BDS Admissions and Applications

Key Facts

Start date - 4th October 2027
Duration - 1 year
Format - Full time taught course
Degree - Master of Science
Route - C803

We are committed to equality of opportunity, as stated in our Equal Opportunity Policy. We welcome applications from anyone with the potential to succeed in higher education. The University aims to avoid unfair discrimination on whatever grounds, including gender and ethnic background.

Entry Requirements

This year we anticipate many applications. As such, we are only able to accept students with a solid quantitative background (2.1 in quantitative field with demonstrated experience in maths or programming), students with an extremely strong social science background (1st or equivalent), or students who have solid evidence of programming experience and a solid generalist background (2.1 in chosen field).

English Language Requirement: Band B

Maths Background

The MSc in Behavioural and Data Science is a quantitative degree and students should feel comfortable taking a mathematical approach to their thinking. On the MSc, we cover the use of statistics to make sense of behavioural data (e.g., regression and t-tests). We introduce the R and Matlab programming languages for statistics and mathematical modelling (though we do not assume you have previous experience of these languages). We use maths in psychological and computer science models.

You should be familiar with some of: elementary calculus, basic geometry, really basic knowledge of sets, functions like logarithms, exponentials, powers, probability and probability distributions. You don't need to know all of these things, but you should not be frightened about learning about them! Evidence of at least two classes in some area of mathematical sciences (broadly defined) is sufficient (e.g., research methods/statistics in any field). Such a quantitative approach is necessary to understand data from field studies and experiments, and big data sets and surveys. It's also a great way to formalise and think about ideas about how people behave and the aggregate consequences of this behaviour.

Programming Background

Prior experience with Python, R, or Matlab is extremely valuable. Though students do not necessarily need to show evidence of this training in their application (unless it would be the key point of an application), students accepted onto the course would greatly benefit themselves by studying one or more of these prior to the beginning of the course. The MSc in Behavioural and Data Science involves a great deal of programming and analysis. Prior experience and/or self training in one of these programming languages is therefore invaluable.

Application Process

Places on taught postgraduate taught courses are limited, so you should submit your application as early as possible. If you are an international applicant and need to obtain a student visa, you will need to leave plenty of time for this process. For this reason international applicants must submit their application by 31 July for courses that begin in September.

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