BSc Psychology
Queen's University Belfast
Key Information
Campus location
Belfast, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
3 years
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
GBP 23,100 / per year *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
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* international fee
Introduction
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour. Our professional body, the British Psychological Society (BPS), describes Psychology as being "about understanding what makes people tick and how this understanding can help us address many of the problems and issues in society today."
Our programme is accredited by the BPS, and as such you will cover topics from the seven key areas in Psychology, building understanding and critical insight throughout your degree programme. These areas are:
- Biological Psychology – Biological basis of behaviour: neuroscience, genetics, animal behaviour
- Cognitive Psychology – Mental processes underlying thinking, memory, language and learning
- Conceptual & Historical Issues – Considers where the discipline has come from, where it’s going, and the big unanswered questions of Psychology
- Developmental Psychology – How we grow and develop, from conception to old age
- Individual Differences – How we differ from one another in terms of traits, abilities and motivations
- Research Methods – How we collect and analyse data to further understanding the mind and behaviour
- Social Psychology – How we perceive ourselves and others, interact as groups and the influences of culture and society
Psychology Degree Highlights
Our BPS accredited programme is delivered by research leaders with a commitment to both student support and delivering an innovative and interactive educational experience.
Professional Accreditations
- Successful completion of an accredited undergraduate programme confers eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society (BPS).
- We invest in our students by providing free Student Membership of the BPS throughout their undergraduate degree programme. As such a graduate of Queen's will automatically become a Graduate Member of the BPS with GBC providing the final year thesis module is passed and at least a 2.2-degree classification is achieved. This allows the use of the title MBPsS after your name for as long as you remain a member of the BPS.
Career Development
- Our students can choose either a year-long paid professional placement or a placement module in their final year. Recent students have secured placements with IBM, PWC, Praxis, NI Civil Service, a range of local schools, Simon Community among many others. We support our students to find a placement that works for them through our dedicated Placement and Employability support team who are on hand before, during and after placements.
- Working together with colleagues in the University's careers team we prepare students both for placement and their future careers with a programme of guest speakers and practical skills workshops including CV writing, writing a personal statement and interview skills. Our aim is to enable our students to go on to further study or graduate employment in the workforce.
World-Class Facilities
- We have invested to enhance facilities for students within the School to include a refurbished teaching and learning area where you will take weekly practical classes in your first two years. These state of the art facilities, which are only available to Psychology students, can also be used for private and group work outside class times.
- Students can get involved in our research programmes from early on and as such will become familiar with many of our high-tech research facilities such as our animal behaviour lab, brain stimulation lab, the virtual reality and motion-capture technology in our Science in Motion lab located in the Queens Sport building, our eye-tracking devices, our child development observation lab, and a large psychology test library amongst other facilities.
- For breaks between classes, there is a Psychology student social space with kitchen facilities as well as a separate student quiet room.
Internationally Renowned Experts
- Our research is grouped around a number of themes including Development and Cognition; Social Psychology; Health Welfare and Clinical Psychology; and Perception and Action.
- We’re at the forefront of groundbreaking research which you’ll find embedded throughout our teaching.
- We are particularly proud of the impact of our research on informing policymakers, developing industry partnerships and ultimately touching on the lives of thousands of individuals.
- The most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) placed the School among the UK’s top 20 Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience departments in terms of both research intensity and research impact.
Student Experience
- Our commitment to student experience begins before you join us on campus with a series of pre-induction welcome activities. These will provide you with important information about your course as well as an opportunity for you to meet your peers and smooth your transition into University life. You will later participate in a range of on-campus induction events, all aimed at building connections with your peers, academic staff, and the School more widely. During this time, you will meet the staff who will be important during your first year including your Year Head, Personal Tutor and Advisor of Studies.
- Beyond this, we hold social mixer events for each year group at the start of every year and we run a programme of social events which in recent years have included an on-campus zoo day, staff-student Christmas quiz, student photography competition, Easter treasure hunt and a staff-student running club. We also facilitate a number of student-led social groups including 21+ (for those who have had a break in their studies before coming to University) and our international student group. We run a peer mentoring scheme where first-years are assigned to second and third-year mentors and our student society PsychSoc is also very active.
- All of this is overseen by our Psychology Student Support Officer who is available for help and support.
