Psychology
Swansea University
UCAS Code: C800 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Swansea University
UCAS Code: C800 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
We recognise the EPQ as an excellent indicator of success. If you are predicted a grade B or above in the EPQ, you will receive an offer with a one grade reduction, to include your EPQ with a grade B.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
Swansea University accepts the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales as fully equivalent to x1 A-Level.
Welsh Baccalaureate requirements are as for A-Levels where you can substitute the same non-subject specific grade for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Level Core Grade
About this course
Studying a BSc in Psychology will give you expert scientific training in the relationship between the mind, brain, and behaviour.
You will study the psychological and neuro-scientific processes that underpin activities such as thinking, reasoning, memory and language, learn about the effects of brain injury, and explore ways to improve health-related behaviour.
With an extensive range of final year optional modules, you will also have the scope to tailor your studies to your particular interests, career goals, or ambitions for postgraduate study.
You will develop excellent research, written, and critical analysis skills, as well as a high degree of numeracy and ICT ability.
Our approach to teaching, which includes lectures, personal tutorials, academic seminars, workshops, and practical research classes, encourages effective team-working and high-quality oral communication skills.
This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and, providing you achieve at least a 2:2 in your degree, you will be eligible for Graduate Membership of the BPS and for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC), the first step to becoming a Chartered Psychologist.
Modules
Year 1
• Biological Psychology
• Cognition
• Individual and Abnormal Psychology
• Social and Developmental Psychology
Year 2
• Brain and Behaviour
• Development Across the Lifespan
• From Individuals to Society
• Research and Experimental Methods
Year 3
• Final Year Independent Research Project
• Forensic Developmental Psychopathology
• Nutrition and Behaviour
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding and Managing Criminal Behaviour
• Face Perception and Social Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology of Sport and Exercise
• Positive Psychology
• Understanding and Managing Criminal Behaviour
• Dimensions of Personality and Sexual Disorder
• Psychology of Aesthetics
• Health and Human Development from Pregnancy to Infancy
• Evolution and Human Behaviour
• Behaviour Change: Health, Organisations and Advertising
Assessment methods
You will have around 10 hours of scheduled lectures and practical classes each week with additional module related seminars and personal tutorials scheduled throughout each semester.
Independent and self-directed study is an integral part of each module to support your learning and development, you will also learn through lectures, personal tutorials, academic seminars, workshops and practical research classes.
During your third year, you will work collaboratively with psychology staff on an independent research project. Some of our students even go on to publish their independent research projects in academic peer-reviewed journals and present their findings at national and international research conferences.
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score 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.
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.
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.
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
£23k
£25k
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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Higher entry requirementsLower entry requirements
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Teaching Excellence Framework (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.
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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?
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