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Original poster

What have your kids done with their psychology degree

83 replies

whathappenedtosummer23 · 28/08/2023 12:17

DD planning on studying psychology. She thinks she wants to go on to become a clinical psychologist but is also playing with the option of law and has some good work experience lined up.

Predicted grades should be at least 3A’s but she’ll go for a couple of unis with lower grades too. I want her to keep her options open so Bristol is aspiration choice, Liverpool achievable and Sussex back up lower grades.

whilst I appreciate that in many careers uni isn’t important I know in reality if she goes down the law route - realistic places would be level below magic circle / big west end firms, in practice it probably will be, so I don’t want her to close doors.

Do these options sound realistic?

OP posts:
User133543 · 28/08/2023 20:05

@nameitagain possibly, though my industry prefers candidates with PhDs and I am not sure I know of any colleagues that don't have one. Plus I only found out about this career path through companies trying to recruit us during our PhDs.

Crispynoodle · 28/08/2023 20:14

One DD did psychology then mental health nursing then a couple of masters. She is a cognitive behaviour therapist and works for a private firm dealing with NHS patients. Earns a small fortune. The other DD did psychology then went into HR doesn't earn a small fortune but happy in her role and plans to climb the ladder.

Titsywoo · 28/08/2023 21:17

DD is about to start a psychology degree next month at Cardiff. Her plan is to become an educational psychologist and she is aware she will need to do a placement then doctorate first. Hopefully it works out for her!

I only know a couple of other people with psychology degrees - one is an educational psychologist and the other is a teacher and is head of psychology at a great school.

Usernamqwerty · 28/08/2023 21:20

Allied Healthcare Profession student here on a post-graduate pre-registration course. Lots of my cohort had done psychology degrees beforehand.

boboshmobo · 28/08/2023 21:21

Dd currently doing one now , going back into year 2.

No idea what she plans to do but did it at gcse and a level and got 9 and A so we figured she would find it doable when she didn't have a clue what to do or wanted to do .

I see her doing more of an HR role than actual psychology but we will see .

Original poster
whathappenedtosummer23 · 28/08/2023 21:51

Skule · 28/08/2023 12:34

Those sound like reasonable choices.

If she's interested in clinical psychology, she should also consider York and/or Hull. Their graduates can progress to a fast-track clinical doctorate

That’s so helpful thank you

OP posts:
Original poster
whathappenedtosummer23 · 28/08/2023 21:56

BeMoreBarbie · 28/08/2023 16:32

Posted too soon. I really believe that you shouldn't do a degree nowadays unless you have an absolute plan with it. They cost too much.

I actually totally disagree. I prefer that she doesn’t have a proper plan at the moment. I think that to have a firm plan can be too narrow. Her older brother didn’t have a plan, just went for a good academic degree at a good uni and is now thinking along quite different lines to what he went into uni thinking so I’m much happier he didn’t have a set idea and same for her

OP posts:
BabyRace · 28/08/2023 21:57

I did a PGCE and have been teaching for over a decade.
Others in my course did mental health nursing, behavioural support for profoundly autistic adults, assistant behavioural psychologists & policy work in charity sector. Not everyone ended up in a related field - one is a mortgage advisor!

Original poster
whathappenedtosummer23 · 28/08/2023 21:57

NoNotHimTheOtherOne · 28/08/2023 16:41

She thinks she wants to go on to become a clinical psychologist

Is she aware this requires a further 3-year doctorate after the psychology bachelor's degree, and there is a lot of competition for places on the doctoral programmes?

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/roles/clinical-psychologist

A couple of back-up plans would be useful.

Thanks, yes she’s aware it’s going to involve a lot of extra work and study if she goes down that route. She also knows she might not want to do it at all!

OP posts:
Original poster
whathappenedtosummer23 · 28/08/2023 21:58

boboshmobo · 28/08/2023 21:21

Dd currently doing one now , going back into year 2.

No idea what she plans to do but did it at gcse and a level and got 9 and A so we figured she would find it doable when she didn't have a clue what to do or wanted to do .

I see her doing more of an HR role than actual psychology but we will see .

