Philosophy and Psychology
Durham University
UCAS Code: CV85 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Specific subjects excluded for entry: General Studies and Critical Thinking. Information: Applicants taking Science A-levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This refers only to English A Levels.
Access to HE Diploma
We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent). Applicants may be required to meet additional subject-specific requirements for particular courses at Durham.
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
GCSE/National 4/National 5
Grade B or Grade 5 in GCSE Mathematics.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
General information on subjects/grades required for entry: Eighteen points (6, 6, 6) in Higher Level subjects and to include Standard Level Mathematics - both Maths Analysis and Approaches and Maths Applications and Interpretation are accepted.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Advanced Higher
Scottish Higher
Departments will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. In the absence of 3 Advanced Highers, where these are not offered by the applicant’s school, offers comprising of Advanced Highers and Highers or a number of Highers may be made on a case by case basis.
At Durham we welcome applications from students of outstanding achievement and potential from all educational backgrounds. We will consider applicants studying T level qualifications for entry to many of our courses. Where a course requires subject specific knowledge and this is not covered within the T level being studied, you may need to supplement your T level studies with a suitable qualification to meet this requirement, for example at A level. Where this is needed this will be clearly stated in our entry requirements. Detailed entry requirements can be found on individual course entries on our courses database. https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/courses/cv85/#entry-requirements-1237469
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
Studying BA Philosophy and Psychology allows you to confront and study profound questions concerning human psychology and the nature of the human mind. There are numerous areas of overlap making these subjects particularly suitable to study alongside each other.
Within the philosophy discipline you will confront questions such as ‘What does a flourishing human life look like?’ Embarking on this subject will equip you with the skills needed to think carefully and deeply about what matters in a good life, and how individual happiness is related to friendships, relationships, family, society, the political system and culture.
The psychology element is designed to give you an understanding of the mind and behaviour in humans and non-human animals. You will get the chance to study people in terms of their internal mental processes, the biological mechanisms that underlie their behaviour, and the social and developmental context in which they act.
You can also apply to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.
Philosophy is a new subject for many students, so in your first year you will follow a range of introductory courses, introducing the fundamental philosophical subject areas. You will also take a number of comparable introductory modules in psychology.
In your second year, you will further increase your knowledge by taking four compulsory modules in philosophy and psychology, and you also have a wide selection of optional modules to choose from for both subjects.
The third year includes a dissertation that allows a deep, independently driven, exploration of a topic of your choice.
Modules
Year 1
Core modules:
Ethics and Values provides a structured introduction to moral philosophy, including applied ethics, by exploring key moral concepts and showing how they influence moral practices and theories.
Knowledge and Reality introduces philosophical problems in epistemology (the study of knowledge), and metaphysics (the study of reality and ourselves).
Introduction to Psychological Research introduces key research methods and statistical techniques used in psychology.
Examples of optional modules:
Reading Philosophy; Science, Medicine and Society; Introduction to Psychology 1: Cognitive and Biological Psychology; Introduction to Psychology 2: Developmental and Social Psychology.
Year 2
Core modules:
Philosophy of Mind provides a grounding in modern philosophical psychology and an understanding of those key concepts required for a proper characterisation of the mind, from both a first-person and a third-person perspective.
Social and Developmental Psychology provides a broad knowledge and understanding of research and theory in some of the key areas of developmental psychology and examines the contribution that social psychology has made to an understanding of the relations between people and social structures involving people.
Cognitive and Biological Psychology develops an understanding of theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches in cognitive and biological psychology, with particular emphasis on visual neuroscience and visual cognition.
Advanced Psychological Research develops your experimental design and statistics knowledge. In this module you will also discuss psychological research in a tutorial context and develop skills in studying classic papers in psychology.
Examples of optional modules:
Language, Logic and Reality' Early Modern Philosophy; Moral Theory; Fundamentals of Logic; History of Science and Medicine; Political and Social Philosophy; Philosophy of Religion; Philosophy of Science; The Philosophy of Economics and Politics: Theory, Methods and Values.
Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement year or year abroad)
Core modules:
Differential and Clinical Psychology will develop your knowledge of theory and research in differential psychology, the study of psychological differences and similarities between people and understanding of theory and research in atypical and clinical psychology.
Psychology Project. Drawing on skills developed through the course you will work as a pair or a small group to carry out an investigation in psychology. You will formulate a research question, investigate and analyse the issue and interpret the results before writing up an individual 4,500-word project report.
Philosophy Short Dissertation. In the short dissertation you will conduct an extensive study or survey of a philosophical problem or author, under the guidance of a supervisor, and produce a written account of your findings.
Examples of optional modules:
Revolutions in Modern Philosophy: Kant and other Trailblazers; Philosophical Issues in Contemporary Science; Aesthetics; Twentieth-Century European Philosophy; Applied Ethics; Issues in Contemporary Ethics; Biomedical Ethics Past and Present; Metaphysics; History and Philosophy of Psychiatry.
Assessment methods
Modules are assessed by essays, some by an end-of-year examination and some by a combination of the two. In your final year, you will submit a dissertation that details your own original work. This is a great way to explore a topic that you are passionate about, and to showcase the many skills that you have gained during your degree.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Durham City
College allocation pending
Philosophy
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Philosophy
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Psychology (non-specific)
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Philosophy
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
Although there aren't a lot of jobs around for professional philosophers, philosophy degrees are a relatively popular option, with more than 2,000 students graduating in a philosophy-related subject in 2015 - a little down on previous years, but still healthy. Nearly a quarter of philosophy graduates take a postgraduate qualification, and it's a relatively common subject at both Masters and doctorate level — so if you think academic life might be for you, think ahead about how you might fund further study. For those who go into work, philosophy grads tend to go into teaching, accountancy, consulting, journalism, PR, housing, marketing, human resources and the arts while a few go into the computer industry every year, where their logical training is highly rated.
Psychology (non-specific)
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
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.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Philosophy
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£24k
£31k
£34k
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.
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.
£21k
£27k
£31k
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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Post-six month graduation stats:
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It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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