- Your feedback is an important part of ensuring you have the best student experience possible and we provide numerous opportunities for students to voice their opinions throughout the academic year via town-hall meetings and student voice committees. These help us build an even better student experience.
Career Opportunities
Psychology offers an arguably unique grounding in both qualitative and quantitative research skills, meaning our graduates have high verbal and numerical competencies. You’ll have well-developed organisation and self-management skills and be confident communicators to both small and large groups of people, using a range of media. Equipped with team-working and leadership experiences, you’ll not only be able to problem-solve with critical insight, but lead others to do so too. All this is on top of your insights into the mind and behaviours of others, and yourself.
Employability is woven throughout the degree programme, supporting you to develop a range of workplace skills. You will be encouraged to undertake volunteering and placement opportunities to enhance your knowledge and skills and to build experience to help you progress either to further study in your chosen field or to the world of work.
Employer surveys suggest that graduates who have spent time in a workplace whilst studying are at an advantage when it comes to applying for graduate employment, therefore you will have the opportunity to undertake one of two placement opportunities within the degree programme.
Firstly, we offer a professional placement year which is taken between the 2nd and final years of study and enables you to gain in-depth experience, working full-time, in a paid capacity for 40 weeks. Through the placement, you will be supported to develop work-based skills and experience in a sector that you are interested in.
Or there is a shorter placement option in the autumn term of the 3rd year. This placement will enable you to gain experience and use your psychological knowledge to support the work of an organisation.
Employment after the Course
To become a practising psychologist you will need a postgraduate qualification. Practitioner roles include:
- Clinical psychologist
- Educational psychologists
- Developmental psychologists
- Forensic psychologists
- Health psychologists
- Occupational/organisational psychologists
- Counselling psychologists
- Sport psychologists
- Academic psychologists
At Queen's, we offer professional doctorate degree programmes in Clinical Psychology and also in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology, in addition to a doctoral research (PhD) programme for academic psychology.
However, our graduates are often found using their Psychology knowledge and skills in a wide range of graduate careers including teaching, information technology, social services, media and communication, marketing, civil service, HR, healthcare, recruitment, consultancy, market research and training and development.
Employment Links
Our students go on placement with employers across the public, private and third sectors. Hopefully, those listed below give an indication of the range of employers we have established links within recent years.
Private sector:
- Graham Construction
- Grant Thornton
- Hughes Insurance
- MXB
- Wilson Sloan
Public sector:
- Belfast City Council
- Northern Ireland Civil Service
- Rathcoole Primary School
- SPSS The Link Centre
- St. Brides Primary School
Community and Voluntary sector:
- Child Brain Injury Trust
- Conway Education Centre
- Guide Dogs NI
- Mindwise
- Upper Springfield Development Trust
Alumni Success
Gerard Anderson, Head of Brain Injury Services, Child Brain Injury Trust.
"Psychology is not just a subject for aspiring clinical or educational psychologists, but also a subject that is used to develop leaders, build teams, create relationships and a subject that will enable you to develop emotional intelligence and critical thinking skills that others will remember you for."
Maeve Hinds, Mental Health Navigator.
"With Psychology being such an all-encompassing subject, I believe it to be very important for the student to be proactive about discovering where they would like to go after they graduate; from the beginning of their time as an undergraduate. Queen’s Psychology degree offers a fantastic range of volunteer opportunities, inside and outside of the university as well as informative work placements."
Additional Awards Gained
There are no specific additional course costs associated with this programme.
Prizes and Awards
We award prizes to the top three students in each year, for the best second-year group project and for the best final year thesis. The British Psychological Society (BPS) awards a prize to the highest performing graduating student annually.
Degree plus award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's, you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world-leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
Curriculum
Course Structure
Introduction
Over the first two years of the programme, we cover a diverse syllabus, approved by our accrediting professional body, the British Psychological Society (BPS), which provides a solid foundation across the full range of Psychology’s core domains.
Throughout your time with us, you’ll develop a wide range of transferable skills which make our graduates so appealing to employers. Psychology offers an arguably unique grounding in both qualitative and quantitative research skills, meaning our graduates have high verbal and numerical competencies. You’ll have well-developed organization and self-management skills and be confident communicators to both small and large groups of people, using a range of media. Equipped with team-working and leadership experiences, you’ll not only be able to problem-solve with critical insight but lead others to do so too. All this on top of your insights into the mind and behaviors of others, and yourself.
