Legal Notice 83 of 1998 - Malta Government Gazette No. 16,591 17 March 1998
Legal Notice 182 of 1998 - Malta Government Gazette No. 16,644 24 July 1998
Legal Notice 151 of 2005 - Malta Government Gazette No. 17,772 27 May 2005 |
EDUCATION ACT (CAP. 327) Master of Psychology in Clinical Psychology - M.Psy. (Clin.) - or in Counselling Psychology - M.Psy. (Couns.) - or in Educational Psychology - M.Psy. (Ed.) - Degree Course Regulations, 1998 IN exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 30 (5) and 31 (6) of the Education Act (Cap. 327), the Chancellor of the University of Malta has promulgated the following regulations made by the Senate of the University of Malta by virtue of the powers conferred upon it by sections 31 and 35 of the said Act:
Citation and interpretation 1. (1) These regulations may be cited as the Master of Psychology in Clinical Psychology - M.Psy. (Clin.) - or in Counselling Psychology - M.Psy. (Couns.) - or in Educational Psychology - M.Psy. (Ed.) - Degree Course Regulations, 1998.
(2) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires -
"the Board" means the Board of the Faculty of Education;
"the Course" means the Course leading to the Degree of Master of Psychology in Clinical Psychology - M.Psy. (Clin.) or in Counselling Psychology M.Psy. (Couns.) or in Educational Psychology - M.Psy. (Ed.); and
"the Degree" means the Degree of Master of Psychology in Clinical Psychology - M.Psy. (Clin.) - or in Counselling Psychology - M.Psy. (Couns.) - or in Educational Psychology - M.Psy. (Ed.).
Applicability 2. These regulations shall apply to courses starting in October 1997 or later.
Eligibility for the Degree 3. To be eligible for the award of the Degree, students must:
(a) successfully complete the course of studies;
(b) be successful in the assessment of the synoptic study-unit;
(c) complete successfully the practice placements; and
(d) satisfy any other requirements laid down in these regulations and in any other statutes, regulations and bye-laws of the University.
Special Course Requirements 4. (1) Candidates for admission to the Course must be proficient in the Maltese Language and shall be in possession of the following, or equivalent, qualifications:
(a) for the course in Clinical Psychology or in Counselling Psychology:
(i) the degree of Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), normally with First or Second Class (Upper Division), or an equivalent qualification from this or another university; and
(ii) a minimum of 2400 hours of experience in clinical or counselling settings. This experience should normally be obtained after candidates have been awarded the Honours degree in psychology, except in cases where the experience and the practice prove to be of equivalent level;
(b) for the course in Educational Psychology:
(i) the degree of Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), normally with first or second class upper, or an equivalent qualification from this or another university; and
(ii) a University recognized teacher qualification; and
(iii) two years' teaching experience as qualified teacher or similar work as approved by the Board.
(2) Candidates shall be required to attend for an interview in order to assess their aptitude.
(3) (a) The Board shall, after approval by Senate, determine the number of applicants that may be allowed to register in any of the three areas of specialization indicated in paragraph (1) of regulation 6, depending on the availability of resources. The Board, shall, however, announce the number of available places in each area of specialization at the time of the call for applications.
(b) If the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of available places, the applicants shall be selected through an interview conducted by the Board of Studies that shall take into consideration the qualifications, experience, aptitude and references.
Course Duration
5. (1) The duration of the Course shall be of two full-time academic years.
(2) Students shall be required to register before the beginning of each academic year.
Course of Studies
6. (1) Students shall be required to choose one of the following areas of specialization:
Clinical Psychology, or
Counselling Psychology, or
Educational Psychology.
(2) The Course shall consist of:
(a) taught study-units, to which a total of 60 ECTS credits are assigned, of which 10 ECTS credits shall be assigned for a synoptic study-unit;
(b) practice placements, to which 50 ECTS credits are assigned; and
(c) a dissertation, to which 10 ECTS credits are assigned.
Assessment
7. (1) The method of assessment of all components of the Course as laid down in paragraph (2) of regulation 6 shall be indicated in the catalogue of study-units. Students are required to obtain all the credits indicated in that regulation.
(2) Results for the assessment of all the study-units, the practice placements and the dissertation shall be published as a percentage mark and grade as indicated in the table below:
Mark Range Grade
80% - 100% A
70% - 79% B
55% - 69% C
45% - 54% D
0 - 44% F
Both the percentage mark and the grade shall be recorded in the students' academic record. However, only the percentage mark shall be used for the purpose of calculating the students' progression from year 1 to year 2 and for the final classification of the Degree.
(3) Students must obtain the credits for all the study-units covered and must be successful in the practical placements in order to proceed from the first to the second year of the Course:
(4) Students who fail one or more of the study-units covered in the first year may resubmit their assignment/s or resit the tests once, normally in September. Students who are successful shall be assigned the minimum grade D.
(5) Students who fail their first year placements and/or any one of the study-units covered shall be required to withdraw from the Course.
(6) In exceptional cases, Senate may allow students who fail the Course to rejoin the Course at the first opportunity.
(7) Students who fail one or more of the taught study-units covered in the second year may resit the assessment or resubmit their assignments once, before the assessment of the synoptic study-unit is scheduled to take place. In such cases, the maximum marks and grade that may be awarded are 45% - grade D.
(8) The assessment of the synoptic study-unit shall be held on completion of the taught study-units and of the practice placements.
(9) Students who fail in any component of the assessment of the synoptic study-unit may be allowed by the Board to sit for a supplementary assessment in the failed component once, at the next scheduled examination session. In such cases, the maximum marks and grade that may be awarded for the synoptic study-unit are 45% - grade D.
Dissertation
8. (1) Students shall present a written dissertation of not more than 25,000 words in length on a subject proposed by them and approved by the Board. The dissertation should provide evidence of independent research and constitute an original contribution to the subject.
(2) The proposed title and outline of the dissertation shall be approved by the supervisor and submitted for the Board's final approval by not later than June of the first year. Any substantial modification in the title or content of the proposed dissertation that is required by the progress of the student's study and research must be referred to the Board for approval.
(3) Students shall be assigned a supervisor.
(4) The Board, in consultation with the supervisors and/or the students, shall be responsible for. monitoring the progress of the dissertation. The Board shall from time to time establish procedures in order to fulfill this responsibility.
(5) Students shall be required to submit the dissertation for examination by not later than one month after the first assessment of the synoptic study-unit.
(6) The dissertation shall be examined by a Board of Examiners appointed by Senate, on the recommendation of the Board.
(7) The Board of Examiners shall be convened by its Chairman to discuss the dissertations. Students may also be required to take a viva voce examination in defence of the dissertation.
(8) The Board of Examiners may approve the dissertation. It may require the students to make corrections or to rewrite and resubmit the dissertation within six months from the date of submission, or it may reject the dissertation altogether.
(9) Students whose dissertation is rejected, or whose corrections or rewriting are considered inadequate, or who have not submitted the dissertation within the required time-limit shall not be awarded the Degree.
(10) Students who successfully resubmit the dissertation shall be awarded the minimum marks and grade: 45% - grade D.
Final Results
9. (1) Students who are successful in the assessment of the taught and synoptic study-units, the practice placements, and the dissertation shall be eligible for the award of the Degree and their name shall be published in a list in alphabetical order classified as follows:
Pass with Distinction
Pass.
(2) Successful students shall be awarded the Degree according to their area of specialization.