He is a great option for her to consider with a psychology degree

OP posts:
Original poster
whathappenedtosummer23 · 28/08/2023 22:00

nameitagain · 28/08/2023 20:01

Surely one can do a law conversion with a psych degree or accountancy grad recruitment. HR is a common career with a psych degree as are communications jobs in the media and publishing. It's at least as good as a history or English degree and in many cases better as it has a string numeracy element and data analysis.

Show quote history

Thanks. I totally agree with your points

OP posts:
Original poster
whathappenedtosummer23 · 28/08/2023 22:01

Thank you to everyone who had offered advice. Lots of food for thought

OP posts:
meringue33 · 28/08/2023 22:03

social Research
market research
data analyst

the stats you learn in psychology are very saleable in the labour market

TrishTrix · 29/08/2023 22:31

Not children but friends.

  1. Clinical psychologist
  2. Primary school teacher
  3. User Experience/ Mgt consultancy in financial sector
  4. Buyer for food retailer.
  5. Pilot
manyofyou · 30/10/2023 22:52

Hello. I studied Psychology and am training to be an Educational Psychologist now. In my final year of the Doctorate. Any Q's please ask,

Foxhasbigsocks · 30/10/2023 23:02

Not impossible at all to do law with a psych degree, but not the commonest entry path. You don’t meet many lawyers with psych degrees.

crazycrofter · 31/10/2023 14:42

Dd is in year 2 of a Psychology degree. She's known since year 10 that she wants to work in mental health and in year 12/early 13 she was looking at OT and then mental health nursing. In the end she felt she didn't know for sure what she wanted to do and she wanted to leave the door open for Clinical/Educational Psychologist. She's pretty much decided now to do a pre-reg masters in OT after she graduates. Part of me wishes she'd done OT to start off with as she'd save two years of tuition fees, plus she'd have got the bursary so it would have helped us! But she wasn't sure, so it was the right thing to do...

Her best mate wants to work with women who are victims of domestic violence and is now considering law.

MrsKeats · 01/11/2023 10:20

My DD works in mental health for the NHS.

1hrgt · 15/02/2024 21:36

manyofyou · 30/10/2023 22:52

Hello. I studied Psychology and am training to be an Educational Psychologist now. In my final year of the Doctorate. Any Q's please ask,

Hi there. Just wanted to ask how the training in Ed Psy is going? I'm looking to retrain.

greenmarsupial · 15/02/2024 21:46

@1hrgt I'm not the person you quoted but am also a TEP and happy to help if I can.

IWillBeWaxingAnOwl · 15/02/2024 21:48

I studied psychology.

My friends from my course are:

  • educational psychologist
  • clinical psychologist
  • health psychologist
  • NHS researcher
  • university lecturer
  • social worker
  • marketing manager
  • medical writer/communications person (not sure of official title)
ApolloandDaphne · 15/02/2024 21:49

I did a psychology degree then went on to become a social worker.

CatLady1994 · 15/02/2024 21:53

I did a Psychology degree and I now work in marketing. A couple of people on my course ended up going down the clinical psychology route, a few others work for the NHS or the prison service. Most people have gone on to do really random things!

scoobysnaxx · 15/02/2024 22:19

I have a psychology degree and I'm a psychotherapist (CBT).

Psychology is a very broad subject and is actually quite a versatile degree. I remember in my 3rd year it seemed everyone else wanted to go into unrelated fields (law, engineering, teaching, advertising), only a few wanted to work in mental health.

If she does Psychology she should apply for a degree with graduate basis for registration.

Clinical psychology is especially competitive, ridiculously so. This often takes multiple rounds of applications and a tough interview process to succeed but doable. If not there are many other avenues to take to deliver therapy (counselling doctorate/psychotherapy masters/diplomas etc).

Lonecatwithkitten · 15/02/2024 22:26

A real curve ball a friend of line did psychology and is now a Hollywood film editor and has been nominated for an Oscar. Was a member of the uni film sioc edited several films at uni, his dissertation looked at the psychology of running the sound and the pictures of a film at slight different speeds and when the brain noticed they weren't the same.