Psychology can be studied at school or college as a GCSE, an AS-level, A2 Scottish Highers subject, or as SCOTVEC modules leading to GNVQs.

GCSE psychology courses are designed to provide students with a basic level introduction.

Courses vary, but all include simple practical work and an opportunity to explore some of the main areas of psychology.

In A-level or Scottish Higher courses, students look at how ideas and theories in each area of psychology have developed, learn how to critically analyse evidence, and undertake some practical research.

AS is equivalent to half an A-level and can be used as the first year of a two-year A-level course or as a qualification in its own right.

SCOTVEC National Certificate Modules are short courses of study lasting for about 40 hours.They cover many different subject areas and may be grouped together to form group awards such as GSVQs.There are seven SCOTVEC modules in the area of psychology.

University admissions tutors tend to be flexible about which A-levels, AS or Scottish Higher or GNVQ subjects are necessary for entry to a psychology degree, but undergraduates need to be able to handle scientific concepts, to be numerate and to develop writing skills.

Biology, mathematics, English, history, economics or similar arts or social science subjects are all useful preparation for a degree course. Maths at the Scottish Standard Grade or at GCSE level A–C is usually required.

A- or AS-level psychology is never required for entry to a degree course, but many students do find that this gives a useful insight into the subject and helps them decide if they will be suited to study psychology at degree level.

The number of students wishing to study psychology has risen dramatically over the last ten years, with admissions tutors reporting up to 50 applicants for every place.This has resulted in fairly high A-level or Higher grades being required.

Choosing a degree

University courses (whether single, joint or combined honours degrees) typically cover all the main areas of psychological knowledge necessary to go into further training.As an independent professional body the British Psychological Society cannot recommend one course above another.The University Central Admissions Service (www.ucas.com) will help you identify which universities and colleges offer psychology degrees and various combination degrees. UCAS also publishes University and College Entrance:The Official Guide (£24.95 plus p+p) which details courses, entrance requirements and how to apply.

You can also gain an idea of the relative quality of each department by looking at the following websites:

www.qaa.ac.uk/revreps/subjrev/intro.htm (for quality assessment) and www.hero.ac.uk/rae (for research assessment).

Will your degree be accredited?

Even if you have no plans at the moment to practice psychology when you graduate, you are strongly advised to keep your options open by taking a degree which is accredited by The British Psychological Society and confers the ‘Graduate Basis for Registration’ (GBR).This will allow you to go on to further Society-accredited postgraduate training before you can call yourself a Chartered Psychologist and become eligible for the Society’s Register of Chartered Psychologists. Employers often prefer to appoint a Chartered Psychologist because the title is the public’s guarantee that the person is properly trained and qualified, and is answerable to an independent professional body.

The Society accredits joint, combined and modular honours degrees as well as single honours. More and more degrees are becoming modular and it is often necessary to choose particular modules to qualify for the GBR.

Check with individual course organisers to ensure that you follow an accredited pathway of courses within your degree.

If your course is not accredited, you can gain the GBR by:

• Taking a Society-accredited conversion course, on a full- or part-time basis (MSc, MA, Med, Diploma); or

• Sitting the Society’s Qualifying Examination.

See www.bps.org.uk/careers/search.cfm for accredited degrees, conversion and postgraduate courses, or use the order form.

Changing your career – mature students

If you are planning a change of career and have a degree in a subject other than psychology, you need to look at doing a conversion qualification to gain the GBR.Typically these courses take one or two years full-time, or can be studied by distance learning (up to four years parttime) with the Open University.

The course organisers will give you more information on entry requirements and fees.

See www.bps.org.uk/careers/search.cfm for a full list of accredited courses, or use the order form.

Student Members Group

While studying psychology you can become a Student Subscriber of the British Psychological Society – at the time of writing this costs just £13 a year. For this you will receive a monthly magazine (The Psychologist), the Appointments Memorandum for job vacancies, and a range of other benefits including discounts on journals, access to a web database of UK researchers, and membership of the Society’s Student Members Group.

Application forms are available from the Leicester office.

Further information

www.bps.org.uk/careers/careers.cfm
www.bps.org.uk/smg

Universities and Colleges Admissions
Service (UCAS), Rosehill,
New Barn Lane, Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire GL52 3LZ
Tel: 01242 222444 (general enquiries)
01242 227788 (applicants’ enquiries)
Fax: 01242 544960
E-mail: enq@ucas.ac.uk
Website: www.ucas.com
(Handles all applications to study fulltime at university or college.)