Full Time: 24 months
Start date: September 2020
Accredited by the Health Care Professionals Council, with a purpose-built NHS clinic on-site, the MSc Speech and Language Therapy is for students wishing to qualify as speech and language therapists.
This course combines theoretical knowledge with clinical practice and you will gain hands-on experience right from the start.
All candidates must have had extensive work experience with a speech and language therapist or with clients with communication difficulties, both children and adults, and you must have a good understanding of the role of a speech and language therapist.As a speech and language therapy student at Reading, you will benefit directly from our world-class research into subjects, such as linguistics, language development, language pathology, and bilingualism. Other areas of specialism comprise developmental and acquired speech, language and communication disorders, including fluency disorders, aphasia, dementia, autism spectrum disorders, Williams syndrome, Down syndrome, Specific Language Impairment and dysphagia.
Your tutors will use a variety of teaching methods, including standard lectures, small group tutorials and seminars, observation clinics, problem based learning, ‘flipped’ classroom, and practical sessions.
As part of the programme, you will undertake a clinical placement and spend approximately 600 hours over 2 years in different clinical settings, including schools, hospitals, community clinics, private and voluntary sector. Professional speech and language therapists will act as your placement educators.
You will have access to excellent built-in clinic facilities for observations, teaching, placement and research, as well as a speech laboratory, extensive assessment library, student common room, University library, state-of-the art lecture theatres. We are also also one of the first universities to host an NHS clinic in our purpose-built speech and language therapy facility on site.
This programme is recognised by The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and is accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council.
Entry requirements
Please note: applications for 2020/21 entry are now closed.
IELTS: 8.0 overall with no element less than 7.5
Entry requirements: Normally a good undergraduate honours degree (2.1 or above), or equivalent from a university outside the UK, in a related field such as linguistics, psychology, medical sciences or education. Evidence of recent study is normally required if the first degree was completed more than four years ago.
Due to the popularity of this programme and the restricted numbers we are able to accept, we recommend applying as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Please note that all applicants must have been awarded their undergraduate degree before the application deadline.
What will you study?
Compulsory modules include:
| Code | Module | Convenor |
|---|---|---|
| PYMPS2 | Personality & Social Psychology 2 (M Level) | DR Emma Pape |
| PYMTA1 | Typical and Atypical Development 1 (M Level) | DR Thalia Theodoraki |
| PYMTA2 | Typical and Atypical Development 2 (M Level) | DR Thalia Theodoraki |
| PLMCI1R | Communication Impairment I | DR David Ward |
| PLMCI2R | Communication Impairment 2 | DR Tom Loucas |
| PLMCI3R | Communication Impairment 3 | DR Arpita Bose |
| PLMCLA | Child Language Acquisition | MR George Pontikas |
| PLMCP1 | Clinical Practice 1 | MRS Alison Cox |
| PLMCP2 | Clinical Practice 2 | MS Carol Fairfield |
| PLMCPH | Clinical Phonetics and Phonology | DR Mirjana Sokolovic-Perovic |
| PLMFG | Foundations of Grammar | DR Vesna Stojanovik |
| PLMLPSLT | Language Processing for Speech and Language Therapy | MR George Pontikas |
| PLMM1 | Medicine 1 | MRS Helen Marlow |
| PLMM2 | Medicine 2 | MS Carol Fairfield |
| PLMPDR | Advanced Professional Development | MS Carol Fairfield |
| PLMPPR | Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology | DR Mirjana Sokolovic-Perovic |
| PLMRD | Research and Dissertation | DR Christos Pliatsikas |
Optional modules include:
| Code | Module | Convenor |
|---|---|---|
| PLMDOF | Disorders of Fluency | DR David Ward |
| PLMEL | Electrophysiology of Language | MR Daniel Fryer |
| PLMCAA | Theoretical and Clinical Aspects of Anomia | DR Arpita Bose |
| PLMLDG | Language in Genetic Disorders (M Level) | DR Vesna Stojanovik |
How much will it cost?
New UK/EU students: £9,250* per year
New international students: £20,600 per year
Please note
*Please note this figure may be subject to change.
The fees listed are for full-time study, unless otherwise stated, and relate to courses starting in the 2020/21 academic year. Fee information will be confirmed in offer letters sent out to successful applicants. You can find further information on fees and funding, including for part-time study, through our dedicated fees and funding page.
Additional Costs
These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.
Financial support for your studies
Funding and tuition fees
The Department of Health and Social Care has now confirmed that from August 2018 new students on pre-registration master's programmes will be eligible for tuition fee loan and maintenance loans via Student Finance England for both years of the programme. This applies even if you have already taken out loans for a previous undergraduate degree.
To support you in your pre-registration MSc Speech and Language Therapy here at the University of Reading, you will also be able to access the Learning Support Fund, administered by the NHS Business Services Authority, for support while attending clinical placements.
You will need to ensure you check the NHS site regularly to keep up to date with what is being offered.
In addition, the Learning Support Fund offers additional funding for some students, due to the MSc Speech and Language Therapy compulsory clinical placements. For example, non repayable loans if you have child dependants. Please look on the website above for further information.
The Maintenance loan
Eligibility for the Maintenance loan is a means tested loan.
Students on the MSc Speech and Language Therapy programme may also be eligible for the Long Courses Loan, as the course is longer than 30 weeks.
This will be assessed by Student Finance England when the student applies for their main student finance.
See the Funding Clinic website for further information when applying as a mature student.
Applying for loans from Student Finance England
You can apply now for the 2020/21 academic year. You don’t need a confirmed place to apply.
Applications should ideally be submitted by 31 May 2020. However, you can still apply for funding up to 9 months after the first day of the academic year for your course.
What career can you have?
Our MSc in Speech and Language Therapy allows graduates to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council and work as a speech and language therapist in a range of settings, such as the NHS, education, and the private or voluntary sector.
Speech and language therapists work with adults and children with a range of communication and swallowing difficulties, including children with speech and language disorders, children with a cleft palate, clients with voice disorders, clients who have had strokes or head injuries, or those who stammer.
Some therapists work in hospitals, some work in community health centres, some work in schools or specialist centres. Some speech and language therapists may decide to move into research.