Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour. It investigates how we perceive, remember, feel, and decide, how our brains generate consciousness and personality, and how social forces and cultural contexts shape who we become. Drawing on both the natural sciences and the social sciences, psychology develops your ability to think rigorously about human experience, to evaluate evidence, and to apply scientific understanding to real-world challenges in health, education, organisations, and everyday life.

At Birmingham Newman University this four-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, which provides an innovative and supported entry pathway for students who need additional preparation before beginning degree-level study. The foundation year is the first part of the four-year programme, designed for those who may not meet the standard entry requirements for the three-year degree but who have the motivation and potential to succeed. You will begin by exploring themes of education, society, identity, and what it means to be human, building the study skills, critical thinking, and subject knowledge needed to thrive in the main degree.

Once you progress to the psychology degree, you will study the full range of core areas recognised by the British Psychological Society, including cognitive, social, developmental, and biological psychology, as well as research methods and statistics. The ability to design studies, collect data, and analyse it rigorously is central to psychology at degree level, and you will develop genuine competence in these skills across the programme.

Graduates of psychology programmes move into a wide range of careers, including mental health services, human resources, education, research, social work, counselling, and many other roles where understanding of human behaviour is valued. Those wishing to practise as psychologists in regulated areas, including clinical, educational, forensic, and occupational psychology, will need to continue to postgraduate study and supervised practice.