Psychology with a Foundation Year
Entry requirements
A level
80 UCAS tariff points. A maximum of two AS level subjects with two A levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications
Pass with 60 credits overall. At least 45 credits at level 3.
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE English Language or English Literature and GCSE Maths at grade C/4 or above. If you do not have these or are not undertaking them, we accept other Level 2 equivalents, or we may ask you to pass BCU's GCSE equivalency tests.
Pass with 120 credits at level 4
Pass with 120 credits at level 4 and 120 credit at level 5
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Obtain a minimum of 24 points overall. Student who do not already hold GCSE in Mathematics at grade C/4 or above 5 in Maths (Standard Level) from the IB Diploma will be accepted Students who do not hold a GCSE in English at Grade C/4 or above Standard Level English Language (not Literature) English A - Grade 4 or above or English B - grade 5 from the IB will be accepted.
80 tariff points, achieved in four higher level subjects. This must include English Language taken at either Ordinary level (minimum grade O1-O4 (or A-C/A1-C3) or Higher level (minimum H5/D1)
See Level 3 Entry under Irish Leaving Certificate for full details.
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification
OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma
Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification. All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification. All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification. All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)
All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification. All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification. All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification. All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with one A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification. All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification. All subjects accepted except Health and Social Care pre 2016 syllabus
Achieve a minimum of 80 tariff points achieved in either three Advanced Highers or from a combination of two Advanced Highers plus two Highers. Where three Advanced Highers have been taken achieve a minimum of grades DDD. Where a combination of Highers and Advanced Highers have been taken you must achieve (grades of DD in two Advanced Highers plus grades of CD in two Highers).
Achieve a minimum of 80 tariff points achieved in either five Highers or from a combination of two Advanced Highers plus two Highers. Where only Highers have been taken a minimum of grades CDDDD is required. Where a combination of Highers and Advanced Highers have been taken you must achieve grades of DD in two Advanced Highers plus grades of CD in two Highers.
80 UCAS points (Merit overall)
UCAS Tariff
80 UCAS tariff points. Considered with two A level or an equivalent level 3 qualification.
About this course
Looking for a foundation course in psychology in Birmingham? Our BSc (Hons) Psychology with a Foundation Year degree has lower entry requirements and can lead to a full undergraduate qualification.
This course has been specifically designed to allow home and EU students, who do not initially meet the Birmingham City University entry requirements for our standard Psychology degree, to undertake additional level 3 study designed to ensure they are successful on their chosen degree course.
The foundation year itself will equip you with the required knowledge and skills to proceed on to any of our undergraduate Psychology degree courses offered within the School of Social Sciences.
You will gain a deep understanding of how the core and specialised areas in psychology contribute to our understanding of contemporary issues, as well as looking at the role of brain function across multiple psychological perspectives. You’ll apply scientific reasoning and evaluate patterns of behaviour, gaining key transferable skills in communication, teamwork and problem-solving. You’ll also adopt a variety of perspectives ensuring you get the big picture.
**Foundation Year**
The foundation year is designed to give you the opportunity to develop your academic and interpersonal skills while developing your subject knowledge further to support you to success on your academic path. By studying a foundation year, your first year will be spent learning a wide range of broad subject areas which then open up opportunities for you to specialise further in your next year – which would be the first year of a full degree programme.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Curzon Building Campus
Birmingham City Business School
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.
£17k
£19k
£25k
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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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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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:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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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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