Master of Arts (Applied Psychology)

With effect from January 2025, the MAAP programme will provide students with the 1,000 hours of practicum required for registration with the Singapore Register of Psychologists under the Singapore Psychological Society.

Counselling Psychology Specialisation:

• You must have a good undergraduate degree majoring in psychology with Honours (preferably 2nd Upper and above).
• You must have completed basic counselling skills training of between 12 to 40 hours either in a course or on the job training.
• You must have at least two years of relevant full-time work experience obtained after your first degree.  Relevant work experience includes counselling at-risk or vulnerable populations in the community, school, clinical, or equivalent settings. 

Educational Psychology Specialisation:

• You must have a good undergraduate degree majoring in psychology with Honours (preferably 2nd Upper and above).
• You must have at least two years of relevant full-time work experience obtained after your first degree.  Relevant work experience includes direct work in either teaching or educational assessment, or intervention with children with special educational needs or at-risk or vulnerable populations in community, school, clinical, or equivalent settings.

Please note that the programme is highly competitive and shortlisted applicants will be required to attend an in-person group interview with authentic assessments in July or August.

As the MAAP programme requires you to complete Practicum 1@Work at your current workplace (where you should be acquiring relevant work experience), you are also required to complete Section C Support of Employer in the Coursework Supplementary Form found here.

This programme is offered to one intake in January. You are advised to visit the website and look out for NIE’s announcements in May/June to confirm if the programme will be open for application at any particular intake.

Applicants who are currently working with sponsors, donors or financial institutions to fund their studies, are encouraged to submit their applications early to NIE so as not to miss out on our application period.

Applications are to be made online. Click here to sign up for an ISAAC (Integrated Student and Academic Administration System) account to apply with us. For those with an existing account, login to apply.

More information on required documents for application and entry requirements for international applicants can be found here.

The Master of Arts (Applied Psychology) is offered on both part-time and full-time basis. The candidature periods from January 2025 intake onwards are as follows:

The programme has a twin-track structure of Counselling Psychology and Educational Psychology. Each student will be offered only one specialisation, and will not be allowed to switch specialisation.

Awards at the National Institute of Education are structured in terms of Academic Units (AU). The Master of Arts (Applied Psychology) comprises 57 AU. With effect from January 2025, the 57 AU include 4 core courses, 4 prescribed electives, and either:

• a dissertation or
• 2 additional electives

Only students who perform well academically will be offered the dissertation option.

The programme structure is as follows:

Students Completing Dissertation

Students who are eligible for dissertation can choose to write a research-based dissertation (6 AU) of between 12,000 to 15,000 words. They are required to complete 8 courses (24 AU) in total: 4 core courses, and 4 prescribed electives in their area of specialisation. The courses range from 13 hours (1 AU) to 52 (4 AUs) hours in duration. 1 AU courses are typically completed over 2 full 6.5-hour days in the week before or during the semester, while 3 and 4 AU courses will be conducted over the 13-week semester.  Some courses include skills practice with real clients and supervision hours, which may be clocked as part of practicum. Apart from coursework and dissertation, students are also required to complete three practicum placements (27 AUs). The first practicum must be completed in the students’ workplace during the course of the full-time student’s first two semesters or part-time student’s first four semesters. 

Students Not Completing Dissertation

Students who are not completing dissertation are required to complete 10 courses (30 AU) in total: 4 core courses, 4 prescribed electives in their area of specialisation and 2 electives. The courses range from 13 hours (1 AU) to 52 (4 AUs) hours in duration. 1 AU courses are typically completed over 2 full 6.5-hour days in the week before or during the semester, while 3 and 4 AU courses will be conducted over the 13-week semester.  Some courses include skills practice with real clients and supervision hours, which may be clocked as part of practicum. Apart from coursework, students are also required to complete three practicum placements (27 AUs). The first practicum must be completed in the students’ workplace during the course of the full-time student’s first two semesters or part-time student’s first four semesters. 

Important note for matriculated students: 

Please refer to the ISAAC system for the programme structure relevant to your intake during Course Registration or consult your programme leader, Dr Kit Phey Ling if you need clarifications.

Courses and Study Plan for January 2025 intake onwards

Click  here for more information.

Download the course descriptions for the programme

For tuition fees, please click here.

For programme-related matters, please consult the programme leader, Dr Kit Phey Ling, for more information.