Why do people make the choices they do? On our MSc, you’ll explore the psychological and economic forces that shape human behaviour. Using state-of-the-art data science and analytics, this course equips you to apply your insights to real-world challenges – giving you valuable skills for a range of careers, from public policy to business strategy.
This course offers training in the foundations of psychology, decision-making, behavioural economics and behaviour change. It will also develop your understanding of state-of-the-art methods in data science and data analytics, focusing on statistical methods, machine learning, and data visualisation.
You will gain an understanding of large-scale patterns in data, with an eye to comprehending the underlying factors driving human behaviour. This can be used to understand consumer behaviour, economics, politics, history, wellbeing, and many other large-scale patterns at national and international levels. Previous experience in behavioural science is not necessary, but you should have programming skills in at least one programming language (e.g., R, Python, or others).
Applicants are required, at a minimum, to have a degree in a relevant subject, e.g. Psychology, Computer Science, Mathematics, Economics, etc., equivalent to a UK 2:1 or greater in order to be considered. As we anticipate receiving a large number of applications, preference will be given to those with the strongest quantitative or social sciences backgrounds.
Evidence of experience with programming in Python or R is also preferred—at a minimum, students should have online or university instruction in programming in at least one programming language. The MSc in Behavioural and Data Science is a quantitative degree and students should feel comfortable taking a mathematical approach to their thinking before they join the course. The course requires students to undertake programming assignments and long-form essay assignments and so requires students to be comfortable in programming and to have very good written communication skills in English.
On the MSc, we cover the use of statistics and computational approaches to make sense of behavioural data (e.g., regression, t-tests, machine learning). We cover programming languages for statistics and mathematical modelling. We also use maths in psychological and computer science models.
You can find out more about our English language requirements . This course requires the following
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We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications. For more information, please visit the international entry requirements page .
We typically ask for one academic reference for taught courses.
You will be asked to include an email address for your referee(s) when submitting your application and we will contact them for you.
View our guide to academic references
There are no additional entry requirements for this course.
Our how to apply checklist helps you prepare for your application.
How to apply checklist
Applications for courses starting in September and October 2027 are now open.
The on-time deadline for taught postgraduate courses starting in September/October 2027 is 2 August 2027.
We will still accept late applications, however cannot guarantee that the application will be processed in time to complete the admissions process if received in September or there are a number of conditions to meet.