Psychology (with integrated foundation year)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Must pass all 60 credits, 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
Are you fascinated by what makes people tick, the human mind and debating psychological ideas? On this psychology degree with a foundation year, we’ll guide you through a vast range of contexts and lifespans – from the biological basis of behaviour to questioning contemporary issues.
This foundation year will help you on your way to achieving our full BSc (Hons) Psychology, accredited by the British Psychological Society, designed to give you the knowledge and expertise that allows you to kickstart a successful career. What’s more, our psychology courses are ranked 1st in the North West and 11th in the UK (Guardian University Guide 2023 Results).
**Course Overview**
If you are passionate about pursuing a career in psychology but do not have the required qualifications for direct entry, this psychology foundation degree offers a supportive alternative route into higher education.
In years two to four, half of your course will be practical, focusing on research techniques, qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods, data handling and analysis skills, laboratory reports and communication skills. You’ll learn from industry-expert tutors through lectures and seminars. You’ll be encouraged to engage in career-enhancing voluntary work, giving you hands-on experience.
You will be eligible to apply for Graduate Basis for Chartership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society (BPS). The skills, knowledge and understanding you gain from this psychology degree course will help you access a range of rewarding professions.
**On this course you will**
- Study psychology at the University of Cumbria, with the opportunity to explore and apply psychological literature to current issues, contexts and experiences.
- Be taught and given high-quality support and guidance by our lecturing team, who are active in research and practices.
- Learn valuable transferrable skills in research, which are highly sought after by employers.
- Develop your knowledge and build a solid foundation of the core skills needed to progress from your foundation year onto the full psychology degree course.
- Be able to shape your degree experience to your interests and career goals, allowing us to help you to reach your ideal future career.
**What you'll learn**
In year one, you are encouraged to reflect on your skills development in learning and personal contexts so you develop your ability to make appropriate choices and decisions. Challenging and authentic tasks will be used to stretch your capabilities in real-world learning and assessment resulting in a deeper approach to learning.
In years 2-4, you will study five key themes within psychology:
- The contextualised bio-psychosocial nature of human development and experience
- Ethical decision making and professional values
- Gathering and analysing evidence using robust, population relevant and ethical research techniques
- The pivotal role of academic, professional and graduate skills
- Experiential problem-based learning
**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
- Perspectives in Psychology
- Professional and Academic Skills
- Introduction to Psychopathology
**Year 3**
- Research Methods and Statistics
- Development, Brain and Cognition
- Research Methods in Applied Psychology Settings
- Work Experience
- Negotiated Learning
- Social and Community Psychology
**Year 4**
- Critical Psychology
- Individual Differences: Abilities, Personalities and measuring differences
- Dissertation
- Psychological Literacy and Careers
- Counselling and Coaching Psychology
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Carlisle - Fusehill Street
Health, Psychology and Social Studies
What students say
How do students rate their degree experience?
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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.
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
£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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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:
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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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