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Careers in Psychology - Undergraduate

You can study psychology at degree level in the UK either as single subject or as a joint or combined honours course in combination with another subject.

As you might expect, you will need a degree in psychology to become a psychologist. However, a psychology degree is also useful preparation for many other careers, especially ones that involve working with people or that need good problem solving skills, because it develops a number of transferable skills.

What will be included on a psychology degree course?

Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and behaviour. Psychologists are concerned with all aspects of behaviour and the thoughts, feelings and the motivations underlying such behaviour.

The exact content of psychology degree courses varies from university to university, but all courses accredited by the Society will include:

• biological psychology (e.g. how the brain works, how it can be affected by drugs, the effects of hormones, and how we treat mental disorders)
• cognitive psychology (e.g. how we remember, learn, think, reason, perceive, speak and understand)
• developmental psychology (e.g. how humans develop physically, mentally and socially during childhood and adolescence)
• social psychology (e.g. how human behaviour and experience are affected by social context)
• personality and individual differences (e.g. why people have different personalities and how we can measure intelligence)
• conceptual and historical issues (e.g. how psychological explanations have changed over time)
• research methods (e.g. experimental design, data collection, analysis and interpretation)

Many degrees allow students to select their own modules in addition to the core content and most also include some form of individual project and practical work.

You will need to contact the appropriate universities if you require details of specific courses.

Entry requirements for psychology degree courses

Psychology is a very popular subject at university. The number of students wishing to study psychology has risen dramatically over the last few years and this has resulted in fairly high A Level or Scottish Higher grades being required for entry.

A or AS Level psychology is not normally required for entry to a psychology degree course, but you may find that taking GCSE, A Level or equivalents in psychology gives you a head start when you start your psychology degree. As with all degrees, entry requirements vary from institution to institution but applicants will normally need to demonstrate good numeracy, literacy, and the ability to handle scientific concepts.

As an indication, the entrance requirements for the top 20 universities for psychology as listed in The Times Good University Guide reveals that many require at least one science A Level (or evidence of the applicants' scientific ability at GCSE level if no science A Levels have been undertaken) and a recent survey by the Society's Psychology Education Board confirm that 25% of accredited courses now require or prefer a science A Level.

We recommend that you contact individual institutions or check their prospectuses to find out about specific entry requirements.

Advice on choosing your course

As an independent professional body the British Psychological Society is unable to recommend specific degree courses. There are numerous websites that can help you choose your university and course (a few examples are listed below), but the final decision of where to apply is up to you.

However, to keep your options open we strongly recommend that you take a degree which is accredited by the British Psychological Society for something called the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC, previously known as GBR) even if you have no plans at the moment to become a professional psychologist or are not sure what you want to do at this stage. GBC is required to gain entrance to Society-accredited postgraduate courses and training programmes that lead to becoming a Chartered Member of the Society.

You can find lists of universities offering psychology degrees on the Accredited Psychology Courses area of this website. Please visit the UCAS website for further details about applying to universities. If your undergraduate degree course is not accredited by the Society, you can still obtain GBC by completing an accredited one year full-time or two year part-time conversion course (which will be an MSc, MA, Med or Diploma).

As a final note, if your degree course is modular, it may be necessary to choose appropriate modules to qualify for GBC, so please check with the course organisers to ensure that you follow an accredited pathway of modules within your degree.

Choosing a course - useful websites

• Education Guardian University Guide
• HERO University Finder
• Quaility Assurance Agency for HE
  
• PUSH University Chooser
• RealUni - Choosing a University
  
• Times Online Good University Guide
• Unistats
  
• Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)

Please note that the British Psychological Society does not specifically recommend any of the above websites and that other sites are available to help you choose your course.

Funding for courses

Student finance can be confusing and studying at university can be expensive, but fear of debt or confusion about finance shouldn't necessarily put you off higher education. In fact, in the long run, going to university is usually financially advantageous. Although it is undoubtedly costly to go to university, you will not have to repay any student loan until you are earning over £15,000. Meanwhile, male graduates are earning 30% more on average than non-graduates after 10 years, while female graduates are earning 46% more. As a graduate you are also only half as likely to become unemployed as a non-graduate, and the range of careers available to you is far greater.

In England and Northern Ireland the onus is on universities to ensure that top-up fees do not deter potential students. Bursaries range from around £300 to over £3,000 depending on household income, with around £1,000 being typical. You should contact the universities you are interested in if you think you may be eligible for a bursary.

Many universities and colleges also offer scholarships based on things like your A Level grades, the subject you are studying and where you live. You may also be able to get extra financial help if you have children, adult dependants, a disability or a specific learning difficulty.

In addition, you can apply for a non-repayable maintenance grant of up to £2,765 per year. You will receive the full grant if your household income is less then £17,910 or a partial grant if your household income is less than £38,330.

