Education with Psychology

Education with psychology is a degree that brings together two disciplines directly concerned with how learning happens and what environments, relationships, and personal characteristics shape it. At the University of Sussex, the BA Education with Psychology is a three-year full-time programme with a foundation year, sandwich year, year abroad, and work placement built into the structure, providing a well-supported entry route and extensive professional and international experience. As the current description notes, the degree invites you to re-imagine how education can meet the needs of the mid-twenty-first century, enhanced by psychological knowledge.

The education strand examines schooling and learning from social, historical, policy, and pedagogical perspectives: how educational systems are organised, how curriculum and pedagogy are designed, how inequality operates through educational institutions, and what the evidence says about effective teaching and the conditions under which children and young people learn best. The psychology strand develops your scientific understanding of cognitive development, motivation, wellbeing, social influences on learning, individual differences, and the research methods that psychologists use to investigate these phenomena. Together, the two subjects develop the kind of evidence-informed perspective on educational practice that is increasingly valued by employers across the education sector and beyond.

Graduates are well placed for a range of careers in and around education. Teaching is a natural pathway, and the degree provides a strong academic foundation for subsequent teacher training. Educational psychology is another direction, requiring postgraduate training for which this degree's psychology component is directly relevant.

Other career paths include special educational needs work, educational support and mentoring, youth work, educational research and policy analysis, and roles in organisations that support access to education and wellbeing in learning contexts. Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in education, educational psychology, counselling, or social policy. The combination of educational understanding, psychological knowledge, and professional experience that Sussex's programme provides is a thorough preparation for careers where improving outcomes for learners is the central aim.