Psychology with Counselling and Psychotherapy Integrated Foundation Year
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
60 credits with 45 at level 3
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
T Level
UCAS Tariff
Potential to succeed can be measured in a number of ways including academic qualifications and skills obtained outside academic study such as work experience. You can find out more about the tariff and qualification options from the UCAS tariff table. Please check selection criteria for any additional entry requirements.
About this course
Do you have an inquiring mind and enjoy debating ideas, with a desire to listen to and support others? On this degree, you will explore the human experience across a range of contexts and lifespans.
Our foundation year will help you on your way to achieving the full BSc Hons. This course is designed to help you develop the skills needed to competently and compassionately help people explore their difficulties, express their feelings and work towards deeper self-awareness and understanding. Our psychology degrees are ranked 1st in the North West and 11th in the UK (GUG 2023 Results).
**Course Overview**
If you're passionate about pursuing a career in psychology, counselling or psychotherapy but do not have the qualifications for direct entry, our IFY offers a supportive alternative route into HE.
On this course you will explore human experience across a range of contexts and lifespans, from understanding the biological basis of behaviour to questioning the impact of social media on child development. You'll learn the academic knowledge and practical skills you need to help make a difference in the lives of others.
Accredited by the BPS, you'll be able to apply for a Graduate Basis for Chartership, helping you develop the knowledge and skills for a successful career in psychology or counselling/psychotherapy. This standout course adheres to the training requirements of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Upon graduation, you will be eligible to apply for individual membership of the BACP and apply for registration, subject to passing the BACP Proficiency.
**On this course you'll**
- Explore and apply psychological literature to current issues, contexts and experiences
- Develop key knowledge, skills and abilities to help you prepare to become a counsellor, psychotherapist
- Develop your knowledge and build a solid foundation of the core skills needed to progress from the foundation year onto the full BSc Hons
- Be taught and given high-quality support and guidance by our expert lecturing team, who are active in research and practices.
- Have the opportunity to get involved in a range of extracurricular activities including sessions by experts in the field of psychology and counselling.
- Benefit from our excellent links with regional and national charities, not-for-profit and penal institutions to gain work experience and enhance your job prospects.
**What You'll Learn**
You'll learn about the research, knowledge, skills and attributes needed to work within psychological and therapeutic settings. You'll start by building your knowledge and developing your key skills through lectures, workshops and problem-based learning. You'll explore the history of psychology, research methods and analytical techniques.
You'll examine the wider issues around therapeutic diversity whilst gaining work experience within therapeutic settings allowing you to further advance your knowledge, skills and advanced counselling skills. An independent research project will allow you to explore a topic of your interest.
**Year 1**
- Essential University Skills 1
- Essential University Skills 2
- Contemporary Issues and the Media
- Families, Communities and the Criminal Justice System
- Professional Practice in the Community
- Mental Health and Wellbeing
**Year 2**
- Psychology in Action
- Introduction to Psychological Research Methods
- Introduction to Data Analysis
- Academic and Professional Skills
- Foundational Counselling and Coaching Skills
- Counselling Skills: Preparation for Practice
**Year 3**
- Research Methods and Statistics
- Development, Brain and Cognition
- Social and Community Psychology
- Work Experience
- Intermediate Counselling Skills
- Understanding Therapeutic Diversity
**Year 4**
- Dissertation
- Individual Differences: Abilities, personalities and measuring differences
- Critical Psychology
- Advanced Counselling Skills
- Work Experience 2
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Carlisle - Fusehill Street
Health, Psychology and Social Studies
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.
Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy
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
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
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.
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.
Top job areas of graduates
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.
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.
£27k
£29k
£30k
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
£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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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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