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Psychology and Counselling

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,C

Other A Level combinations are possible to achieve 112 points

Pass Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 80 UCAS points.

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

DMM

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

DMM

Achieve a minimum of 112 tariff points achieved from either five Highers or a combination of two Highers offered with two Advanced Highers. Where only Highers have been taken a minimum of (CCCCC) is required.

T Level

Pass (C and above)


Eligible T Level applications will be asked to achieve a minimum overall grade of P (A*-C) or Higher Pass as a condition of offer.

UCAS Tariff

112-120

We welcome a wide range of qualifications and qualification combinations. We assess each application individually, taking in to account any experience and skills you may have in your chosen field. Don't worry if you can't see your specific qualification listed, just contact our team of experts on 01782 294400 or email us at [email protected] for further advice

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Counselling

Psychology

To help you build a deep understanding of the human mind you’ll study social psychology, individual differences, biological psychology, research methods and cognitive psychology. The course is perfect if you are interested in working with people experiencing difficult circumstances and is an ideal basis for further study to qualify as a counsellor.

Completing this degree means you can apply directly to Masters or postgraduate counselling courses that lead to British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) registration. In doing so, you will shorten your route to a full professional status by at least a year. If you decide not to pursue the further training necessary to become a professional counsellor or psychotherapist, you will still develop key academic competences, such as self-understanding, communication and relationship skills that are vital to employment success.

You’ll be taught by an expert teaching team which includes senior academics carrying our cutting edge research in their field as well as professional practitioners with industry experience. This includes fully qualified and practicing counsellors and psychotherapists.
The counselling modules are a unique blend of academic, personal and professional learning. You will learn about different theories of counselling and the area of ethics. You will be introduced to ways in which you can become more self-aware and reflective. The practical element of the counselling modules will allow you to put theory into practice and develop counselling skills.
We have a long history (25+ years) of running British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited courses. We have recently refreshed and improved our courses and as a result of this we are currently awaiting the accreditation of our new courses being delivered from September 2022.

Modules

Level 4: Adventures in Psychology 1, Becoming a Researcher 1-quantitative methods, Becoming a Researcher 2-qualitative methods, Core Counselling Skills, Pathways in Psychology and Counselling, Adventures in Psychology 2 and Steps to Success 1 . Level 5: Developmental and Biological Psychology Across the Lifespan, Theory and Application of Qualitative Research Methods, Exploring Difference: A Quantitative Approach, Counselling Theory Ethics and Personal Development, Steps to Success 2 , 1 optional module (see below). Level 6: Psychology project/dissertation, Society and the Mind, Personal and Professional Perspectives in Counselling, Personalised Psychology Portfolio, Steps to Success 3 and 1 optional module (see below). Level 5 Options: People Behaving Badly (What makes people, organisations and systems behave in antisocial and atypical ways?) Psychological Interventions (how psychology can help with problems- families, counselling, health, in the workplace) Psychology Research Assistantship (gain valuable work experience by working with a member of staff on their research projects) Psychology of Social Perception (learn about how we make judgements about ourselves and others) Level 6 Options: Advanced Quantitative Research Methods (learn how to make the very most of research, using expert techniques) Behavioural Medicine (the relationships between behavioural, physiological and psychosocial processes in well-being) Children and Pictures (children’s representation of pictures and the cultural, cognitive and clinical relevance of their art) Health Psychology (learn what healthy behaviour is and how can psychologists promote and manage that healthy behaviour) Neuropsychological Disorders (some of the neuropsychological problems experienced and how psychology can help) Parapsychology and Anomalous Experience (ghosts, possessions, out of body experiences through the psychologist’s lens). Psychology of Oppression and Empowerment (contemporary socio-political issues including mental health, poverty, gender/sexuality, war, politics)

Assessment methods

We use a wide range of assessment methods that are carefully designed and monitored to enable you to demonstrate the learning outcomes for each module. Methods range from traditional essays and exams, through to case study analysis, report writing, critical reviews, group presentations, log books and reflective writing. We ensure that you will meet a variety of assessment methods at each level of every programme, and that they are interesting and challenging.

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
£16,750
per year
International
£16,750
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Staffordshire University (Stoke Campus)

Department:

Health, Science and Wellbeing

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.

82%
Counselling
81%
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.

Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy

Teaching and learning

91%
Staff make the subject interesting
83%
Staff are good at explaining things
91%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
83%
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

87%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
91%
Course specific equipment and facilities
65%
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?

100%
UK students
0%
International students
20%
Male students
80%
Female students
75%
2:1 or above
15%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
C

Psychology (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

85%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
87%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
81%
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

73%
Library resources
71%
IT resources
84%
Course specific equipment and facilities
66%
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?

98%
UK students
2%
International students
22%
Male students
78%
Female students
64%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
C

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.

Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy

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.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
93%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

18%
Science, engineering and production technicians
13%
Natural and social science professionals
8%
Teaching and educational professionals

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.

£16,848
low
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education
49%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

33%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
12%
Teaching and educational professionals
6%
Public services and other associate 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.

Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£20k

£20k

£23k

£23k

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.

£17k

£17k

£20k

£20k

£21k

£21k

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 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.

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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.

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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

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here