c800 - Psychology BSc
Psychology BSc Honours
UCAS Code: C800 (full time: 3 Years)
Course Overview
Our flagship Psychology BSc Honours degree is accredited by the British Psychological Society, and is available with a professional placement year, giving you a head start in your professional career.
At a Glance
UCAS Code
C800
UCAS Institution Name and Code
NEWC, N21
Degree Awarded
BSc Honours
Course Duration
3 Years
Entry Requirements
A Level: AAA-AAB
IB: 35 points
Opportunities
Psychology is the scientific study of people, the mind and behaviour.
This BPS-accredited degree covers a range of fascinating topics, including:
- developmental and social psychology
- personality and abnormal psychology
- evolution and genetics for psychologists
Your teaching is informed by our internationally recognised research in areas such as:
- visual and cognitive neuroscience
- clinical psychology
- disorders of development
You'll have the chance to apply to take a year-long professional placement between Stages 2 and 3.
Placement opportunities may include working with clinical psychologists, forensic psychologists or psychology researchers.
You'll also develop transferable skills - such as quantitative and qualitative data analyses, computing, report writing and presentation skills - which prepare you for a wide range of careers.
Quality and ranking
Psychology at Newcastle is highly regarded:
- top 20 in the UK – The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019, The Guardian University Guide 2020 and The Complete University Guide 2020
- top 150 – Psychology category – QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019
Professional accreditation*
This degree is professionally accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).
This gives you the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (providing you achieve the minimum standard of a lower second-class Honours).
Having Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership means you can join the BPS and will be eligible to go on to further training and, if successful, to practise as a professional psychologist.
For information on the benefits of studying an accredited course, visit the BPS website.
*All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body.
Psychology crosses subject boundaries
Psychological explanations of varied behaviours range from considerations of evolutionary biology, through aspects of the brain systems that actually mediate actions, to the social and cognitive processes that underlie human behaviour and language.
Psychology crosses traditional subject boundaries. It shares elements with the arts, sciences and social sciences, areas in which we offer strength and breadth at Newcastle. This allows us to enrich your study programme with teaching and research from fields as diverse as:
- business (consumer and organisational behaviour)
- zoology (animal behaviour)
- language sciences (language acquisition, acquired and developmental speech disorders)
- physiology (hormones, sleep addiction)
- neuroscience (the structure and function of the brain)
- biochemistry (neural transmitters)
Work placement (optional)
Apply to spend nine to 12 months on an optional professional placement or work placement (subject to availability) between Stages 2 and 3. This extends your degree to four years.
Some placements will be advertised for you to apply for, for example working with clinical psychologists, forensic psychologists, or psychology researchers. Alternatively, we can provide you with support to find your own placement, including help writing applications.
Undertaking a professional placement year will help you stand out in the graduate job market. It provides an invaluable opportunity to:
- apply your knowledge in a practical context
- further develop your graduate skills
- gain demonstrable work experience to showcase your skills to future employers
Find out more about Work Placements.
Research opportunities
As well as your Stage 3 research project, there are also opportunities outside your course to gain additional research experience. This can provide an insight into what postgraduate study will be like as well as giving you the chance to gain valuable research and problem-solving skills.
All our students can apply for a paid scholarship to work on a summer vacation research project through the University's Vacation Scholarships scheme. The School of Psychology and our research institute, the Institute of Neuroscience, both participate in the scheme with different projects available every year on a competitive basis.
The School also runs a certified research apprenticeship scheme, under which student volunteers work on ongoing projects under supervision.
Practical experience
At Newcastle, we teach you how to:
- formulate theories
- conduct experiments
- use statistical techniques to identify important findings
- write up research reports
You will also play an active part as participants in staff and student psychology projects from your very first year. This is a useful experience that you can draw on when you are in your third year and running projects of your own.
Facilities and support
As a student at Newcastle, you will be based in the School of Psychology in the University's Ridley Building.
Facilities
You will have access to a purpose-built research building with modern, practical facilities for carrying out experiments and extensive computing facilities.
