Undergraduate Course

BA Psychology

(Including Foundation Year)

Now In Clearing

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Overview

The details

Course: Psychology (Including Foundation Year)

UCAS code: C807

Start date: October 2023

Study mode: Full-time

Maximum duration: 4 years

Location: Colchester Campus

Based in: Essex Pathways

Our BA Psychology (including foundation Year) will be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entrance requirements for the three-year version of this course and you want a programme that increases your subject knowledge as well as improves your academic skills to support your academic performance.

This four-year course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study. During your Year Zero, you study three academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory academic skills module, with additional English language for non-English speakers.

After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with our Department of Psychology.

If you want to understand our place in the world, then psychology at Essex is for you. We provide one of the most immersive and exciting experiences of studying the human mind in the UK. We focus on the big questions so that you embark on a journey into the thoughts, feelings, and actions of individuals.

Satisfy your curiosity by learning from innovative researchers at the cutting edge of psychological science. At Essex we take a multi-method approach, working beyond traditional boundaries to combine different expertise and share fascinating techniques and intriguing theories. We answer questions such as:

Why are social relationships so important – how do we make and break them, and what can we do to improve our relationships?
How do parenting choices in the earliest weeks of a baby’s life impact them for years to come?
How does our cultural background affect thinking, motivations, personality, interpersonal behaviours and group processes?

In your first year you will study six brand new modules that address major challenges that society faces today. You will learn psychology from the start, and we will give you the skillset you need to be successful. We embed key skills such as research methods and statistics into topics you’ll be interested in. You’ll be taught topics one-by-one in blocks which allows you to consolidate your knowledge.

You will continue to develop these skills during your second year. In your third year you will specialise in areas that really interest you. This will allow you to excel at studying psychology.

You learn from our researchers and can work together in the same space via our Research Experience Scheme (RES) which gives you the opportunity to work one-on-one with a psychologist as their research assistant. Our SHOUTS scheme allows you to use your skills and creativity to make our department a better place and promote what we do beyond Essex, through social media, activities and events.

Why we're great.

We are 21st in the UK for overall student satisfaction for psychology (National Student Survey 2022).
90% of our Department of Psychology graduates are in employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2023).
Our Research Experience Scheme (RES) gives you the opportunity to work one-on-one with a psychologist as their research assistant.

Our expert staff

Our psychology lecturers include award-winning teachers and prize-winning researchers who are international experts in their own research areas.

Our staff carry out research into areas of psychology that fall under our three key themes: thinking about the world, interacting with the world, and experiencing the world. These three themes help tie your knowledge together as they directly feed into our modules, where you can study how we remember things, what captures out attention, how relationships work, what our emotions do with us, or the impact of culture on ourselves and others.

Specialist facilities

By studying within our Essex Pathways Department for your foundation year, you will have access to of the facilities that the University of Essex has to offer, as well as those provided by our department to support you:

We provide computer labs for internet research; classrooms with access to PowerPoint facilities for student presentations; AV facilities for teaching and access to web-based learning materials.
Our new Student Services Hub will support you and provide information for all your needs as a student.
Our social space is stocked with magazines and newspaper, and provides an informal setting to meet your lecturers, tutors and friends.

The Department of Psychology is committed to giving you access to state-of-the-art facilities in higher education, housed entirely within our purpose-built psychology building on our Colchester Campus:

Dedicated laboratories including a virtual reality suite and an observation suite
Specialist areas to study visual and auditory perception, developmental psychology and social psychology
Our Babylab is the leading infant lab in the east of England that explores perceptual, emotional, and cognitive processes in infants
Our multimillion pound Centre for Brain Science (CBS) allows staff to investigate brain activity, and to measure eye movements and other physiological responses

Your future

A psychology degree, especially one accredited by the British Psychology Society, will provide you with the foundations needed for specialising in diverse areas, including clinical and educational psychology.
Many of our psychology graduates choose careers outside traditional psychology fields. The skills you learn during your degree opens doors to careers in market research, human resources, and people-focussed careers such as a high-intensity therapist or special educational needs.
Our psychology graduates have progressed in diverse careers across the public, private and third sectors, including working for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, and Prison and Probation Service, mental health charity MIND, and organisations like the BBC.

Visit our psychology careers page to find out more about your career opportunities and discover the variety of career paths our recent graduates have taken.

