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Psychology, Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,A-A,A,B

Where an applicant is taking the EPQ alongside A-levels, the EPQ will be taken into consideration and result in lower A-level grades being required. Socio-economics factors which may have impacted an applicant's education will be taken into consideration and alternative offers may be made to these applicants. Preferred subjects: Psychology, Biology, Human Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Statistics.

Access to HE Diploma

D:30,M:15

Pass in a relevant subject with 30 level 3 credits at Distinction , including Distinction in all Maths units. Please note that the Access to Higher Education Diploma will only be acceptable if the applicant has had a considerable break from education.

Applicants with the Cambridge Pre-U are strongly encouraged to apply to Royal Holloway. Offers will be made on the basis of equivalent A-Level grades as can be found on the Royal Holloway website.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

We require at least five GCSEs at grade A*-C or 9 - 4 including English and Mathematics.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

6,6,5 at Higher Level with a minimum of 32 points overall.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H2,H2,H2,H2,H3

Pearson BTEC Diploma (QCF)

D*D

In Health & Social Care, Applied Science, Applied Law or Business plus one A-level grade A from the preferred subject list. Other BTEC subject areas considered on an individual basis.

Pearson BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF)

D*D*D

In Health & Social Care, Applied Science, Applied Law or Business. Other BTEC subject areas may be considered on an individual basis.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DD

In Health & Social Care, Applied Science, Applied Law or Business plus one A-level grade A from the preferred subject list. Other BTEC subject areas considered on an individual basis.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016)

D*

Distinction* plus two A-levels grades AA or Distinction* plus two A-levels grades AB, one of which must be from the preferred subject list.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

D*DD

In Health & Social Care, Applied Science, Applied Law or Business. Other BTEC subject areas may be considered on an individual basis.

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,A,B-A,A,A

Scottish Higher

A,A,A,A,B

Requirements are as for A-levels where one non-subject-specified A-level can be replaced by the same grade in the Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate

UCAS Tariff

136-168

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Psychology

Psychology is an important subject because it relates to the whole range of human experience, from visual perception to complex social interactions. It involves the study of how people think, react and interact, and is concerned with all aspects of behaviour and the thoughts, feelings and motivations that underlie such behaviour.

Our three year psychology, clinical & cognitive neuroscience degree examines the relationships between the brain and higher functions such as decision-making and consciousness, the causes, symptoms and treatments of common brain disorders such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease, and methods for studying the brain such as functional MRI.

You’ll study in one of the country’s top Psychology departments with excellent ratings for both research and teaching. The course explores a broad range of key areas within psychology specialising in the final year in the study of neuroscientific approaches to understanding cognition and clinical mental health issues.

Our research and teaching enhance one another, bringing students in touch with the frontiers of psychological knowledge. You’ll benefit from state of the-art equipment including an on-site MRI scanner for studying brain structure and activity, instruments for recording electrical changes in the brain (EEG), apparatus to stimulate focal areas in the brain (TMS) and a dedicated baby lab for studying the development of infants.

You’ll join a close-knit department with a high staff-to-student ratio, learning in small tutorial groups. The Department of Psychology has been awarded the Athena SWAN Silver Award for efforts to promote equality and women in science, and scores consistently high satisfaction rankings in the annual National Student Survey.

Examine the underlying causes of clinical conditions.

Learn about neuroscience techniques and their application.

Benefit from the department’s advanced research facilities.

Contribute to cutting-edge research with our world leading academics.

Modules

Please refer to our website for information: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/psychology/psychology-clinical-and-cognitive-neuroscience/

Assessment methods

Your course will be assessed by a combination of examinations and in-course assignments in the form of essays or presentations.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£23,800
per year
International
£23,800
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Royal Holloway, University of London

Department:

Psychology

Read full university profile

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.

79%
Psychology

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.

Psychology (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

82%
Staff make the subject interesting
87%
Staff are good at explaining things
74%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
65%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

79%
Library resources
88%
IT resources
80%
Course specific equipment and facilities
73%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

86%
UK students
14%
International students
13%
Male students
87%
Female students
87%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
A

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.

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.

£18,333
med
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education
61%
high
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

12%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
12%
Caring personal services
9%
Health professionals

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.

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.

£22k

£22k

£24k

£24k

£28k

£28k

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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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here