Support
You will have an academic member of staff as a personal tutor throughout your degree. They can help with academic and personal issues.
All first-year psychology students join a study group of approximately 10 students, led by an experienced and trained final-year student who will also act as your mentor for your first year.
Social activities
The student-led Psychology Society runs a lively programme of events throughout the year to help you meet people from all years of study. This includes visiting speakers, social events and weekends away to visit other student psychology societies.
Hannah, Psychology BSc HonoursIf you would like to study Psychology you should definitely consider Newcastle! The course ensures you have a good grounding in all areas of Psychology as well as allowing you to focus in more specialised areas in third year.
Compare this course
See how this course compares with others for topics such as student satisfaction, fees and costs and prospects after graduation using the Unistats Key Information Set.
Modules for 2019 entry
Please note
The module and/or programme information below is for 2019 entry. Our teaching is informed by research and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, student feedback, or insufficient numbers of students interested (in an optional module). To find out more read our terms and conditions.
Module/programme information for 2020 entry will be published here as soon as it is available (end of May 2020).
Our degrees are divided into Stages. Each Stage lasts for an academic year and you need to complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each Stage. Further information, including the credit value of the module, is available in each of the module descriptions below.
Stage 1
Compulsory modules
- PSY1001 Psychological Enquiry 1 - Psychological literacy and academic skills
- PSY1002 Developmental and Social Psychology
- PSY1003 Evolution and Genetics for Psychologists
- PSY1004 Cognitive Psychology
- PSY1005 Sensation and Perception
- PSY1006 Instinct, Learning and Motivation
- PSY1007 History of Psychology
- PSY1008 Personality and Abnormal Psychology
- PSY1010 Research Methods and Skills 1
- PSY1011 Research Methods and Skills 2
Stage 2
Compulsory modules
- PSY2001 Developmental Psychology
- PSY2003 Social Psychology
- PSY2004 Individual Differences
- PSY2007 Biological Psychology: Sex, Drugs, Rhythms and Blues
- PSY2008 Psychological Enquiry 2: Principles of Psychology
- PSY2009 Methods in Psychology 2A
- PSY2010 Statistics for Experimental Psychology
- PSY2011 Methods in Psychology 2B
Optional modules
You also take 40 credits of optional modules. At least 20 credits must be taken from the following list.
- PSY2002 Perception
- PSY2006 Animal Cognition
- PSY2014 Cognitive Neuroscience
- PSY2016 Abnormal Psychology and Psychiatry
- PSY2017 Clinical Psychology
You can choose 20 credits from another unit, subject to approval.
Work Placement (optional)
You can apply to spend 9 to 12 months on an optional work placement between Stages 2 and 3. You can apply to spend your placement year with any organisation and will receive University support to do so. It will extend your degree by a year and is subject to availability. Find out more on about Work Placements.
Professional Placement
Careers Placement
Stage 3
Compulsory modules
- PSY3097 Empirical Project
- PSY3029 Psychological Enquiry 3 – Psychological Literacy and Professional Skills
Optional modules
You choose 80 credits of optional modules from the following list:
- PSY3001 Evolution of Behaviour
- PSY3006 Consumer Psychology
- PSY3008 Art, Mind and Brain
- PSY3009 Co-operation
- PSY3018 The Damaged Brain: Case Studies in Neuropsychology
- PSY3026 Psychology of Religion
- PSY3027 Disorders of Development: A Psychological Perspective
- PSY3030 Foundations in Forensic Psychology
- PSY3031 The Psychology of Teaching and Learning
- PSY3033 Eating and Weight Disorders
- PSY3039 Clinical Sport & Exercise Psychology
- PSY3040 Psychobiology of Drug Addiction
- PSY3041 Sensation & Perception in Atypical Development
- PSY3042 Sex Differences and the Brain
- PSY3043 Making Sense of Scents: Investigating Olfactory Perception
- PSY3044 Cultural and technical intelligence: developmental and comparative perspectives
- PSY3045 The neurobiology of learning and memory processes
- PSY3046 Psychology for Sport Performance
You may replace 20 credits of the above modules with 20 credits of modules from Stage 2 or Stage 3 offered by another unit, subject to approval.