We also work with our University's careers services to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

“After completing my psychology degree, I went onto work at HMP Brixton as a Health Trainer. I now work in the third sector for Mind as an Education Mental Health Practitioner. My job involves working with children, parents and teachers as part of a new initiative to bring Mental Health Support Teams into schools. I work with children who have mild to moderate mental health conditions, supporting them through one-to-one and targeted group support interventions. From my Essex degree, I gained lots of transferable skills that I am currently using in my job such as communication, networking, organisation and critical thinking. My plans for the future are to become a Clinical Psychologist in either an educational or forensic setting.”

Abigail Bish, BSc Psychology, 2018

Entry requirements

Clearing entry requirements

We currently have places available in Clearing across a range of our courses, with many of our courses available with a foundation year. We consider each application individually but as clearing entry requirements may change throughout the day as our places fill, we would recommend getting in touch with us as soon as you can to see if we can make you an offer.

If you are interested in applying and have already received your results, use our Clearing application form to apply for 2023 entry and find out if you are eligible. You will be asked to provide details of your qualifications and grades.

English language requirements

English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 5.5 overall. Specified component grades are also required for applicants who require a Student visa to study in the UK.

Other English language qualifications may be acceptable so please contact us for further details. If we accept the English component of an international qualification then it will be included in the information given about the academic levels required. Please note that date restrictions may apply to some English language qualifications

If you are an international student requiring a Student visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.

If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.

Additional Notes

Our Year 0 courses are only open to UK and EU applicants. If you’re an international student, but do not meet the English language or academic requirements for direct admission to your chosen degree, you could prepare and gain entry through a pathway course. Find out more about opportunities available to you at the University of Essex International College.

Structure

Course structure

We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists.

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore all modules listed as subject to change. To view the compulsory modules and full list of optional modules currently on offer, please view the programme specification via the link below.

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, or in response to COVID-19, we’ll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

Components and modules explained

Components

Components are the blocks of study that make up your course. A component may have a set module which you must study, or a number of modules from which you can choose.

Each component has a status and carries a certain number of credits towards your qualification.

Status	What this means
Core	You must take the set module for this component and you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Core with Options	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component but you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Compulsory	You must take the set module for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Compulsory with Options	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Optional	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.

The modules that are available for you to choose for each component will depend on several factors, including which modules you have chosen for other components, which modules you have completed in previous years of your course, and which term the module is taught in.

Modules

Modules are the individual units of study for your course. Each module has its own set of learning outcomes and assessment criteria and also carries a certain number of credits.

In most cases you will study one module per component, but in some cases you may need to study more than one module. For example, a 30-credit component may comprise of either one 30-credit module, or two 15-credit modules, depending on the options available.

Modules may be taught at different times of the year and by a different department or school to the one your course is primarily based in. You can find this information from the module code. For example, the module code HR100-4-FY means:

100

The department or school the module will be taught by.

In this example, the module would be taught by the Department of History.

The module number.

The UK academic level of the module.

A standard undergraduate course will comprise of level 4, 5 and 6 modules - increasing as you progress through the course.

A standard postgraduate taught course will comprise of level 7 modules.

A postgraduate research degree is a level 8 qualification.

The term the module will be taught in.

AU: Autumn term
SP: Spring term
SU: Summer term
FY: Full year
AP: Autumn and Spring terms
PS: Spring and Summer terms
AS: Autumn and Summer terms

COMPONENT 01: B

Introduction to Psychology

(30 CREDITS)

Psychology is a broad subject, containing many disciplines. This module is designed to give an overview of these different core disciplines, encouraging you to explore how these different areas are informed by theory and research. The module will cover a range of classic and contemporary pieces of psychological research, exploring the methods adopted by psychologists to investigate the human mind and behaviour Through this module, you will be encouraged to think critically about the theories and research studies that are covered and begin to consider how psychological findings apply to everyday life. This module will look at theory and research in areas such as cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, individual differences, biopsychology and social psychology. Along with psychological theories we also introduce basic research skills, creating transferable analytical skills and/or preparation for entry to a psychology (or related) degree.

View Introduction to Psychology on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 02: B

Statistics for Psychology

(30 CREDITS)

The module covers the statistical skills needed to proceed to any degree course within our Department of Psychology. The syllabus covers statistical methods including data collect and analysis, distributions and hypothesis testing. The associated work in classes and lab sessions develops the skills used to solve relevant problems, with classwork and assignments being set and full solutions provided where appropriate as part of the feedback process.

