Program Overview

Mental Health, Ethics & Law MSc

Key information

Study mode: Full time, Part time Duration: One year full-time, September to September, two years part-time Credit value (UK/ECTS equivalent): UK 180/ECTS 90 Application status: Open Start date: September 2025

Course essentials

We have developed a strongly interdisciplinary course designed to investigate the interface between mental health, law and ethics at a theoretical level and to engage directly with the dilemmas and experience of illness encountered in practice. The course will expand your understanding both within and beyond your own disciplines, and will provide you with the skills necessary to analyse and critique current mental health law, practice and policy. The course is for anyone concerned with mental health who wishes to study the clinical, ethical and legal thinking behind current law, policy and clinical practice. It has been designed for health professionals, lawyers, policy makers and all those with a relevant first degree who are keen to consider the difficult questions raised by mental ill health and society’s response.

Base campuses

• Waterloo Campus: Home of the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery and facilities for other faculties
• Strand Campus: Located on the north bank of the River Thames, the Strand Campus houses King's College London's arts and sciences faculties
• Denmark Hill Campus: Home to the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience

Regulating bodies

• King's is regulated by the Office for Students

Entry requirements

UK applicants

• Standard requirements: A minimum 2:1 undergraduate Bachelor’s (honours) degree
• Programme-Specific Requirements: A minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. law, medicine, philosophy, psychology, theology, social science, one of the life sciences, or nursing studies)
• Alternative qualifications: Evidence of achievement of an academic level comparable to at least 2:1 standard through past studies and where previous study, work or experience has made the applicant a suitable candidate will also be considered

International applicants

• Equivalent International qualifications: Select a country to view equivalent qualifications

English language requirements

• English language band: B
• To study at King's, it is essential that you can communicate in English effectively in an academic environment. You are usually required to provide certification of your competence in English before starting your studies.

Selection process

• Applications must be made online using King’s online application portal apply.kcl.ac.uk and a non-refundable application fee of £85 applies
• Personal statement and supporting information:
  • A personal statement of up to 4,000 characters (maximum 2 pages) is required
  • Previous academic study: A copy (or copies) of your official academic transcript(s), showing the subjects studied and marks obtained
  • References: One academic reference is required. A professional reference will be accepted if you have completed your qualifications over five years ago

Teaching & structure

• Teaching methods: You will be taught mostly through seminar-style teaching
• Full-time:
  • Lectures, seminars and feedback: 6-8 hours per week
  • Self-study: 32-34 hours per week
• Part-time:
  • Lectures, seminars and feedback: 2-6 hours per week
  • Self-study: 32-34 hours per week

Assessment

• Your performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and written examination
• Forms of assessment may typically include essays, examinations, presentations, reaction papers, MCQ exams and discussion board participation

Structure

• Courses are divided into modules. The MSc qualification requires you to take modules totaling 180 credits
• Full-time students will take all of these credits in one year. Part-time students can choose how many credits to take in each of their two years
• Required modules:
  • Concepts of Psychiatry (15 credits)
  • Mental Health Ethics (15 credits)
  • Mental Health and Capacity Law: The Civil Context (15 credits)
  • Dissertation in Mental Health, Ethics and Law (60 credits)
• Optional modules:
  • Pro-social & Anti-social Behaviour across the Lifespan (30 or 15 credits)
  • Specialist Forensic Services: Assessment, Treatment & Development (30 or 15 credits)
  • Psychology and Neuroscience of Addiction (online module, 15 credits)
  • Psychology and Neuroscience of Affective Disorders (online module, 15 credits)
  • Psychology and Neuroscience of Psychosis (online module, 15 credits)
  • Neuroscience and Society (online module, 15 credits)
  • Techniques in Neuroscience (online module, 15 credits)
  • Mental Health in the Community (online module, 15 credits)
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Child development (online module, 15 credits)
  • Social, Genetic and Environmental foundations of Mental Health (online module, 15 credits)
  • The Concept of Mental Disorder (15 credits)
  • Philosophy of Medicine (15 credits)
  • Illness Narrative as Life Writing
  • Medical Law 1: Consent, Refusal & Request (15 credits)
  • Law at the End of Life (15 credits)
  • Reproductive Ethics (15 credits)
  • Medical Law II: Negligence & Misadventure (15 credits)
  • Criminal Law and Mental Disorder (15 credits)
  • Law and Reproduction (15 credits)
  • Moral Theory & Medical Ethics (15 credits)
  • Ethics and Politics of the Body (15 credits)
  • Global Health Ethics (15 credits)
  • Public Health, Autonomy and Resource Allocation (15 credits)

Employability

• You will be able to use this course for many different career opportunities
• Roles in relevant policy-related areas, including positions in mental health advocacy groups nationally and internationally, professional regulatory organisations and government departments in the UK or overseas
• For clinical practitioners, professional development to support promotion, or to take your career in a more specialist direction in clinical management, education or research
• For legal practitioners, opportunities for specialisation in mental health and mental capacity law
• A stepping-stone to a career in clinical psychology or other clinical roles within the NHS or other healthcare settings
• Possibilities to move into the private sector, such as scientific publishing, human resources, occupational health, management consultancy or roles
• A stepping-stone to pursue doctoral-level research (PhD or MD(Res)), which may lead into an academic career

Fees & Funding

• Tuition Fees:
  • UK: Full time: £13,500 per year (2025/26), Part time: £6,750 per year (2025/26)
  • International: Full time: £31,600 per year (2025/26), Part time: £15,800 per year (2025/26)
• Deposit:
  • Home deposit: £500
  • International deposit: £2000
• Additional Costs:
  • Books if you choose to buy your own copies
  • Library fees and fines
  • Personal photocopies
  • Printing course handouts
  • Society membership fees
  • Stationery
  • Graduation costs
  • Travel costs for travel around London and between campuses
• Funding: To find out more about bursaries, scholarships, grants, tuition fees, living expenses, student loans, and other financial help available at King's please visit the Fees and Funding section.