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Why choose the School of Psychology
This top-up course allows those with a Foundation degree or other level 5 qualification to achieve an Honours degree.
Developed working with industry professionals from the NHS, mental health support and commercial organisations to ensure it aligns with employer needs.
91% of our psychology students were satisfied with the academic support they received and how well the course developed knowledge and skills for the future (NSS, 2024).
About the course
This top-up course is for those who have already completed a Foundation-level course or have a level 5 qualification with some relevance to psychology. It has a strong employability and ‘real-world’ focus, allowing you to examine forensic psychology in practice. You learn key skills around occupational and organisational psychology; atypical child and adolescent development; the psychology of mental health; and forensic psychology. You also explore the assessment and treatment of offenders including offenders with a mental illness.
Facilities and specialist equipment
You will have access to specialist, industry-standard psychology laboratories and computing environments including:
- Cognitive neuropsychology lab
- biological and cognitive psychology lab
- Virtual reality lab
- Research cubicles containing up-to-the-minute equipment and technology such as:
- Driving simulator
- Eye-tracking software
- Physiological data-acquisition system
- EEG
- Podcasting equipment
- KAT Walk Mini 5 omnidirectional VR treadmills
- Data-analysis software
- Experiment and survey-building software
Industry links
This course has been developed working with industry professionals from the NHS, mental health support and commercial organisations to ensure it aligns with employer needs.
Student experience
Get to know your peers and academics well by taking part in the School’s many social events, which run throughout the academic year.
You will be taught by a highly experienced team who are active in industry, bringing real-life practice to their teaching and research.
Take up field-trip opportunities including visits to the charity Headway UK or observing real-life court cases at Luton Crown Court.
Hear from a variety of guest speakers who share their experience and expertise at special events run by the School.
Our research addresses real-life day-to-day issues including reading development; cognitive function in long COVID; and prevention of gender-based violence.
Psychology Subject Spotlight
Take a look at our subject spotlight on Psychology! Dr. Joseph Adonu explores if love at first sight actually exists!
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Course Leader - Dr Paul Cavendish
I joined the university in 1998 as a technician. As Lab Manager for the School of Psychology I completed my PhD, before moving on to a lecturing position.
Course Leader - Dr Paul Cavendish
I joined the university in 1998 as a technician. As Lab Manager for the School of Psychology I completed my PhD, before moving on to a lecturing position.
What will you study?
Studying our Psychology and Criminal Behaviour (Top-up) BA (Hons) will equip you with the knowledge and expertise around specialist areas of psychology, human and criminal behaviour. With a particular focus on children and young people, you will study the causes, symptoms, treatment and issues associated with exceptional children including examining the cognitive and psychosocial aspects of their difficulties in learning, attention and emotional and social development in our Atypical Child and Adolescent Development unit.
If you are interested in areas of mental health, our Psychology of Mental Health unit will allow you to examine the clinical symptoms of the most common psychological disorders while considering the sociocultural factors that may contribute to the causation, diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems. To effectively rehabilitate offenders within the prison system, our Applied Forensic Psychology unit will teach you to investigate and evaluate various treatment and rehabilitation programmes for people in custody and people following release from custody to prevent relapses in behaviour.
You may also be interested in exploring areas of Occupational and Organisational Psychology and this unit will introduce you to how psychology contributes to the performance and wellbeing of organisations and employees in the workplace. Finally, you will complete a Psychology and Criminal Behaviour Honours Project that will allow you to explore a particular topic of interest to you that is relevant to the field of contemporary psychology and criminal behaviours while also demonstrating the psychological theories, knowledge and skills you have acquired throughout the course.
How will you be assessed?
The assessments are designed to test your academic knowledge oral and written skills use of literature using primary and secondary sources critical analysis of ideas connections made between theory practice real life situations and the understanding and application of professional values including ethical issues.
Throughout your course you will be required to take a variety of types of assessment to assess your progression and success. These include self-reflection regarding your employability skills cases studies practical assignments such as developing a pack to help explain conditions such as autism to parents and children group presentations essays and exams. Feedback is given to students for each assessment point and it is expected that you will use this feedback for your own development and to inform your completion of future assessments.
Careers
As a graduate of this course, you will be able to progress into the following areas: police work; public services (such as the Home Office Ministry of Justice or health service); market research; business and personnel; education; and charity work.
There is also a range of postgraduate study opportunities open to you for career paths in, for example, counselling; police; charity work; business and personnel; and teaching.
At the University of Bedfordshire, you can also progress to our BPS-accredited Applied Psychology (Conversion) MSc to put you on the path to becoming a chartered psychologist.
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
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