View Statistics for Psychology on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 03: B

Introduction to Applied Psychology

(30 CREDITS)

This module is designed to equip students with the skills to put psychological theory into action within professional practice. The module will cover key psychological theories and consider how these can be used within fields such as forensic psychology, health psychology, sports and exercise psychology, educational psychology, clinical psychology and occupational psychology. These areas of psychology aim to improve and offer solutions to problems associated with human behaviour. Throughout the module students are encouraged to utilise psychological research in order to assess the effectiveness of applied interventions, this will create transferable analytical skills. Learning on the module will be facilitated with practical applications to enable students to take what they learn and apply it beyond the module content.

View Introduction to Applied Psychology on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 04: B

Research and Academic Development Skills

(30 CREDITS)

View Research and Academic Development Skills on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 01: B

Understanding our place in the world

(15 CREDITS)

This module will explore questions such as: Is intelligence fixed? Is our memory reliable? How do we learn? By introducing a range of approaches from across psychology, you will address such questions from different perspectives and provide the foundations needed to become a successful Essex student. This module will also begin your training on designing and carrying out psychology experiments, and dealing with the information that those experiments provide.

View Understanding our place in the world on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 02: B

Growing in the world

(15 CREDITS)

New-borns are totally dependent on others. They are unable to move or sit up; they cannot reach out and pick up an object; their vision is poor; they cannot even express simple emotions. By the end of the developmental process, some 20 years later, humans have become the most psychologically complex things we know. How does this happen? This module will introduce you to how humans grow and develop in the world. The principal approaches to the study of human development will be discussed, with a particular focus on how infants take their first "psychological steps" in the social world. You will also develop the research and analysis skills that are needed to answer different questions about how humans grow in the world.

View Growing in the world on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 03: B

Experiencing Emotion

(15 CREDITS)

In this module you will discover answers to fundamental questions in the science of emotion: What are emotions and why do we have them? Is it possible to elicit specific emotions in people and measure them? How good are we at sensing how someone else is feeling? Why are some people more emotional than others? You'll untangle the complexities involved in studying human emotion by: exploring a variety of research methods and measurements, applying critical thinking to psychological concepts, and mastering the data analysis techniques that allow psychologists to draw conclusions about our experience of emotion.

View Experiencing Emotion on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 04: B

Thinking and the Mind

(15 CREDITS)

In this module, you'll study the internal mental processes that go on inside our brain that form the basis of our thoughts. We'll answer questions such as: what do visual illusions tell us about how we perceive the world? Are we really able to multi-task? How do we understand and produce speech, and is this different if you speak more than one language? You will learn the skills that psychologists use to conduct research to answer these questions, as well as core theories and knowledge about key topics in this area.

View Thinking and the Mind on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 05: B

The Social World

(15 CREDITS)

Do you behave differently when you are alone than with others? How do people interact with individuals? How do they behave in groups? How do people explain the social world and how do they explain the behaviour of others? What makes people attribute human characteristics to animals and inanimate objects? This module will examine how humans live in and interact with the social world. These questions will be explored, using social psychology theories, survey methods and research skills.

View The Social World on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 06: B

The Social Brain

(15 CREDITS)

How does your brain decide between good and bad? What is the neural basis of moral reasoning? What is the biological basis of anger and aggression? Can we explain psychopathy in terms of differences in brain structure and function? What can neuroscience tell us about whether people should be held accountable for their actions? These are the kinds of the questions that we will investigate in this module, which aims to understand the neural basis of (anti) social behaviour. These questions will be addressed by building knowledge and understanding whilst also developing the skills that psychologists use to research these aspects of human behaviour.

View The Social Brain on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 07: N

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 08: C

Introduction to Personal Development and Employability

(0 CREDITS)

It’s important to plan your career. This is the one of three modules that will make sure you are career ready when you leave university. You will decide on your career aspirations and goals, plan how you will achieve them and identify the resources available to help you.

View Introduction to Personal Development and Employability on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 01: B

Statistics for Psychology

(15 CREDITS)

View Statistics for Psychology on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 02: B

Developmental Psychology

(15 CREDITS)

Explore classical and contemporary themes of child development such as prenatal and perceptual development, early language acquisition, and cognitive and social development, whilst examining the research methods and designs employed in Developmental Psychology.

