BSc (Hons) Psychology*
Our BSc Psychology honours degree is primarily for those intending to become practising psychologists. It provides you with a sound foundation in all the key areas of psychology and specialist fields including cognitive, biological, developmental, social, clinical and health, organisational, forensic and neuropsychology.
The programme has been designed with an equal focus on theory and empirical research and with the view to cover the field of psychology as widely as possible. The overarching aim of the programme is to provide you with knowledge and understanding of the core areas of psychology to more advanced specialist fields and application.
*This programme is subject to validation.
Key Information
- Provides you with an education of the highest quality
- Prepares you for employment, future study or training
- Provides you with an in-depth grounding in theory and contemporary psychology
- Develops specialist knowledge and capabilities in specific areas of psychology
- Develops intellectual, methodological and practical skills
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Your degree
In the first two years of the programme, you will be exposed to all core areas of psychology in order to shape your knowledge and understanding. This will enable you to make an informed decision about a specialist route in the final year and for your future studies, as well as giving you the opportunity to explore different possibilities within particular fields.
The final year of the programme offers you a choice of specialist routes in some of the most popular areas in psychology including clinical, health and neuropsychology, organisational and forensic. Our BSc (Hons) programme will also prepare you for a wide range of career possibilities by enabling you to develop professional skills transferable to many different vocational settings.
How the BSc (Hons) Psychology is taught
The BPP BSc Psychology programme is taught by research-advice staff through a mix of tutor-led presentations, student-led sessions and discussions, work in small groups and student presentations, as well as independent learning and project work.
The programme is supported by a wide range of online facilities based on an interactive e-learning environment that uses computer assisted technology to enhance the learning process. This is accomplished through an on-campus and online learning environment that exposes you to new information in a safe setting, allowing you to express new ideas, practise new skills, and engage in cooperative and supportive interactions with lecturers, tutors and other students.
Our teaching will benefit you both personally and professionally by being relevant and applicable in real world settings.
Versatile lecture format
Weekly lectures are delivered by way of pre-recorded lectures, presentations, or podcasts that can be accessed 24 hours a day seven days a week via the virtual learning environment in preparation for weekly classroom-based seminars. Lectures are accessible in a variety of formats making them available via computer, smartphone (e.g. i-phone), mp3 player and so on.
Lectures last for one hour and cover the core information relevant to each week of study.
Small group seminars
Each lecture is accompanied by a two-hour weekly classroom-based seminar in small groups (15 to 20 students). During seminars you will be discussing the content of the lecture and will be taking parts in various tasks which will enable you to reflect on advanced topics related to latest developments, research evidence and applicability to real-world settings.
Contact hours
There are 12 contact hours per week in the first and second years of your BSc and an additional minimum of 20 hours a week that you will need to spend for your independent study. During your third year the contact hours will be reduced as a large proportion of your study time will need to be directed towards your research project.
Participation and student interaction
At BPP there is an emphasis on participation and student interaction. Your lecturer is a learning facilitator and students are expected to contribute questions and ideas, and even lead parts of seminar sessions. In this way, ideas can best be examined, defended, justified and reflected upon.
Career-oriented skills
The BSc Psychology programme will enable you to develop career-oriented skills such as:
- collecting, analysing and presenting information
- working with other people
- quantitative application
- research methodology
- critical thinking
- problem solving.
In addition to acquiring in-depth knowledge and understanding of all the main fields in psychology, you will also be encouraged to apply this knowledge to real-world settings and scenarios through seminar tasks, written work and groups projects.
The BSc Psychology will also give you the basis for further postgraduate training in specialist branches of applied psychology including clinical, occupational, forensic and educational psychology.
A strong emphasis is placed on personal and professional development enabling you to develop academic, personal and professional skills that will prepare you for employment through a number of career paths. In addition to employment specialist psychology branches, you could progress to a career in:
- human resources
- communication and the media
- research
- public relations
- industry and management
- marketing
- teaching
- health and social services
- the Probation Service
- the Civil Service.
Real-world activities
As the BSc Psychology programme is designed to be your first step towards a career as a psychologist, classroom scenarios are based on real-world activities that make your learning directly relevant to practice.
In your first and second year, you will participate and work in groups to design psychological research projects as part of your research methods modules. For your final year you will work individually to complete an extended psychology research project in a topic of your choice that has the potential to result in original findings that will add to our knowledge and understanding of the topic and which can lead to some published work in the form of a research article.
During this time you will attend a series of seminars which cover topics that will assist you in completing your final year academic work successfully and to the highest academic standard, which will also provide you with a number of transferable key skills essential to a successful career.
Postgraduate training
Your knowledge of all areas of the subject will make you eligible for entry into any field which is normally open to psychology graduates, or for any further postgraduate training you may require. A number of psychology graduates undertake further post-graduate training in areas of psychology such as educational or occupational psychology, health and clinical psychology and forensic psychology, as well as studying to become chartered psychologists. In addition, options will exist for you outside the field of psychology.
How you'll be assessed
Exams take place in the academic environment and you will need to be successful in order to achieve your BSc Psychology.
