Psychology with Forensic Psychology (with integrated year in industry)
Aberystwyth University
UCAS Code: C803 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Aberystwyth University
UCAS Code: C803 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
Aberystwyth University welcomes the Welsh Baccalaureate as a valuable qualification in its own right and considers completion of the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate to be equivalent to an A level grade.
About this course
The BSc in Psychology with Forensic Psychology (with integrated year in industry) at Aberystwyth University offers students an opportunity to gain insights into critical areas of this applied area of psychology, including understanding criminal development and behaviour, courtroom behaviour and offender profiling. The duration of this course is four years. Students on this course will be given an opportunity to undertake a year in industry during the third year. The year in industry is the perfect opportunity to gain experience in a sector and to develop the sought after industry-level skills before graduating. Professional qualifications require a firm grounding in the background to forensic psychology, and this BPS accredited undergraduate degree is a building block to later postgraduate study, essential for those considering Forensic Doctorates and Chartered Forensic Psychology status.
Studying Psychology with Forensic Psychology will allow exploration of key concepts and applied research through dedicated modules and supervised forensic-themed final year projects. You will study forensic psychology along with additional allied modules, such as Drugs and Behaviour and a forensic-themed dissertation. Many staff in the department conduct research in forensic settings, and include funded projects with the Youth Justice Board, Police and Home Office, in topics such as serious and organised crime, restorative justice and cybercrime.
In your first year, you will cover the core BPS degree modules alongside the core Introduction to Forensic Psychology module. The aim is to provide you with the foundations for the key topics in forensics and develop an understanding of the input from other sub-disciplines in psychology. In your second year, the Applied Forensic Psychology module will build upon the foundations from year 1 and develop the content into a focused understanding of how psychology can be used during investigations and the court, along with critical issues surrounding research and ethics. During your third year, you will undertake your industrial year placement in area relevant to your course. Upon completion of the industrial year, you will return to Aberystwyth to complete your course. The final year will bring many of these concepts and topics together into your forensic-themed dissertation, supervised by staff with experience of conducting research in this and related areas. You will develop a topic and analyse the empirical data to support your research question. Alongside the dissertation, you will take the Drugs and Behaviour module which explores some critical issues in relation to crime, addiction and rehabilitation.
Careers in forensic psychology represent some of the most interesting and rewarding roles in a range of challenging environments, including prisons, the police service and our courts.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Main Site (Aberystwyth)
Department of Psychology
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Psychology (non-specific)
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Applied psychology
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After graduation
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Psychology (non-specific)
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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.
Applied psychology
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
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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.
£18k
£21k
£24k
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.
Applied psychology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£18k
£21k
£24k
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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