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 place particular emphasis on critical thinking about psychology, and on the real-world 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 global and diverse perspectives.

Alongside this, you’ll develop practical research and professional skills, including designing research studies, analysing data using specialist software, and applying psychology in practice.

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’ll 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 teamwork, inter-disciplinary working, evidence gathering and evaluation, data analysis, 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’ll 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.

Between second and third year, there is an option to take a placement year, giving you the chance to gain valuable industry experience and apply your learning in a professional setting.

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 throughout your degree, and support you in your career planning towards them, including through module choices, placement opportunities 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.

Your future career is important to the course, and we aim to give you plenty of opportunities to develop your professional skills, including a 35 hour placement in year two. You’ll also have the opportunity to take a placement year, helping you gain practical experience, build confidence and explore your career options before you graduate.

Guest lecturers and industry professionals 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 specialise in areas health psychology or forensic psychology, or want to pursue an academic route, we offer postgraduate programmes that you can follow after the degree.