Top unis for Psychology

[BonnesVacances]

DS is looking at Psychology at degree level. I realise it is a very popular subject and places are competitive. But he's currently getting 96-98% in his A level assessments despite not doing it at GCSE and his teacher (Head of Psychology) has said he should seriously consider continuing it. DS also loves it and says it's his favourite subject he's doing.

He's also getting A* in Chemistry and B in English, though his target grade is A. It's still early days as it's only his first year, but he got all 9s in his core subjects at GCSE and a mixture of 8 & 7 for the rest, so is capable. He's in the top cohort at a big 6th form college and in a programme where they are mentored for Oxbridge and other good universities. So I'm sure he'll get his info from them, but I like to do my own research.

So where are the top universities for Psychology or where can I find this info? And how important is this ranking? DS has his heart set on Manchester for no other reason than that's where he always thought he'd go as he likes the city. But it doesn't seem to rank so highly for Psychology. Otherwise, he is keen on the north (we live in the south so maybe he's just trying to get far away from us ) which discounts Southampton, Exeter and Bath.

We're moving this thread to our Higher Education topic .

We’re a year ahead of you and dd is applying for Psychology. We’ve discounted the south west unis due to cost of living. Dd is currently trying to choose five out of Nottingham, Southampton, York, Lancaster, Manchester, Sheffield and Cardiff. All look good in different ways, York in particular has a fast track to clinical psychology, which means you can onto the doctorate straight from the degree (it’s very competitive though, as you’d expect).

Some psychology degrees are over four years because they offer a placement year in the third year. If he knows whether that is something he’s likely to want to do or not that can narrow some choices. I remember when I applied, Bath had a really wide range of placements. I looked at Manchester, but didn’t like the city. I think having a uni and location that he likes are important, as well as any rankings. Manchester is a good uni and will always look good on a CV.

Here’s a list of rankings
www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/psychology

To be accredited by BPS (which almost all are and he should definitely go for one that is) they all need to cover essentially the same things for the first two years. So reading syllabuses (syllabi??) they will all look much for muchness. Then in the final year you get choice over modules and that will depend partly on the speciality of lecturers. It’s important to know that the first two years have to have a significant maths/statistics element, much more than psychology A level. From what you’ve said, he should be able to do it, but he should make sure he wants to.

I went to Birmingham, and really loved the city as well as the uni and the course, although I don’t work in anything related to psychology now (I work in finance).

From what I’ve read, if he’s interested in psychology as a profession (clinical/educational etc), first degree university doesn’t seem to matter so much as getting a first and lots of relevant experience. If he’s going to end up going into an unrelated ‘graduate job’ he probably needs to consider the overall reputation of the university- but all the ones I mentioned are good.

No comments on the course but if he likes Manchester he should perhaps look at Glasgow. Similar cities.

Many psychology degrees are not competitive to get into. The difficult but is actually becoming a psychologist. Very few do. I would try and find out the success rates of various courses. Going on to do the doctorate is fiercely competitive. Hardly any places when compared with degree/masters holders. But someone has to get them!

The difficulty @TizerorFizz is knowing how many graduates from a course actually want to go that route. Lots of psychology graduates aren’t interested in pursuing a career in psychology. I did discover that there were around 900 places on doctorates this year and 4500 applicants.

@crazycrofter
Yes. Of course that’s true. However I wonder if some courses attract a higher proportion of those wanting to practice than others? 900 places is higher than I would have expected. 1:5 chance isn’t that bad!

I’d imagine courses with placement years might attract more people who want to go further with psychology as that gives more experience, looks better when applying for further psychology stuff but is much less relevant if you’re applying for something totally different.

I suspect you won't go wrong with any of the ones you have suggested.

My daughter went to Exeter, which you have already ruled out, but she also really liked Birmingham, so that might be worth a look, especially if your son wants a big city.

I agree with @SickAndTiredAgain that all the 3 yr BPS accredited courses cover much the same ground, so I'd be considering whether to go for that or to do a 4 year course, especially one that is an integrated masters.

Thanks everyone. Lots to read about and look into. I can see on unifrog that there is a choice of Ba/ /BSci/ MSci /MPsych depending on the university which will probably impact on subject content.

So I guess it will depend on what he wants to do with it afterwards.

Dundee.

Be aware there are BA and BSc psychology degrees. Even at the same uni one may be held in much higher regard than the other.

It really is all about experience. Getting onto the Clin Psych doctorate is hard - so any course that has placement time would probably be better. The undergraduate course is really about preparing your CV for the next bit if truth be told - so experience, research, etc etc.

I'd advise looking at the requirements for entry onto the Clin Psych postgrad courses and plan ahead!

And consider York and/or Hull if you’re sure about clinical psychology- because of the fast track option

I would add Bath into this list if you can get onto the psychology with placement course. Bath admit however that it’s one of their most competitive courses to get onto.

@Nomoreusernames1244

Dundee.

Be aware there are BA and BSc psychology degrees. Even at the same uni one may be held in much higher regard than the other.

I'd be wary of a BA which may not cover the stats/research element that would be necessary to progress in many areas.

I'd be wary of a BA which may not cover the stats/research element that would be necessary to progress in many areas.

If it’s accredited by the BPS then it should cover the stats as it would be required to.

When we were looking, I was really impressed by the Applied psychology at Exeter - four years leading to MSc and you get clinical placement while on the course www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/psychology/msciapppsy/ - also UK centre of excellence for CBT

I might be wrong about the difference in BSc and BA psychology, both will do stats but I think the BSc covers a fair bit of neuroscience which account for it being a science rather than an art. I did the BSc. The stats are the bit most students hate!