International and Cross-Cultural Counselling Studies MSc

Level: Postgraduate taught

Subject: Counselling and Psychotherapy

Year of entry: 2026

Study options

Mode of study

On campus

Full-time
  • MSc | 1 year | Start date: September 2026
Part-time
  • MSc | 2 years | Start date: September 2026

Key facts

School

School of Health in Social Science

College

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme website
Study location

Central Area

Accreditation

Not available

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About the degree programme

This programme equips you with critical perspectives and cultural awareness in relation to counselling and psychotherapy practice in our increasingly globalised and diverse world. 

Counselling and psychotherapy are growing in popularity across the globe; however, not enough attention has been paid to how this discipline might work in differing contexts and with diverse populations.

As a primarily Western area of study, there are inherent biases and cultural viewpoints present in this field. In this programme you will be encouraged to question the colonial, ethnocentric, and heteronormative assumptions that underlie many psychotherapeutic practices. Drawing on contemporary perspectives, post/decolonial approaches, and social theory, you will challenge traditional discourses of suffering and healing.

Interdisciplinary, arts-based, experiential, and embodied pedagogic and research practices are integral to the programme.

This MSc is not a full professional practice training in counselling and psychotherapy. We offer the latter through our:

  • Master of Counselling (Interpersonal Dialogue), two years full-time
  • Master of Counselling, four years part-time
  • Doctor of Psychotherapy and Counselling, which may be taken full-time or part-time

Tuition fees

Tuition fees by award and duration

Tuition fees for full-time and part-time options are listed for one academic year.

Full-time
Part-time

Graduate discount

If you are a University of Edinburgh graduate, you will be eligible for a 10% discount on your tuition fees for this programme. You may also be eligible if you were a visiting undergraduate student.

Find out how to receive your graduate discount

Deposit

You do not have to pay a deposit to secure your place on this programme.

Costs

Accommodation and living costs

You need to cover your accommodation and living costs for the duration of your programme.

We estimate that you might spend £1,167 to £2,330 per month if you are a single student.

Living costs include:

  • food
  • utility bills
  • travel, clothes, books and stationery
  • recreational costs (for example, TV subscriptions and social events)

Living costs

Accommodation costs depend on where you live while studying and the type of accommodation you choose.

University postgraduate accommodation options and costs

Funding opportunities

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

  • borrowing money
    • taking out a loan
    • family support
  • personal savings
  • income from work
  • employer sponsorship
  • scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Search for other funding opportunities

You can find scholarships, bursaries and other funding you might be eligible for on our Scholarships and Student Funding site.

Postgraduate funding opportunities

These entry requirements are for the 2026-27 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2027-28 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2026.

Qualifications

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent. 

We will also accept a UK 2:2 honours degree, or its international equivalent, with a strong personal statement, relevant experience and/or references confirming your aptitude to study at postgraduate level.

Your personal statement should demonstrate a high level of motivation. It should indicate why you want to study counselling and demonstrate an understanding of the relevance of international and cross-cultural perspectives in counselling and the capacity to reflect on personal aptitude for work in this field.

International qualifications

To find international equivalent qualifications, select where you studied from the country or region list.

English language requirements

You must prove that your English language abilities are at a high enough level to study this degree programme.

This is the case for all applicants, including UK nationals.

You can meet our English language requirements with one of the following:

  • an English language test
  • a degree that was taught and assessed in English
  • certain professional qualifications

English language tests we accept

We accept any of the following English language tests, at the specified grade or higher:

  • IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 23 in each component We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
  • C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 176 in each component.
  • Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
  • Oxford ELLT: total 8 with at least 7 in each component.
  • Oxford Test of English Advanced: total 155 with at least 145 in each component.
How old your English language tests can be
Tests no more than two years old

The following English language tests must be no more than two years old on the 1st of the month in which your programme starts, regardless of your nationality:

  • IELTS Academic
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition)
  • Trinity ISE
  • Oxford ELLT
  • Oxford Test of English Advanced
Tests no more than three and a half years old

All other English language tests must be no more than three and a half years old on the 1st of the month in which your programme starts, regardless of your nationality.   

