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The department of psychology at the University of the Western Cape has 5 Postgraduate programmes. Please have a look at the various drop down menus below for more information regarding each programme.
The Psychology staff research areas document can be viewed to identify potential supervisors for your research.
Applications for the 2025 intake are OPEN and will close on 30 September 2024.
Applicants are only required to complete a UWC institutional online application at this stage. Provisional selections and additional information may be requested in October/November 2024.
Psychology Honours Programme Structure:
• Duration for full-time students: 1 year
• Duration for part-time students: 2 years (3 modules per year)
Kindly review our documents below that will provide more information regarding the Honours programme:
1. Honours programme brochure
2. Honours programme prospectus
3. Honours programme FAQs
Queries are to be emailed to psych-honours@uwc.ac.za
The University of the Western Cape is the only higher education institution in the Western Cape with an accredited Masters in Research Psychology Programme. This structured degree leads to registration with the Professional Board for Psychology in the category of Research Psychologist. Please view the minimum standards for this category as identified by the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
This programme is ONLY offered full-time. It includes compulsory coursework, practical research activities, and the development of a mini-thesis. An internship year at an accredited site, follows your first year of study. Once you have completed all course requirements you will need to write the board examination that will position you for registration as a Research Psychologist.
Applications for the 2025 intake will open on the 15th of March 2024 and close on the 31st of August 2024.
Kindly review our list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) prior to contacting us via psych-mresearch@uwc.ac.za since it is possible that your query has been covered by one of the FAQ items.
1. MResearch Programme Frequently Asked Questions
2. MResearch Programme Brochure
Regarding Research Psychology Internships: UWC is an accredited research internship site. However, owing to limited resources, our research internships are funding-dependent and limited to UWC master's research students who have successfully completed their first year at our institution. We are therefore unable to offer internships to masters students from external institutions.
This degree leads to registration with the Professional Board for Psychology as a clinical psychologist.
The Department of Psychology at UWC does NOT currently offer Counselling Psychology.
Applications for the 2025 intake will be open from 02 April 2024 and close on 24 May 2024. Please access the departmental application form.
Kindly review our list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) prior to contacting us via mpsychqueries@uwc.ac.za. It is possible that your query has been covered by one of the FAQ items.
Please see the official notice from the M.Psych training team for those who have applied for the MPsych Programme:
Thank you for your interest in the Master of Psychology (Clinical) programme at the University of the Western Cape. The closing date is 24 May 2024 is fast approaching. The Department will commence with the first phase of evaluations of the applications in order to select a group of applicants who will be invited to participate in the second phase (interviews).
This notice is to confirm some preliminary arrangements for the selection week. Selection interviews will be held in person during the week of 26 – 30 August 2024 at the University of the Western Cape.
Selected applicants will receive an electronic invitation to the selection week. Should you not receive an invitation by 10 August 2024, you should consider your application to have been unsuccessful during the initial screening.
Thank you for your attention.
M.Psych training team"
The MA Psychology by Thesis (only) programme is an unstructured Master's degree in Psychology. Please note that completion of this programme does not qualify graduates for professional registration as Psychologists with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), as it is an academic degree focused solely on research. For more information on courses leading to registration as a professional Psychologist, please see “How to Become a Psychologist at UWC”.
For detailed application instructions and programme information, please refer to the MA Psychology (Thesis) Brochure 2025 below. Prospective students interested in applying for the 2025 MA Psychology by Thesis programme can find application instructions in the brochure. Both departmental and online electronic applications for the 2025 UWC MA Psychology by Thesis programme opens on 8 January 2025, and will close on 31 July 2025. To ensure timely consideration, we encourage applicants to submit their electronic applications at their earliest convenience.
The brochure also provides information on departmental staff research areas. Prospective applicants are advised to align their research interests with those of departmental staff to identify potential supervisors within UWC's Department of Psychology
For more information, please email us at psych-mthesis@uwc.ac.za
The PhD degree in psychology is an unstructured doctoral degree obtained by research and dissertation only. Please note that completion of this programme does not qualify graduates for professional registration as Psychologists with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), as it is an academic degree focused solely on research. For more information on professional courses leading to registration as a Psychologist, please see “How to Become a Psychologist at UWC”.
PhD degrees in Psychology are pursued through the execution of advanced research that is conducted under the guidance of a doctoral research supervisor in the department. As a general principle, a PhD degree should aim to make an original and significant contribution to the generation of new knowledge about a psychosocial phenomenon under research investigation, and more importantly be geared towards mapping the avenues for the solution of both the research and psychosocial problem identified. For detailed application instructions and program information, please refer to the PhD Brochure 2024. The brochure also provides information on departmental staff research areas. Prospective applicants are advised to align their research interests with those of departmental staff to identify potential doctoral supervisors within UWC's Department of Psychology.
Before a candidate can be permitted to register, he/she should enter into consultation with the department. This is done via the submission of a concept note that serves as a blueprint for the finalisation of a full research proposal. Only once this concept note is approved will the applicant be admitted to the PhD programme.
For more information, please contact the course coordinator at: psych-phd@uwc.ac.za
Please also access the Psychology staff research areas document for more information and guidance.
Before submitting the application to the department, applicants need to ensure that they first apply online for admission to the University, via the UWC website (admission-and-financial-aid/apply/postgraduate-applications). This will give them their unique application number, which must be included in completing our departmental application form.
Prospective students interested in applying for admission to the 2024 Psychology PhD programme can find application instructions in the brochure. Both departmental and online electronic applications for the 2024 UWC MA Psychology by Thesis programme opened on 8 February 2024, and close on 31 August 2024. To ensure timely consideration, we encourage applicants to submit their electronic applications at their earliest convenience.
