Psychology (4 year sandwich)
Entry requirements
A level
BBB in any three A Levels. BBC in any three A Levels plus grade B in either Core Maths or Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). BCC in any three A Levels for Contextual Offer students (more details https://www.aston.ac.uk/undergraduate/contextual-offer-aston-ready). Excluded Subjects: The following subjects will not be considered as one of the core three A Levels; General Studies, Critical Thinking and Citizenship Studies. We welcome applications from students who have tried to improve their examination grades by taking resits and only your latest grades will be accepted. We treat these applications in exactly the same way as other applications.
Access to HE Diploma
We accept the QAA recognised Access to HE Diploma which must consist of 45 credits at Level 3. You must obtain a minimum of 30 distinction and the rest must be at merit or distinction. Please note that we do not accept the English and Maths components within the Access qualification and you must meet the GCSE entry requirements.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
Five GCSEs all at grade C/4 and must include Maths and English Language. Please note we do not accept Key Skills or Functional Skills in place of these.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
32 points overall and must include grades 6 5 5 in three Higher Level subjects. You must also have Standard Level grade 5 in both Mathematics and English Language. Or 29 points overall, with three Higher Level subjects at 5 5 4. You must also have Standard Level grade 5 in both Maths and English Language for contextual offer students (more details https://www.aston.ac.uk/undergraduate/contextual-offer-aston-ready).
Pearson BTEC 90-Credit Diploma (QCF)
With this BTEC you must also achieve grades BB in two A Level subjects.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
With this BTEC you must also achieve a grade B one A Level subject.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)
With this BTEC you must also achieve grades BB in two A Level subjects.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
With this BTEC you must also achieve grades BB in two A Level subjects.
T Level
We accept grade Distinction in any of the below subjects: • Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction • Digital Production, Design and Development • Education and Childcare • Building Services Engineering for Construction • Onsite Construction • Digital Business Services • Digital Support Services • Health • Healthcare Science • Science
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Our four year BSc (Hons) Psychology course with integrated placement year is a fascinating subject that aims to understand why people behave in the way that they do, by considering the complex interplay between biological, psychological, environmental, cultural, and social influences on behaviour. This academic discipline encompasses a wide range of topics including: how changes in the brain influence behaviour, why false memories occur, why people behave differently when they are in a group, how language influences thinking, how we learn to understand other’s intentions, how psychological distress can be alleviated, why we identify with some people and not others, how subconscious processes influence our behaviour, and how our thinking develops as we grow from children to adults.
By choosing to study at Aston you will gain a degree accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), have the opportunity to complete a career-enhancing placement in the UK or internationally, and be taught by leading experts from a range of specialist psychological fields.
**Key course benefits:**
- Accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and confers eligibility for the Graduate Membership of the BPS, which is vital for students who wish to ultimately train as a professional psychologist (clinical, educational, forensic, occupational etc) . It is also the first step towards becoming a Chartered Psychologist.
- Our integrated placement year will give you the opportunity to gain valuable real-wold experience, setting your studies in the context of a working environment, designed to boost your future employment prospects. Placements can be taken in a psychology or related professional setting in both the UK and abroad.
- Aston is ranked 2nd in the UK for Health Professions (Guardian University Guide, 2022).
- In the Top 25 in the UK graduate prospects for Psychology (Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2022).
- Ranked in the Top 15 in the UK for Psychology graduate salaries one year after graduation (Longitudinal Graduate Outcomes data, 2021).
- Learn in a research rich environment. Aston is ranked in the Top 10 for research quality in Psychology (Complete University Guide 2022).
**Placements**
Studying Psychology at Aston provides the opportunity to take a psychology or a related professional placement year in the UK or overseas. Taking a placement year gives you valuable life experience in the context of working alongside professionals in a working environment and helps you to develop new skills and abilities. They are both personally enriching and highly valued by future employers. Recent students at Aston have completed a range of fascinating placements, both in the UK and abroad. For example:
- undertaking a study exchange in South Australia
- being a research assistant in neuropsychology in Brazil
- being a special constable in the police force
- offering mental health support and counselling for a social support charity
- shadowing clinical psychologists in an NHS trust
All students will receive specialist support and supervision for their specific placement. There is an overall placement tutor for the year group, and students are also allocated an individual placement tutor.
Students who enter placements in the NHS may be required to pay for DBS checks and occupational health checks.
**We no longer offer a Foundation Programme. If you select Year 0 on your application form, this will be amended to Year 1 at the admissions review stage.**
Modules
Year 1
Studying the key topics that will form the basis of your psychology education, you’ll learn how to articulate your gained knowledge of core theories and concepts and discover more about the possible graduate career pathways open to you. Core modules: Key Skills in Psychology I, Key Skills in Psychology II, Biological and Cognitive Psychology, Developmental and Social Psychology, Foundations of Contemporary Psychology, and Introduction to Clinical Psychology. In addition you will select two optional modules.
Year 2
Build on the core grounding you gained in your first year, as well as being introduced to exciting new subject areas such as lifespan development and cognitive neuropsychology. You’ll gain communication and critical thinking skills, along with developing your ability to use a wide range of statistical and qualitative research methods.Core modules: Research Methods and Data Analysis, Applied Psychology and Professional Skills, Social Psychology, Brain and Behaviour, Lifespan Development, Individual Differences and Personality, Cognition and Cognitive Neuropsychology. In addition, you will select one optional module.
Placement year
Your opportunity to gain valuable career boosting experience by setting your studies in a real-world context of a working environment alongside professionals.
Final year
You will select and complete eight specialist modules that fit your interests, and conduct a research project in a specialist area of your choice with support from our expert psychology staff.
For more information, please visit our website.
Assessment methods
You will encounter a variety of learning opportunities, including:
lectures
practical sessions
interactive workshops and tutorials
group work.
At university, there is a much stronger emphasis on private reading and independent study than at school or college. However, we are here to support you in making this transition and to help you manage your learning. For example we set out your work for the year in an online student guide, which includes full details of all modules including week-by-week lecture breakdowns, reading lists and all coursework assignments for the year with the relevant deadlines.
You will be assessed throughout the course. A wide range of assessments linked to learning outcomes are used, including:
class tests/end of year examinations (unseen essay, short answer or multiple choice questions)
essays
research reports (group or individual)
presentations
statistics assignments
oral presentations.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Aston University, Birmingham
School of Psychology
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Psychology (non-specific)
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Psychology (non-specific)
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
20 years ago, this was a specialist degree for would-be psychologists but now it is the model of a modern, flexible degree subject. One of the UK's fastest-growing subject at degree level, and the second most popular subject overall (it recently overtook business studies), one in 23 of all graduates last year had psychology degrees. As you'd expect with figures like that, jobs in psychology itself are incredibly competitive, so to stand a chance of securing one, you need to get a postgraduate qualification (probably a doctorate in most fields, especially clinical psychology) and some relevant work experience. But even though there are so many psychology graduates — far more than there are jobs in psychology, and over 13,800 in total last year — this degree has a lower unemployment rate than average because its grads are so flexible and well-regarded by business and other industries across the economy. Everywhere there are good jobs in the UK economy, you'll find psychology graduates - and it's hardly surprising as the course helps you gain a mix of good people skills and excellent number and data handling skills. A psychology degree ticks most employers' boxes — but we'd suggest you don't drop your maths modules.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Psychology (non-specific)
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£20k
£25k
£26k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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