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English-speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration.

UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English-speaking countries (non-MESC).

Approved universities in non-MESC

How old your degree can be

If you are not a national of a majority English-speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old on the 1st of the month in which your programme starts.

This time limit does not apply to your degree if you are a national of a majority English-speaking country.

Find out more about our English language requirements

Find out about other English language qualifications we accept, including professional qualifications.

English language requirements

What you will study

On the programme, you will engage with critical perspectives and psychosocial approaches to counselling studies, drawing on theories from within psychotherapy as well as from other disciplines within social sciences, cultural studies and philosophy.

Further, the programme will offer you the flexibility to engage with a wide variety of optional courses to tailor and enrich your learning for both professional and research endeavours.

You will be trained in qualitative, creative and relational approaches to research and inquiry. Exploring and working with different research paradigms, you will examine approaches that resist the established rigidity in research practice. The course will culminate with an original research project.

The programme involves four compulsory courses, two option courses and the research dissertation.

Compulsory courses

The compulsory courses are:

  • Counselling Across Borders
  • Decolonising Counselling and Psychotherapy
  • Counselling across languages and cultures
  • Between Counselling and Research 1: Approaches, Issues and Debates (L12)

Option courses

There are a wide range of options from Counselling and Psychotherapy, Global Mental Health Studies and other relevant disciplines. They include practice, theory and research courses. 

Options from Counselling and Psychotherapy include:

  • Queering Counselling and Psychotherapy
  • Rethinking Subjectivity in Practice and Research
  • Counselling Children and Young People
  • Creative Therapies with Children and Young People
  • Body Talk: Embodiment, Physical Dialogue and Authentic Movement
  • Autoethnographic Research Methods in the Social Sciences
  • Humanities and Arts-informed Research Methods in the Social Sciences

Find courses for this programme

Find out what courses you can study on this programme and how each of them are taught and assessed.

The courses on offer may change from year to year, but the course information will give you an idea of what to expect on this programme.

Full-time
Part-time

We link to the latest information available. This may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Teaching and learning methods include:

  • lectures
  • theory seminars
  • experiential group work
  • practice-skills workshops
  • research supervision
  • independent study

Assessment

Assessment is through essays, presentations and the research dissertation.

Learning outcomes

By engaging with, and completing, the MSc in International and Cross-Cultural Counselling Studies graduates will be able to:

  • Respond to the changing social and political contexts and policy environments of counselling and mental health care while retaining proactivity and flexible thinking
  • Critically explore how their personal history, difference, intersectionality and diversity emerge, influence and are worked with in helping relationships with others
  • Recognise and exercise their ethical responsibilities as human beings, citizens, professionals and scholars in the context of global social injustice
  • Conceptualise problems, issues and debates from both therapeutic and critical social science perspectives
  • Critically assess established professional assumptions about counselling, health and society
  • Absorb new ideas from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and be able to work with them creatively
  • Critically assess existing understanding with reference to the socio-cultural and disciplinary contexts in which knowledge and research are produced
  • Recognise and challenge the epistemological and methodological foundations and limitations of existing research

Support for your studies

You will have access to a range of support services if you need them throughout your degree.

We will assign you to a student adviser, and this should be the first person to contact if you need help. They can guide you to other University service teams depending on what support you need.  

How we support you

Our academic staff

Staff members in the programme come from different parts of the world and bring with them both their diverse lived experiences and academic and professional credentials to foster a climate of dialogue and encounter with difference.

Career opportunities

Graduates of the MSc in International and Cross-Cultural Counselling Studies use the degree in a variety of ways. 

For some it opens up employment opportunities in a range of fields, often in combination with first degrees or other professional training, including:

  • education
  • policy
  • research and development on health and illness
  • emotional health and wellbeing
  • counselling

The degree also enhances the career prospects of professionally qualified counsellors and practitioners by introducing them to new ways of thinking about practice, research and understanding the needs of diverse client groups. 