Our assessment methods are designed to provide you with a variety of vocationally-oriented challenges. It provides you with opportunities to:
- work in groups and be assessed informally
- develop group skills and interpersonal skills
- carry out wider reading and research and the development of academic skills
- build a body of knowledge and understanding that can be applied with relevance, confidence and sound judgement to aid analysis and decision-making
- carry out practical assessments relevant to, and requiring interface with, the real world of employment
- focus on current areas of psychological study and research.
Modules
If you are studying full-time, in the first and second year you will take core modules worth 120 credits per year in total. In your final year you will have a number of optional modules (which in combination with your core modules will be 120 credits in total). The optional modules have been designed with the aim to give you the opportunity to develop specialist knowledge in specific areas of psychology and gain a good understanding of some of the most contemporary specialist fields in psychology.
First year
The overall aim of the first year is to provide you with foundation knowledge of the main areas in psychology and further provide you with a solid foundation in research skills as well as statistical analyses.
- Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology (15 credits)
- Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology (15 credits)
- Introduction to Developmental Psychology (15 credits)
- Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (15 credits)
- Introduction to Social Psychology: Self and society (15 credits)
- Introduction to Biopsychology: The physiological basis of our behaviour (15 credits)
- Introduction to Statistics in Psychology (15 credits)
- Introduction to Abnormal Psychology (15 credits)
Second year
In the second year you will progress to a more challenging and in-depth reflection on some of the topics you learned in the first year, as well as being introduced to some new topics. You will start to critically assess and reflect on topics that you are most interested in with the aim of identifying a topic which will form your supervised research project in your final year.
- Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology (30 credits)
- Cognitive Psychology II: Perception and Memory (15 credits)
- Developmental Psychology II (15 credits)
- Personality and Individual Differences (15 credits)
- Social Psychology II: Thoughts, feelings and behaviours (15 credits)
- Biopsychology II (15 credits)
- Introduction to Organisational Psychology (15 credits)
Final year
In the final year, students undertake a substantial piece of independent research as part of your final year psychology project, with appropriate guidance from a supervisor. During this time you will also attend a series of general seminars which cover topics that will assist you in completing your final year psychology project. The final year also gives you the opportunity to direct your studies towards those areas of psychology that you are most interested in. In addition to the Qualitative Research Methods module, you will choose two modules during each semester which cover some specialist areas in psychology.
- Final Year Project (45 credits)
- Qualitative Research Methods (15 credits)
- Option modules and/or specialist route (Total 60 credits)
Option Modules and/or specialist routes
Option specialist routes include: neuropsychology, health and clinical psychology, organisational psychology and forensic psychology. The optional modules enable you to:
Option modules may be subject to change over the duration of the programme. You will need to choose two modules during each semester from the following options.
Neuropsychology, Clinical, Health Psychology and Learning Difficulties
- Psychology of Health and Illness (15 credits)
- Psychological Therapies (15 credits)
- Neuropsychology (15 credits)
- Learning Difficulties and Educational Psychology (15 credits)
Organisational Psychology
- Psychological Approaches to Organisational Change (15 credits)
- Social Psychology (15 credits)
Forensic and Investigative Psychology
- Introduction to Forensic Psychology (15 credits)
- Principles of Investigative Psychology (15 credits)
Entry requirements
We use the UCAS Tariff to set our minimum entry requirements. The tariff provides a point-based equivalent for a range of qualifications, such as 'A' Levels, NVQs and so on. For more details on the UCAS points system and eligible qualifications, see the UCAS website.
- UCAS Tariff Points of 260, or international equivalent
- Three 'A' Levels graded BCC (Plus grade C or above in English Language)
Flexible study options
As part of our aim to be the most flexible provider, we offer three start dates a year - January, May or September.
International students
For details of which international qualifications are accepted for this course, please see our country-specific entry requirements.
Your experience
At BPP University College, your studies are just part of your student experience.
While we're unlike many traditional universities – being highly career-focused and concentrating on practical application as well as academic theories – we want your time at BPP to be a great all-round experience.
There are many student-led activities and societies for you to choose from and lots going on off-campus. So as well as giving you the practical and academic knowledge you need to get ahead, we'll help you build the social skills you'll need to thrive in work – and life.
At BPP we give you all the skills and advice you need to get ahead. As part of helping you get the best possible start to your working life, we provide a specialist Careers service.
BPP Students' Association
Founded in 2011 after a year's worth of consultation with and design by students, our new Students' Association is home to 5,500 students across all ten BPP sites.
Every student of the University College automatically becomes a member of the Students' Association on joining the institution.
The Association aims to put you, the student, at the heart of everything BPP does, giving you:
- an independent voice on student matters
- information, support and guidance about your academic and personal life
- academic, cultural, social and professional enrichment through the development of clubs, societies, events and initiatives
- awareness and enhancement of your employability
Study locations
You can study the BSc (Hons) Psychology at our state-of-the-art study centres in:
Accommodation
- Tel: 0845 075 3506
- Fax: 020 7404 1389
Paying for your course
Fees from September 2012 onwards
- UK or EU students, three-year degree: £5,000 a year
- UK or EU students, two-year degree: £6,000 a year
- International students, three-year degree: £7,000 a year
- International students, two-year degree: £10,500 a year
Flexible payment plans
To help with your fees, we also offer a number of instalment options. For details of instalment payment schemes and dates, please contact the Student Finance Office:
Tel: 020 7061 1301
Email: admissions@bpp.com
Student loans
Tel: 020 7061 1301
