Psychology Conversion Course

[GerardNoWay]

I'm a bit at sea here.

I am looking at doing psychology at university. I already have a 2:1 in English Literature - so is there a conversion course I can do?

I've done a bit of research, but just feel thoroughly confused about the whole thing!

My friend has done a Psychology degree at Liverpool University with the Foundation Element because she is a mature student. Their web pages are fairly clear about whether you need to do a Foundation or not and possibly you do not. However, Psychology is considered a science so not sure how relevant English Lit actually is. I cannot see how you can "convert" to Psychology without doing the relevant degree to gain the basic level of qualification. Getting a placement to train as a Psychologist is phenomenally difficult after the undergraduate degree as so few placements are available. Is this what you want to be or do you want to do counselling?

I'd like to be a Psychological Wellbeing practitioner and move upwards from there. My understanding is a counselling qualification wouldn't be accredited in the right way to do that.

Having done some research I think there are distance learning courses you can do through universities for 1-2 years which give you an accreditation meaning you don't have to do the undergraduate 3 years. This gives you an MSc and from there you can progress to further study.

Was hoping to find someone out there who had done or was doing the same who might be able to shed some light on the value of the qualification and the routes It opens up for you.

I cannot see how you can get a Psychology MSc without any knowledge of Psychology. Sounds odd to me. However other people may have experience of this and can be helpful.

I did a graduate diploma in psychology which is accredited by the British Psychological Society. It's important to check that as some psychology degree courses aren't accredited and then you can't use them to go on to train as a clinical/counselling psychologist or work in some jobs that require it.

To get on to the course, we needed to have done 60 credits of psychology elsewhere. If that didn't form part of your first degree then there's an approved certificate course at Oxford Brookes University and the Open University should also have approved modules.

If you google Psychology Graduate Diploma to find a course you'd like to do, then have a look at the entry requirements. The University I studied at recommended the Brookes course to fulfil the entry requirements.

I am wrong. You can do a one year MSc in Psychology at Northumbria University with any undergrad degree at 2:2 and above. Look at their web site for starters! Other universities presumably offer similar and part time.

Leeds Beckett university offer the conversion course as I was considering doing it. It is BPS approved too.

And it was a full year (two semesters) of completing a mixture of first and second year modules simultaneously rather than doing it over two years.

I don't suppose it's too outing to say that this is where I did it:

psych.cf.ac.uk/degreeprogrammes/postgraduate/diploma.html

The BPS website should keep you right. However tread carefully - a friend of mine started a conversion course (she did a non-accredited first psychology degree) and only weeks after she started the bps withdrew accreditation from that course. I'm afraid I don't remember which university it was - Derby perhaps but I'm not 100%. I would imagine that actually getting accepted on a course without a psychology or related subject may be quite challenging.

Mint, Derby sounds accurate as I had a student experience this recently (just about to start). As others have said, BPS accreditation is key. Withdrawing is rare in all honesty though. I would give them a call, they are v helpful. Good luck.

Sussex university do a highly thought of BPS accredited Msc in psychology for people with non-psych undergrad. It's very intensive and FT but allows you to go onto professional training or phd. Actually having a broader academic base can be really helpful. English literature will be a help: writing; critical thinking; wide knowledge base. Go for it! I think lots of unis offer the course. Just try to get a good uni and make sure bps accredited. Good luck