Many graduates use the MSc as a foundation for undertaking further specialist therapeutic training in the UK or abroad.

Others enhance their careers by using newly developed conceptual, analytical and research skills and may use the MSc to embark on doctoral research.

Further study

After completing this programme, you may wish to consider applying for a PhD or other research programme.

Applying for research degrees

Moving on to a PhD (advice from the University's Careers Service)

Careers Service

Our Careers Service can help you to fully develop your potential and achieve your future goals. 

The Careers Service supports you not only while you are studying at the University, but also for up to two years after you finish your studies. 

With the Careers Service, you can: 

  • access digital resources to help you understand your skills and strengths
  • try different types of experiences and reflect on how and what you develop
  • get help finding work, including part-time jobs, vacation work, internships and graduate jobs
  • attend careers events and practice interviews
  • get information and advice to help you make informed decisions 

Visit the Careers Service website 

How to apply

You apply online for this programme. After you read the application guidance, select your preferred programme, then choose 'Start your application' to begin.

If you are considering applying to more than one programme, you should be aware that we cannot consider more than 5 applications from the same applicant.

When to apply

Programme start date Application deadline
14 September 2026 30 July 2026

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible so that we have enough time to process your application. This is particularly important if you are also applying for funding or will require a visa. Applications may close earlier than published deadlines if there is exceptionally high demand.

For an application to be reviewed, it must be a complete application by the application deadline with all supporting documentation uploaded, including your transcripts.

If you already have evidence that you meet the English language entry requirements, such as via an approved English language test, please upload this evidence at the time of your application. If you have not already met your English language requirements, we will still review your application and issue a decision providing it is otherwise complete.

Application fee

There is no fee to apply to this programme.

What you need to apply

As part of your online application, you will need to provide: 

You will also need to submit some or all of the following supporting documents:

When you start your application, you will be able to see the full list of documents you need to provide.

References

You do not need to provide a reference when you submit your application for this programme.

There may be certain circumstances when a reference will be required, for example if we need to verify work experience. If that is the case, we will contact you after we have reviewed your application to request a reference.

Apply

Select the award, duration and delivery mode you want to study. Then select the start date you want to apply for.

After you apply

Once you have applied for this programme, you will be able to track the progress of your application and accept or decline any offers.

Checking the status of your application

We will notify you by email once we have made a decision. Due to the large number of applications we receive, it might take a while until you hear from us.

Receiving our decision

What to do if you receive an offer:

Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of University accommodation for all new, single postgraduate taught students from outside the UK and new, single postgraduate research (typically PhD) students who:

  • apply for accommodation by 31 July in the year when you start your programme
  • accept an unconditional firm offer to study at the University by 31 July
  • study at the University for the whole of the academic year starting in September

University accommodation website

Accommodation guarantee criteria

We also offer accommodation options for couples and families.

Accommodation for couples and families

If you prefer to live elsewhere, we can offer you advice on finding accommodation in Edinburgh.

Accommodation information from the Edinburgh University Students' Association Advice Place

Societies and clubs

Our societies and sports clubs will help you develop your interests, meet like-minded people, find a new hobby or simply socialise.

Societies

Sport Clubs

The city of Edinburgh

Scotland's inspiring capital will form the background to your studies — a city with an irresistible blend of history, natural beauty and modern city life. 

Find out more about living in Edinburgh

Health and wellbeing support

You will have access to free health and wellbeing services throughout your time at university if you need them.

The support services we offer include: 

  • a student counselling service
  • a health centre (doctor's surgery)
  • support if you're living in University accommodation
  • dedicated help and support if you have a disability or need adjustments

Health and wellbeing support services 

Disability and Learning Support

General enquiries

Contact our Programme Administrator about your eligibility or how to apply.

Contact us
Phone:+44 (0)131 650 3890

Academic contact

Dr Karen Serra Undurraga

Programme Director

  • School of Health in Social Science
  • College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
  • University of Edinburgh

Contact details

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