All candidates are considered on an individual basis.
If your qualifications are not listed here, please see our additional entry requirements web pages to find out which other qualifications are considered.
The entrance requirements below apply to 2020 entry.
Careers
Careers in Psychology
“96% of graduates from the school of Psychology were employed or in further study within 6 months of graduating. This puts Newcastle’s employment record in the top 10% of Universities in the UK.”*
Psychology has an impact on all areas of life and this means that there are lots of different career paths. Use the interactive tool on the British Psychological Society (BPS) website to learn more about different types of psychology and to decide what type of psychologist you want to be.
Developing Employability skills
Our students are encouraged to undertake a placement year to gain knowledge, experience and employability skills. Employers include:
- NHS Trust
- Prison Service
- Northumbria Police
- Institute of Neuroscience
Students also benefit from:
- Optional Career Development module at stages two and three
- Graduate skills and career events embedded throughout the degree programme
- Development of entrepreneurship through embedded Enterprise Challenges
Professional Pathways
Our professional pathways are designed to increase our student’s employability so they can confidently pursue the career of their choice. The pathways support this through offering guidance around module choices and placement choices in order to optimise a student’s knowledge and propel them on a particular vocational trajectory.
When you graduate
- If you wish to become a practising psychologist, you will need a combination of practical experience and further specialist training after you graduate (seehttps://careers.bps.org.uk/).
- If you want to become a clinical or an educational psychologist you would also need to gain suitable experience and complete the appropriate three-year doctorate programme.
- Career paths in other areas of psychology usually require a related one-year MSc programme, for example an MSc in Forensic psychology which can be studied at Newcastle or an MSc in Sports and Exercise psychology
Our Psychology programmes are valued by a wide range of sectors. Many graduates go into professions including:
- Teaching
- Marketing
- Financial Services
- Marketing
Companies that our recent graduates work for include:*
- NHS
- Home Office
- HM Revenue and Customs
- Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre
- PAUL for Brain Recovery
Find out further information about the career options for Psychology from Prospects: The UK's Official Careers Website.
Gaining an honours degree in psychology at Newcastle gives you the Graduate Basis for Registration with the British Psychological Society (BPS) providing you achieve lower second class honours or above. This means you can join the BPS and will be eligible to go on to further training and, if successful, to practice as a professional psychologist.
For information on joining the BPS when you graduate, and for joining the BPS student group for the time you are here, see http://www.bps.org.uk[HC3] [ALF4]
*Destination of Leavers of Higher Education (DLHE) data 2015/16
What our graduates go on to do: employment and further study choices
See what our recent graduates went on to do and view graduate destinations statistics. These statistics are based on what graduates were doing on a specific date, approximately six months after graduation. Take a look at the most recent data available for our graduates.
The destination data is available in varying levels, beginning with the University and moving through Faculty and School down to individual course reports. This final level may give you some useful ideas about possible options after your course or a course you are considering.
Careers and employability at Newcastle
Newcastle University consistently has one of the best records for graduate employment in the UK.
96% of our 2017 UK-domiciled UG/PG graduates progressed to employment or further study within six months of graduating.
85.5% of our graduates are in graduate level employment or further study within six months of graduating.
We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through an initiative called ncl+. This enables you to develop personal, employability and enterprise skills and to give you the edge in the employment market after you graduate.
Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers.
Applying to Newcastle University through UCAS
To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
UCAS codes for Newcastle University
- institution name - NEWC
- institution code - N21
UCAS buzzword
Ask your teacher or adviser from your school or college for the UCAS buzzword. You need the buzzword when you register on the Apply system. This makes it clear which school or college you are applying from.
All UK schools and colleges and a small number of EU and international establishments are registered with UCAS.
If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.
Making your application
On the UCAS website you can also find out more about:
- application deadlines and other important dates
- offers and tracking your application
Application decisions and enquiries
Find out more about our admissions process and who to contact if you need help with your application.