Studying psychology gives you the opportunity to find out about human development at all stages of life and in a range of different settings.

You will acquire knowledge about core areas of psychology, the ways that psychology can be applied, and skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods. By the end of the course you will have successfully completed an independent project in an area of psychology under the supervision of a member of staff.

At Glamorgan, our focus is on how psychology can be applied and we actively encourage our students to get involved in research and placement activity. For most students, this professional engagement will form a key part of your first and second year study, in addition to final year dissertation opportunities.

We offer five programmes that are all accredited by the British Psychological Society as conferring the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership;

• BSc (Hons) Psychology
• BSc (Hons) Psychology with XXX
• BSc (Hons) Applied Psychology
• BSc (Hons) Developmental Psychology
• BSc (Hons) Sport Psychology

The BSc (Hons) Psychology covers content for all seven of the Society’s required areas of psychology. Additionally you will have the opportunity to choose from an exciting range of optional modules in your final year, many covering applied areas such as health psychology, occupational psychology and forensic psychology.

The BSc (Hons) Psychology course also offers students the opportunity to develop transferable skills in research and placement activity as well as benefiting from access to staff engaged at the cutting edge of applied research and a Psychology clinic facility (PAWB Wales) providing intervention and services to the wider community.

Teaching is of paramount importance here at Glamorgan. The most recent National Student Survey revealed that 90% of our students were satisfied with the course as a whole, with high ratings being given for the enthusiasm that staff display about their subjects and the way that students are supported.

The enthusiasm and support are derived from the fact that your tutors are actively engaged in research activity which both informs our teaching and provides you with opportunities to gain real-world experience. Many of your tutors are registered psychologists with the Health Professions Council and others have professional body links with organisations such as the Behaviour Analysis Certification Board and the British Association of Play Therapists. Your tutors have published internationally recognised research, presented at conferences and professional associations and bring their expertise to bear on the modules that you study.

Psychology is very popular at both undergraduate and postgraduate level at Glamorgan. Our teaching programme incorporates many of our own research findings and our research is focussed on making a real difference to people’s lives in Wales and beyond. We welcome and encourage research students to join our research projects, or help them develop their own.

One of our particular strengths is Developmental Psychology. Here you will find Prof. Ian Stuart-Hamilton, who specialises in Gerontology and the Psychology of Ageing. His most significant book, “The Psychology of Ageing” has been translated into 13 different languages and is used in universities across the world. Prof Stuart-Hamilton is also an expert in atypical development and has worked with Autism Cymru and the Welsh Government in this area. Recently he has worked with Dr Peter Mayer to study other developmental disorders; including Williams Syndrome and Prader-Willi Syndrome.

Also within the Developmental Psychology field are colleagues who specialise in the assessment and treatment of challenging behaviour; including working with autistic children and in schools in the local area. Dr Jennifer Austin, for example is a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst with extensive experience of classroom management and graduates from our Psychology programmes can now benefit from new postgraduate provision in this area. We have a number of colleagues who are actively researching play and its role in development (Dr Karen McInnes, Dr Kevin Crowley, Dr Jane Prince and Ms Lisa Waycott) and this area has strong links to our postgraduate provision in Play Therapy. Other research activities within this area include deception across the lifespan (Dr. Rachel Taylor), reading and spelling (Dr. Peter Mayer identity development (Dr. Jane Prince), and underachievement in school (Nicola Birdsey).

Our second specialist area is Health and Sport Psychology. Here we have Dr. Bev John, who is one of the authors of the Alcohol Screening Test, which is used all over the world and Dr. Gareth Roderique-Davies (Director of PAWB Wales) who has published extensively in the field of substance abuse and developed measurement tools for addiction and craving , Other research in this area includes stress and auto-immune illness (Dr. Sue Faulkner), predicting positive psychological outcomes from stressful health experiences (Dr Deborah Lancastle),  group dynamics in sport (Dr David Shearer), self efficacy in relation to sport (Ross Hall), and identity and role as rugby supporter (Dr. Peter Mayer, Dr Rachel Taylor).

How does this course make me employable?

All of our accredited Psychology programmes provide you with the opportunities to gain direct employment-related experience as research assistants (useful for those who wish to develop careers in the applications of psychology) and in voluntary/paid experience in their second year.

You will acquire a range of transferable skills which employers really rate; including project management, communication and negotiation skills, time management and a flexible and analytical approach to problem solving. The importance of these skills is illustrated in our high rates for employability; the most recent Graduate Destinations Survey indicated that 96% of our Psychology graduates were in employment or further study within six months of graduation.

Possible Career Options

A range of career options are available to you following completion of this degree. You could continue to further study and training in one of the applied psychology areas identified by the British Psychological Society.  A number of postgraduate opportunities are available at the University, including MScs in Health Psychology, Clinical and Abnormal Psychology, Play and Therapeutic Play and Behaviour Analysis and Therapy.  Many of these programmes have strong links to PAWB Wales and you can see more information on our postgraduate programmes here.

Our Psychology Single Honours and Major programmes give you the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the Society, thus making you eligible to apply for accredited postgraduate study in areas such as Clinical, Forensic and Health Psychology. All of these career directions require a degree such as this one (which gives you the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership), a Society-approved postgraduate qualification and relevant supervised experience.

However, not all Psychology graduates end practising as psychologists; some end up as teachers, some undertake social work training while others find careers in Human Resources, police and probation services, counselling or even academic careers.

Work/Study Placements

Students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience as research assistants in the first year of the course while the second year module in applied psychology provides opportunities to reflect on skills developed during paid or voluntary placements.

Support in finding placements is provided through the University’s GlamEdge programme and students on this course are active participants in the Passport to Employability scheme run by GlamEdge (for more details on this scheme see the GlamEdge pages). You also have the opportunity to complete the second year of your course studying abroad at one of our partner institutions, for example in the United States, Sweden, France or Australia.

For more information on these opportunities visit: Employability opportunities.