Psychology

Our Psychology degree follows the syllabus of the British Psychological Society for accreditation, but with a couple of distinctive twists. While delivering a broad curriculum in psychology, we have particular emphasis on critical thinking about psychology, and on the application of psychology in professional settings.  

Our aim is to help you learn to think about psychology, identifying the hidden assumptions that underlie how psychology is usually taught and practised. 

Psychology is a multi-faceted discipline that looks at topics from the operation of brain cells to the behaviour of people in social settings. Often these topics are looked at with a ‘one size fits all’ approach, based on traditional assumptions that are seldom challenged.  

We encourage you to engage with that challenge: to think about which assumptions and approaches may be more traditional than right. We consider how psychology reflects society, and emphasise the need to consider insights from other disciplines and from other cultures.

Our overarching goal is to support students in becoming skilled thinkers who are well prepared for further training and careers in research, professional psychology, and a wide range of related disciplines. 

The course is taught via a mix of interactive lectures, seminars and workshops. You will be taught by an enthusiastic team with diverse research and practice interests, including permanent staff who also work part time in forensic, clinical and health settings, and practitioners as guest lecturers.  

Teaching uses real-world examples, often drawn from practice, and develops important skills for professional working. These include skills of team and inter-disciplinary working, evidence gathering and evaluation, and intervention design. 

Assessments reflect the real-world focus, including case study and portfolio work. We don’t use formal written exams, but rather a range of forms of coursework, including essays, reports, case studies, intervention designs, portfolios, blog posts and presentations. You’ll learn to communicate with a range of audiences: academic, professional, and the wider public. 

You will be assigned a personal tutor to support you throughout the degree, for study support and for career planning. In your final year project you’ll be allocated a supervisor with expertise in your chosen area who’ll help you bring your research ideas to fruition. 

The course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) giving you graduate basis for chartered membership – the first step to becoming a professional psychologist.  

This allows you to pursue further training towards being a registered practitioner psychologist in a range of areas, including clinical, health, forensic, educational, counselling, occupational, and sport psychology. We’ll introduce you to these roles during the degree, and support you in your career planning towards them, including through module choices and extra-curricular activities. 

A psychology degree makes you an expert in dealing with people, and this is valuable for careers as diverse as marketing and human resources, through nursing and teaching, to probation and policing. 

You’ll do a placement module in your second year and be encouraged to continue work experience and placements on your own. Guest lecturers will give you an overview of different careers available, and how you can pursue both chartered psychology and non-chartered routes.  

If you decide you want to pursue a career in health psychology or forensic psychology, or want to pursue an academic route, we offer postgraduate programmes that you can follow after the degree.