional deposit
Home: Not applicable
Overseas: £2000
Information about deposits
Funding
There are a number of ways you can fund your postgraduate degree.
- Scholarships and bursaries
- Postgraduate loans (UK students)
- Country-specific scholarships for international students
Our Advice and Counselling service offers specialist support on financial issues, which you can access as soon as you apply for a place at Queen Mary. Before you apply, you can access our funding guides and advice on managing your money:
Entry requirements
UK
Degree requirements
A good 2:2 or above at undergraduate level in Psychology or a related discipline such as Sociology, Criminology, Law, or a Medical degree (non-UK medical degrees marked on a grading scale must be equivalent to UK good 2:2).
Find out more about how to apply for our postgraduate taught courses.
International
English language requirements
The English language requirements for our programmes are indicated by English bands, and therefore the specific test and score acceptable is based on the band assigned to the academic department within which your chosen course of study is administered. Note that for some academic departments there are programmes with non-standard English language requirements.
The English Language requirements for entry to postgraduate taught and research programmes in the Wolfson Institute falls within the following English band:
Band 4: IELTS (Academic) minimum score 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking
We accept a range of English tests and qualifications categorised in our English bands for you to demonstrate your level of English Language proficiency. See all accepted English tests that we deem equivalent to these IELTS scores.
Visas and immigration
Find out how to apply for a student visa.