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Applied Psychology (Clinical)

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,A

Access to HE Diploma

D:42,M:3

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal

D3,D3,D3

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE grade B (or 6) in English, Mathematics and Science. SL4 for IB. Applicants who do not meet this requirement can still apply but will be considered on a case by case basis.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

35

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

H2,H2,H2,H2,H3

OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma

DD

The Cambridge Technical Diploma is only accepted when taken alongside one other acceptable level 3 qualification such as an A level or Cambridge Technical Introductory Diploma.

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate

D,D,D

The Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate can also be accepted when taken alongside two other acceptable level 3 qualifications e.g. two A levels or a Cambridge Technical Diploma.

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

DDD

OCR Cambridge Technical Introductory Diploma

D,D,D

The Cambridge Technical Introductory Diploma can also be accepted when taken alongside two other acceptable level 3 qualifications e.g. two A levels or a Cambridge Technical Diploma.

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

DD

The Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma is only accepted when taken alongside one other acceptable level 3 qualification such as an A level or BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate.

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

D,D,D

The Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate can also be accepted when taken alongside other acceptable level 3 qualifications e.g. two A levels or a BTEC National Diploma.

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

DDD

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,A,A

Scottish Higher

A,A,A,A,B

T Level

D

Minimum grade C in the Core Component.

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (first teaching September 2015)

A-B

The Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in lieu of one A Level at the grade achieved.

UCAS Tariff

144-168

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About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Applied psychology

Receive specialist clinical training and develop your scientific knowledge of psychology on our MSci Applied Psychology (Clinical) course.

This course will qualify you for employment as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) within the NHS, and will provide you with a masters-level qualification. It combines elements of the University's BSc Psychology and the Postgraduate Certificate in Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments run by the world-renowned Charlie Waller Institute. The degree is also an ideal stepping-stone for postgraduate studies in clinical psychology.

The first two years of the course will give you a grounding in cognition, neuroscience, development, personality and social psychology. You will then cover these subjects in far greater depth during the second year. During the third year you will receive specialist clinical training and carry out a placement within the Talking Therapies department of a Mental Health Trust. This experience will link directly into practical modules, which are designed to develop your clinical skills.

Your final year will consist of masters-level modules and enable you to develop your knowledge by exploring your areas of interest in greater depth through a wide range of optional modules. Modules are regularly revised in order to incorporate the latest developments in clinical psychology, ensuring your knowledge and skills are always up to date. Recently they have included topics such as methods in clinical psychology, topics in affective neuroscience and clinical neuropsychology. Should you wish to study abroad, you can spend a term of your final year at a partner institution.

Throughout the course you will gain practical experience, and learn how to devise and run your own experiments. During the final year you will carry out an original piece of research on a topic of your choice. You may have the opportunity to present your work at conferences, and a number of past projects have won awards from the BPS and British Neuroscience Association.

This MSci is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).

**Placement**
You will carry out your third year placement within the Talking Therapies department of a Mental Health Trust. This will normally involve conducting assessments and interventions of mild to moderate anxiety and depression under the supervision of NHS staff. The placement is a direct extension of the practical work taught during course modules.

You may also decide to carry our placements during the second year of the course, or during vacations. These can take place at an outside organisation such as a charity, or with one of our in-house NHS clinics. These include anxiety, speech and language therapy, and dementia. Alternatively, you can volunteer as a research assistant on a range of projects within the Department of Psychology.

Modules

The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery in 2024/25. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change.

Core modules for this course:
Applied and Professional Psychology
Debates in Mental Health
Introduction to Psychological Research
Learning about Learning
The Person and the Brain
Cognitive and Biological Psychology
Development Across the Lifespan
Introduction to CBT
Research Methods in Psychology
Social Psychology and Individual Differences
Engagement & Assessment of Common Mental Health Problems
Evidence-Based Low-Intensity Treatment of Common Mental Health Problems
Values, Employment and Context
Placement (P3)
Empirical Project
Communicating Current Psychology

The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. Further information about the content of final approved modules will be available between May and July 2023. We suggest that you regularly revisit this webpage during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme.

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
£27,650
per year
International
£27,650
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:

University of Reading

Department:

School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences

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.

63%
Applied 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.

Applied psychology

Teaching and learning

78%
Staff make the subject interesting
89%
Staff are good at explaining things
83%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
85%
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

65%
Library resources
87%
IT resources
83%
Course specific equipment and facilities
47%
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?

84%
UK students
16%
International students
26%
Male students
74%
Female students
84%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
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.

Applied psychology

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.

£18,200
med
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

12%
Therapy professionals
12%
Childcare and related personal services
9%
Health professionals

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Applied psychology

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

£31k

£31k

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 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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