BSc (Hons) Psychology with Counselling Skills

Combing psychological theory and research with therapeutic practice, this course is an ideal stepping-stone towards a career in counselling, psychotherapy, as well as clinical psychology. During your BSc in Psychology with Counselling you’ll gain a broad understanding of psychology, alongside developing specialist counselling skills. You’ll also learn about mental health practices and how they are studied and researched.

Our course has been accredited by the British Psychological Society. Those with a Lower Second Classification (or higher) will be eligible to apply for BPS accredited Master's and Doctoral programmes leading to careers as a Psychologist.

Previous graduates from this course have gone on to work as support workers, social therapists, counsellors, and case managers. You'll also have the option of working within private hospitals, independent practices, education in schools and universities, and public and private corporate institutions.

When available, you’ll be taught in our award winning Hatchcroft Building which includes physiology, social observation, virtual reality and auditory cognition laboratories. This allows you to build your skills in a live environment as you’ll have access to psycho-physiology and social observation labs, as well as 12 testing cubicles. Even in eventualities where we are unable to be in the laboratory or the classroom together, we aimm to use virtual tools to help you develop key practical skills.

During your counselling and psychology degree you’ll be encouraged to take on a work placement so you can test your skills in the real world. Previously we've seen our students take on internships in areas such as eating disorders, autism and the psychological factors relating to male and female rape.

We are regularly reviewing and updating our programmes to ensure you have the best learning experience. We are taking what we have learnt during the pandemic and enhancing our teaching methods with new and innovative ways of learning.

We aim to model a wide range of teaching strategies and approaches on the course which you can adapt to your own setting.

You will be taught through a combination of Lectures, Seminars, laboratory practicals, workshops, counselling practice, and tutorials. Lectures allow you to gain and develop knowledge in specific subjects. You can discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures and practicals in smaller seminar groups usually made up of 25 students. In addition, you can arrange one to one sessions with your personal tutor or module leader. You will also have access to and use resources to support your learning including; specialist software and dedicated laboratories throughout your course.

During your first year (level 4), your weekly timetable will typically consist of:

When not attending your teaching, sessions mentioned above, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, and preparing for assessments including coursework, presentations and examinations. Your independent learning is supported by the facilities available including the library and Study Hub, Laptop hire, and with online materials in MyUniHub (see student support section below).

Your overall workload will include the activities listed above, and with each credit being completed equating to 10 hours of study time (You will complete 120 credits per level of study, which are broken down into modules of typically 30 credits). While your actual hours may depend on the optional module that you choose (if available), the following information will give you an indication of how much time is allocated to teaching and independent study on your course;

Level 4

33% of your time is spent in timetabled Teaching and learning - typical structure activity:

Level 5

38% of your time is spent in timetabled Teaching and learning - typical structure activity:

Level 6

27% of your time is spent in timetabled Teaching and learning - typical structure activity:

We’ve made changes to how we assess our courses due to the restrictions which were in place during the pandemic. We’re reviewing what aspects of these changes to take forwards into 2021/22 and you’ll be provided information on this by your academic department.

The course will provide you with opportunities to test your knowledge and understanding informally through ‘formative’ assessment. This will be completed before your formal ‘summative’ assessment which will count towards your final marks. Each module normally contains at least one piece of formative assessment from which you will receive feedback from your tutor. Formative assessments are developmental and any grade you receive from formative assessment does not count towards your final marks.

There is formal ‘summative’ assessment as part of the module, usually towards the end of the module. Assessment methods could include written examinations, a range of coursework including essays, laboratory reports, portfolios, and your main final year project. The grades from the summative assessments count towards your module mark. Assessments are reviewed annually and may be updated based on student feedback, to suit content or based on feedback from an external examiner.

The balance of assessment will depend on the modules that you complete throughout your course. The approximate percentage of the course which is assessed by coursework is outlined below: