BSc (Hons) Psychology with Child Development

Your degree in Psychology with Child Development will develop your knowledge and understanding of children and young people from a psychological, cognitive, social, emotional and cultural perspective.

You'll be focusing on why babies, children, adolescents and older people behave the way they do. You'll also design and carry out studies to explore the factors that go to influence adult behaviour.

The aim is to learn how psychologists can use their knowledge to understand individuals and help them to make a positive difference to their life's development.

You'll be studying in one of the largest - and friendliest - Schools of Psychology in the country, with a huge range of expertise available to you on the campus across a range of subjects. 

There are many jobs and careers that are options for you with a BSc Psychology degree. These include jobs within the Allied Psychology sector, such as: Employment Specialist, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, Social Prescribing Link Worker, Wellbeing Manager, Mental Health Social Worker, FE Psychology teacher, Research Assistant or Assistant Psychologist, Youth Worker; School Counsellor and support work. Some of these many require further training that we can help you with.

Some of our graduates choose to seek employment in non-Psychology areas. These are jobs in areas where there are employers who want psychology graduates, due to the transferable skills you will gain during your studies. These include Human Resources, Market Research, Civil Service, Business Graduate Training Schemes, Teaching, Third sector & Charity roles, administration, self-employed or entrepreneur, data work in public and private sectors and allied health professions, Nursery Management/Lead roles.

BSc Psychology is also an essential qualification for students seeking further training and careers in Academia, Research, Clinical, Counselling, Occupational and Educational Psychology. All of these options are possible with our BPS-accredited degrees alongside experience. Other postgraduate options that you may wish to specialise include Health Psychology, Sports Psychology, Neuropsychology or Neuroscience, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Psychology.

Our course combines a wide range of elements to provide you with a strong academic grounding. We'll also introduce you to related areas of study, linking them to how you can apply your knowledge to working with children or other groups.

The course includes all the core material you'll need for accreditation by the British Psychological Society through modules shared with our other BSc Psychology courses. However, the course has a particular focus on developmental psychology - the study of how thinking and behaviour changes through life.

You'll develop your knowledge and understanding of the needs and experiences of children and young and older people from cognitive, social, emotional and cultural perspectives.

Key to many careers and employers - you will also develop thinking skills, including analysis and interpretation of evidence, scientific reasoning, critical thinking, and appreciation of multiple perspectives and approaches. Furthermore, other skills for life and work will include communications, computer literacy (including statistical software), interpersonal and group-work skills, self-knowledge and reflexivity, and planning and time-management (under the broad knowledge base of 'mental wealth').

We consistently review our courses to ensure we are up to date with industry changes and requirements from our graduates. As a result, our modules are subject to change. 

Foundation year

Students on the Psychology Foundation Year take three core (compulsory) modules and one option module. The two option modules that students can choose from are Topics in Counselling and Topics in Psychology.

Topics in Counselling will equip students with basic skills in counselling and upon successful completion of the Foundation Year (passing all four modules including Topics for Counselling), students are eligible for an interview to join the BSc Counselling degree (accredited by the British Associate for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)).

Topics in Psychology introduces a range of key and current issues in psychology, providing an excellent starting point for level 4 on our undergraduate psychology programmes.

All students who successfully complete the Psychology Foundation Year (gaining 120 credits), regardless of which option module, are eligible to progress onto the BSc (Hons) Psychology or one of our specialist pathways:

• BSc (Hons) Psychology with Child Development
• BSc (Hons) Clinical and Community Psychology
• BSc (Hons) Forensic Psychology

All of the above are accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).

• Tawjihi: 60% for Foundation
• 3 x AS Levels: Foundation
• US High School Diploma: GPA 2.0 for Foundation
• US High School Diploma: GPA 3.0 + SAT1 1070 for Direct Entry to Bachelor's
• International Baccalaureate (IB): 25 points with minimum 15 at Higher Level for Direct Entry to Bachelor's
• 3 x A Levels: Direct Entry to Bachelor's

The fantastic thing about a psychology degree is that as well as giving you a path to professional psychology - the skills and knowledge it gives you means you can work practically anywhere.

Our degree and teaching will give you the skills and experience in data management, data analysis, report writing, and critical and creative thinking. These are all skills that are now in the top ten of modern employers' requirements for graduates - so the fact you will have these skills and experience means you're a step ahead and well placed for graduate employment. Furthermore, employers value psychology students because they believe they have a better understanding of human behaviour - your understanding of how people work will be a real selling point, especially later on down the line if you apply for managerial jobs.

Many of our graduates now work in social welfare, sport and leisure, education, human resource management, consumer research and advertising, marketing, media, market research and community work.

However if you choose to pursue a career in psychology, our degree provides a fantastic platform for you to continue onto postgraduate studies, so that you can specialise in an area of psychology, such as clinical, counselling, occupational and community psychology. You can study all of these degrees in-house, as we offer Masters level and Doctorate level courses, which are BPS-accredited, so you can effectively train to be a professional psychologist without ever leaving us. From there, the career paths can lead to incredibly rewarding, satisfying and high-paying jobs in the public and private sector.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.