Students anywhere in the UK can also apply for a student loan of up to £15,000 for fees and up to £4,510 for living expenses (£6,315 if you are studying in London) from the Student Loan Company (SLC), which you do not have to pay back until you are working and earning more than £15,000 per year. Again, the maximum amount that you are allowed to borrow will depend on your household income.

Additional funding for Scottish and Welsh students

Students resident in Scotland for at least the last three years and studying in Scotland get their tuition fees paid by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. In addition, Scottish students can also claim a bursary of up to £2,575 per year for living expenses and are entitled to claim up to £790 per year in travel expenses. Additional grants are also available for those with children, adult dependants, disabilities, specific learning difficulties or mental health problems.

Students resident in Wales can claim a non-repayable means-tested grant of up to £1,890 per year from the government towards their tuition fees. Further details can be found on the Student Finances Wales website.

Funding for courses - useful links

• DirectGov - Student Finance
• Guardian University Guide - A wealth of information
• Times Online - How do I pay for university?
• PUSH - Money Matters
  

Using your psychology degree for a non-psychology career

Psychology is useful in many jobs. Only about a 15-20 per cent of psychology graduates end up working as professional psychologists. However, this does not mean that psychology graduates do not use the skills they have learnt.

Psychology is useful to employers because knowing how people act is extremely useful in almost any job. It is particularly relevant to any job that involves working directly with people (such as public relations, marketing, customer services or retail management) or any job that requires the use of problem solving skills.

A psychology degree course also develops a number of transferable skills, which are valuable to employers, such as communication skills, problem solving, numeracy and statistical skills, critical and creative thinking, decision making, organisational skills, teamworking, and IT skills.

Psychology graduates are well=placed for careers and further training in many fields and oftern go on to work in disciplines such as:

• Health and social care
• Marketing and PR
• Management and human resources
• Education
• Public sector work
  

Useful links - What to do with a degree in psychology

• Use your head: psychology may be a clever career starter (Times Online)
• Careers for psychology graduates (Higher Education Academy Psychology Network)
  
• Psychology: Case studies (Prospects)

Finding work experience

Work experience is also a great way to gain practical insight into a psychology career and can give you the opportunity to find out whether you enjoy this type of work.

Many postgraduate training programmes will require you to demonstrate significant relevant work experience in order to gain a place on their course. This is especially true of highly competitive areas such as clinical or educational psychology.

It is a good idea to build up work experience as soon as you can. You will often find that you have to work on a voluntary basis in order to gain enough experience to find paid work. Consider what type of people you want to work with and contact local organisations and charities that are relevant. For example, if you want to work with children, get in touch with your Local Education Authority, children's charity or the children's unit at your local hospital.

You may find it difficult to find placements working directly with psychologists until you have a completed your degree; however, you can try contacting those working in your area by searching the Society's Directory of Chartered Psychologists. The Society's monthly magazine, The Psychologist, has a Psychologist Appointments section which is sent to members and is available online but, again, nearly all the job vacancies are for qualified psychologists.

Unfortunately, the Society cannot directly help you to find posts or work experience. Information on the few vacancies open to students before completing their degree is normally sent to university psychology departments rather than to the Society. There are a number of useful websites to help you identify local volunteering opportunities such as the ones below:

• Do-it!
  
• TimeBank
  
• V-inspired
  
• Volunteering England

For more information on the work experience required for specific areas of psychology training, please have a look at the appropriate areas of psychology page.

The Student Members Group

If you are taking a degree in psychology, you are eligible for membership of the British Psychological Society's Student Members Group (SMG). The SMG is involved in events specifically aimed at students, such as the London and Edinburgh Lectures, and holds an its own Annual Conference where students get the chance to present their own research.

Membership of SMG costs just £21 a year and benefits include:

• The Psychologist - the Society's monthly magazine (available in print and online)
• Psych-Talk - the Society's quarterly newsletter for students
• Psychologist Appointments - job vacancies and careers advice
• Journals - discounts of up to 65% on the Society's academic journals
• Networks - Regional support groups and special interest groups (SIGs)
• Conferences - reduced rates for students
• Books - Discount of 30% on books from BPS Blackwell and 20% discount on selected books from OUP
• Library membership - Access to the Europe's largest psychology library at Senate House in London

Please visit the SMG website for further details.

Other useful links

• Open your mind to psychology courses (Courses and Careers UK)
• Absolutely Fabio: New man will sort out players' heads (The Guardian)
• Postgraduate queries: How do I become a police negotiator? (The Independent)

Frequently asked questions

Please check out our Careers FAQs if you have any queries, including how to contact the Society's Help Desk.

Next steps

• Learn about postgraduate study in psychology and how to become a psychologist