Stage 1
In the first year, you'll get a gentle introduction to Psychological theories in each of the core domains and the application of Psychology in everyday life. We deliver this through a variety of engaging and interactive teaching methods including lectures, small-group tutorials, and practical laboratory classes.
- Foundations in Psychology
- Introduction to Methods in Psychology
- Using Psychology in Everyday Life
Stage 2
In the second year, you'll build a more detailed knowledge of the core domains whilst developing critical and analytical thinking skills. Our subject specialists use a mixture of theoretical and practical teaching methods to hone the skills required to be a successful graduate.
- Core Psychology I
- Core Psychology II
- Psychological Methods
Professional Work Placement Year Option
At the end of the second year, you’ll have the opportunity to enhance your employability and practice your psychological skills within the workplace, by taking a year-long professional work placement, working with one of our many graduate employer partners across the private, public, and voluntary sectors.
Stage 3
In the final year, you'll be able to tailor your Psychology degree according to your own individual interests by choosing from a selection of modules designed to explore current developments across the domains of Psychology; all delivered by our cutting-edge researchers. Note that final year modules change annually and the modules listed are intended only to give an idea of the range of topics that might be available.
- Typical and Atypical Literacy Development
- Aging: Mind, Brain, and Behaviour
- Psychologists at Work: Insights Into Graduate Employment
- Psychology of Gender
- Using Nudges to Change Behaviour
- An Introduction to Clinical Health Psychology
- Introduction to Political Psychology
- Depression and Anxiety
- Forensic Psychology and Crime
- Psychology Thesis
For students who don’t wish to take a year-long work placement before starting final year, we offer our ‘Psychologists at Work’ module which places students with one of our many employer-partners to work on a 6-8 week project applying psychology in the workplace.
You'll complete your degree in Psychology by submitting a research project thesis at the end of your final year. This independent research is completed under the supervision of our expert academic staff, who will be with you every step of the way on your transition to becoming a graduate Psychologist.
What else will you do?
You’ll also have opportunities to see psychology in action across your three years.
We have a Research Participation Scheme for first-year students, where they gain experience by taking part in research projects being run within the School while earning degree credit.
We also offer a number of paid research skills studentships where students have the opportunity to work with one of our academic teams over the year, developing their research skills while contributing to one of our many research projects.
As part of your studies, you’ll have the chance to take personality tests for yourself, see how they’re scored, and learn how to interpret your results, gaining insight into who you are as an individual and how you tend to approach life, work and study situations.
Optional modules in the final year may offer field trips. In previous years, our students have hosted visits from a local primary school, gaining practical experience in administering educationally relevant psychological assessments to young children.
Learning and Teaching
As a student, you’ll benefit from our high-quality learning environment. We invest in our academic staff, with some specializing in teaching and learning, and others specializing in psychological research. This means you’ll always be taught by an expert in the subject matter, who is delivering research-led teaching informed by current developments in the field. By providing a range of learning experiences that enable our students to engage with subject experts, we can support your development of attributes and perspectives that will prepare you for life and work in a global society and be an independent, lifelong learner. There is much more to our Psychology degree than traditional lectures. The delivery of our curriculum is evidence-based for best practice and effective learning – we bring Psychology to our teaching as well as to our students.
- Digital Learning
Digital skills are becoming ever-more important for graduate employers, so we embed such skills across our degrees. For example: delivering lectures online; using mobile phone apps in lectures so students can text in answers and participate in group activities; weekly laboratory classes to develop competencies using statistical software packages; use of interactive web-based learning activities to explain statistical concepts; training in the use of IT programs for creating presentations, reports and other media. - Guest Speakers
We want to prepare and motivate our students for their life beyond University. As a student, you’ll see that our embedded employability strand invites guest speakers to come and talk to you about their career pathways and professional work. The invited speakers are a mix of practicing Psychologists working in the different professional areas of the discipline, and also high-achieving psychology graduates who have embarked on careers outside of traditional Psychological practice. - Laboratory Practicals
Psychologists need skills in measuring, analyzing and describing behavior as part of their professional practice. You’ll develop these practical skills in weekly laboratory practical classes throughout the first and second years. Lab classes will develop your research methods and experimental design skills, providing you with training in analytical methods and statistics. You will collect data during the classes by participating in experiments/class activities and practice analyzing and describing the results you find. Laboratory practicals are designed to prepare you to undertake the assessed research projects in the second and final years of your degree. - Lectures
Lectures provide you with foundational knowledge of the core concepts and theories of each topic covered. In lectures, we will provide you with some suggested reading to start you off with self-directed study, encouraging you to study each topic in the detail required for assessments. - Practical Research Projects
As a first-year student, you’ll receive course credit for participation in Psychological research being carried out in the School, providing you with a participant’s perspective on research. As a second year, you’ll undertake a group research project under the supervision of your academic tutor, ending in a mini-conference where you’ll present your findings to other students and staff, developing your psychological and transferable skills in tandem. This will prepare you for undertaking your final-year thesis where you will undertake a research project under the supervision of an academic staff member to showcase the skills and knowledge you have acquired over your degree programme. - Professional Practice Experience
We also offer the opportunity to develop practical skills in the administration and interpretation of psychometric tests. For example, you’ll be given the opportunity to complete, score, and interpret your results on a psychological test of personality. This will provide you with the opportunity to reflect on your own personality dispositions and understand how you as an individual tend to approach various work, life, and academic situations. You’ll get insights into your own behavior which will be useful when making decisions about your future career pathway, help you to improve your approach to studying, and also identify personal development goals. This is in addition to the insight into psychological testing and the work of a Psychologist. These opportunities are also provided in some of our final-year modules, where assessments involve the administration and interpretation of psychological tests. - Self-directed study
This is an important aspect of a University education – the ability to build your own knowledge through independent study. We place great importance on developing and encouraging these attributes which graduate employers tell us are key to employment success. - Small-group Tutorials
In the first two years of study, you’ll meet in small groups (of around 10 students) with your academic tutor to discuss critical aspects of psychology, develop scholarship and academic skills, and engage in personal-professional development planning. The sessions will also be used to regularly review your academic performance on a one-to-one basis with your tutor. As a final-year student, you’ll do these development tutorials during your regular meetings with your thesis supervisor.
Assessment
Assessment isn’t just about measuring performance; it’s about helping and motivating you to achieve your full potential. That’s why we use a continuous assessment philosophy with a ‘little and often’ approach. The course is designed to help you to keep up with your studies on a weekly basis, to avoid stressful ‘cram for the exam’ situations.
- We assess students in a variety of ways, with each assessment tied to the aims and objectives of the module. For example, we assess understanding and knowledge of Psychology through coursework essays, research reports, class tests, and end-of-year examinations.
- We also teach and assess the skills necessary to be a successful Psychologist and graduate, using methods including reflective diaries, oral presentations, debates, and practical research/psychometric testing projects.
Feedback
Feedback is key for professional development and success.
- When you think of feedback, most people think about corrections on a piece of work after it has been marked. That’s called summative feedback, and while this type of feedback is important, there is much more to feedback than simply a mark and some corrections. Feedback is the key to professional development and success, so when we provide you with summative feedback, we won’t just tell you what was good and what wasn’t so good; we’ll also tell you HOW you can achieve more next time around by giving you specific ‘action-points’ to work on.
- The other, arguably more important, type of feedback we’ll give you is called formative feedback. This type of feedback is provided BEFORE you submit a piece of work for assessment. We want our students to achieve, and formative feedback is how we will guide you to achieve your best before you take assessments. It comes in a variety of forms, e.g. coursework guidance documentation, revision classes, coursework help clinics, practice tests, online discussion posts between teaching staff and other students, and tutorial discussions to name but a few.
- We also believe that feedback is most useful when you engage with it. That’s why we’ll teach you how to reflect on the feedback you encounter throughout your degree and apply the learning in your future assessments. Reflective practice is something you’ll be doing as a future Psychologist, so we will introduce it to you early in your studies so you can harness this approach to improve the quality of your work.
Admissions
Program Tuition Fee
Scholarships and Funding
How do I fund my study?
There are different tuition fees and student financial support arrangements for students from Northern Ireland, those from England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain), and those from the rest of the European Union.
Scholarships
Each year, we offer a range of scholarships and prizes for new students.
International Scholarships
Student Testimonials
English Language Requirements
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