Psychology Degree

[SadBut]

My DD is just about to leave 6th form with excellent A levels
She's still undecided as to what to do.
She's been heavily encouraged by 6th form to apply for psychology degree, and will almost certainly get a place
BUT
She's pretty adamant none of the most obvious careers related to the field interest her!
And I've now heard that this is a common thing, where they get a degree, without really a proper plan!
Any advice?

My dd is doing a Psychology degree because she wants to go into a related field (mental health of some sort) but she wasn’t sure what exactly, so this keeps her options open.

However there’s nothing wrong with doing a Psychology degree because it’s your best subject or the one you’re most interested in. As long as she does well she’ll be in the same boat as all the Wnglish/History/Liberal Arts etc graduates competing for more general graduate jobs.

I know three recent graduates ( incl one of our DC) and none of them are working in psychology now. All found it an interesting course but you need to do more than the BSc to follow the subject, and as there are so many psych grads the jobs aren't particularly well paid for the first few years.

Or she could get a job which used the science maths & AI side of psychology more - analysis of data & coding which would open up other areas of employment.

I hate it when people push kids a certain way. Why are they pushing her in a direction that isn't of interest to her? What is she interested in? She should follow her interest even if people disapprove.

Is the ucas deadline not imminent? If she applies now it needs to be for a course she wants to do and will interest her for 3/4 years, not that others think she should. Maybe best to take a year out now and apply for 2024 than rush into a hasty decision.

Thanks all
I'm leaning to the year out idea
It's really difficult to know what to advise her
The catastrophic debt is the huge issue for me

Don’t ask me, my DD wants to do Fine Art….

I have a psych degree and do work in psychology, but psychology opens up many many career paths and is an excellent all round choice. She'll discover new area of psychology and might find she wants to make a career out of one.

A degree shows you are educated to that standard. Doesn’t really matter if she does something related to it in tne end.

Has she done her UCAS form or found any unis and courses she wants to do? If not I would think it is too late as the submission date is 25th.

I would second a gap year or two, then apply with more of an idea. Could she work or volunteer in some areas which might be of interest?
I have a psychology degree and I then qualified as a psychotherapist. There are not many careers available with just the degree, nearly every route requires further training.
the career field seems very different than even ten years ago, graduates with a specific industry relevant degree can often get a graduate position but others struggle. Lots of graduates seem to have master’s degrees too nowadays. (My DP and I both recruit as part of our roles).
also, there are really varying careers to consider with a psychology degree, from HR, educational psychology, clinical and occupational.
as PP said, it may be that your DD will explore these careers as she studies her degree and can then decide, but she would need further study postgraduate for all of these options.

Not many psychology graduates go into a directly related field, but it's quite a good degree for transferrable skills. I did mine about 10 years ago but we had to do statistics, read data, critical thinking, do group work, essays and scientific research so it covered quite a range of skills which is good if she doesn't know what to do next. Many graduate programs just want "a degree" and aren't fussy.

Personally I would go for a psych degree which is a BSc, I know when I applied for mine some are BAs but that might not be the case now.

The "catastrophic" debt isn't paid back until they're earning a decent amount and then it's small amounts per month. Student debt doesn't affect your credit score.

Yy agree, has she submitted her UCAS form? Your op makes it sound as tho she hasn't? If not, it's very late to be considering subjects still. If she has, has she had offers? Are they all for psych courses?

Good friend of DDs very smart girl took psych and is now training to be a primary teacher. I think her learning at uni has helped a lot.

It's difficult. A degree alone won't really get you anywhere.

I do work in mental health now and randomly the neuro module caused me to recognise a person wasn't mentally ill but actually having a stroke. Something mental health nurses didn't see. It saved his life. But that's very random.

If you do psych then be prepared to take it to PhD and beyond or otherwise it's a bit of an 'interest' subject.

It's not your decision though. It's a good solid degree subject for jobs needing a degree.

the great thing about a psychology degree is that a LOT of fields are open to you afterwards. I know people who have gone from psychology into

• advertising / marketing
• government / civil service
• law (with 1 year conversion course)
• journalism
• data science / computing
• teaching
• scientific research
• art therapy

as well as the trad psychology careers like clinical / educational / forensic psychology.

the BPS provides a guide to different careers in psychology
www.bps.org.uk/find-your-career-psychology
but there are lots of other options available. So if your DD wants to get a degree, psychology is a great option.