View Developmental Psychology on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 03: B

Social Psychology

(15 CREDITS)

Through exploring and addressing a range of theories and research on how people think and behave, you will gain a clear understanding of the topics social psychologists are interested in and their approaches to studying them.

View Social Psychology on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 04: B

Brain and Behaviour

(15 CREDITS)

The brain is an extremely complex organ, and there is much that we still have to learn about its processes and functions. This module will detail the psychological mechanisms that underlie human behaviour and highlight the possibility that even our deepest thoughts and feelings arise from electrical and chemical activity in our brains.

View Brain and Behaviour on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 05: B

Personality and Individual Differences

(15 CREDITS)

An in-depth look into cognitive, trait and biological theories and approaches to personality, individual differences and intelligence. This module will also give you the opportunity to cover and debate contemporary topics in individual intelligence (such as how individual differences explain behaviours, feelings and thinking).

View Personality and Individual Differences on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 06: B

Psychology of Health

(15 CREDITS)

View Psychology of Health on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 07: B

Cognitive Psychology

(15 CREDITS)

This module explores the basic cognitive processes involved in thinking about the world, interacting with the world, and experiencing the world. Often as users of these processes they just work and the complexity of the underlying operations are hidden; a kind of "user illusion". You will learn about the emerging scientific picture of how these basic processes operate, thereby gaining a better appreciation of the underlying complexity, and a renewed appreciation of the brilliance of these operations. The module will consider examples of human talents; such as bilingualism, as well as human limitations, such as our working memory capacities. The module will cover core areas of cognition as defined by the British Psychological Society such as perception, mental imagery, attention, memory, language, and consciousness. These will be discussed both with reference to laboratory-based experiments, and also how these processes may be disrupted and may breakdown in various conditions, such as dyslexia, amnesia, and other neuropsychological conditions. Finally, the lectures will address how basic cognitive processes apply to complex real-world behaviours.

View Cognitive Psychology on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 08: N

(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 09: C

Enhancing employability and career planning

(0 CREDITS)

View Enhancing employability and career planning on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 01: B

Psychology Project

(30 CREDITS)

This module gives you the chance to utilise the statistical and research methodology which you gained during your first two years and apply it to your own original research project. You’ll submit a written report and a supporting poster which will be assessed.

View Psychology Project on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 02: N

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 03: N

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 04: N

(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 05: C

Advanced employability skills and career progression

(0 CREDITS)

View Advanced employability skills and career progression on our Module Directory

Fees and funding

Home/UK fee

£9,250 per year

International fee

£18,585 per year

Fees will increase for each academic year of study.

Home/UK fees and funding information

International fees and funding information

What's next

Our events are a great way to find out more about studying at Essex. We run a number of Open Days throughout the year which enable you to discover what our campus has to offer. You have the chance to:

tour our campus and accommodation
find out answers to your questions about our courses, student finance, graduate employability, student support and more
meet our students and staff

Check out our Visit Us pages to find out more information about booking onto one of our events. And if the dates aren’t suitable for you, feel free to book a campus tour here.

2023 Open Days (Colchester Campus)

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Find out more

How to apply during Clearing

Once you’ve checked that we have the right course for you, applying couldn’t be simpler. Fill in our quick and easy Clearing application form with as much detail as you can. We’ll then take a look and get back to you with a decision.

Find out more about Clearing
Get to know us better at our Clearing events

Interviews

We don’t interview all applicants during Clearing, however, we will only make offers for the following courses after a successful interview:

BA Multimedia Journalism
BSc Nursing (Adult)
BSc Nursing (Mental Health)
BA Social Work

The interview allows our academics to find out more about you, and in turn you’ll be able to ask us any questions you might have. Further details will be emailed to you if you are shortlisted for interview.

Apply now

Home to 15,000 students from more than 130 countries, our Colchester Campus is the largest of our three sites, making us one of the most internationally diverse campuses on the planet - we like to think of ourselves as the world in one place.

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If you live too far away to come to Essex (or have a busy lifestyle), no problem. Our 360 degree virtual tours allows you to explore our University from the comfort of your home. Check out our Colchester virtual tour and Southend virtual tour to see accommodation options, facilities and social spaces.

Our staff travel the world to speak to people about the courses on offer at Essex. Take a look at our list of exhibition dates to see if we’ll be near you in the future.

At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.

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The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.

The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.