Year 10 work experience - Psychology

[Enzobear]

My daughter will be doing year 10 work experience next July. She has expressed an interest in psychology. Does anyone know what opportunities might be available in that field? Obviously it is a sensitive field with confidentiality issues, so opportunities might be quite limiting. She will be 15 at the time of the placement. School are advising to start thinking about work experience a year in advance, due to competition from other schools who all seem to have their work experience in the same week. Or have any of your children who have gone on to study psychology, do a related or non-related placement and still enjoy it? Thanks

DD was very interested in doing a Psych degree and did it at A Level.
When she was due to do WE in Y12 they were all advisd to pick a different speciality for it as Psych WE was unlikely to be possible for the reasons you listed

What type of psychology is she interested in? Could she go into something in the field related to her area, but not actually psychology? For example, if she's interested in child psychology, she might find WE in a school for children with behaviour difficulties interesting? There might be all sorts of red tape to do with confidentiality even to do with that, but somewhere with links to the area she's in might know where in the field might accept WE kids?

My advice is to look for adjacent work- if it's child then a SEN school type place, if it's MH specific then explore supported living type placements- with those ones it's likely more to be admin work but she'll still be exposed to what life is like for the residents and problems they face.

Or find a charity that operates within a sphere she would like- having a look on hub of hope will provide an idea of places in the local area to try

It would really depend on the type of Psychology that she is interested in. Find out more info and then myself & others could see what options could be available for her.

I’m a trained Psychologist- which is what I decided I wanted to do from Y9, I worked in a Magistrates court for my wk exp’ & still decided to do go down the Psych route.

I managed WEX for this age. Very difficult for a placement this specialised in KS4, but I'd look for Special Needs schools, University Departments, Market Research, Police, Magistrates Courts. If it is June or July then the chances of placements hugely reduce due to staff holidays and HE end of terms, which is why I hate end of year WEX, as it benefits schools and not students!

You could possibly try your local Mental Health Trust, they might be able to help with something adjacent to psychology which would still give her an insight into the field.

Finding WEX for year 10 at 14/15 is really difficult and I wish schools would stop pretending it isn't.

Who do you know who might be prepared for the hassle of having a teenager around for a week and start from there. The chances of it being specifically psychology-related are low.

This is virtual but she might find it interesting (and she can start now - it's 13+ - if she wants!)

https://www.springpod.com/virtual-work-experience/psychology-unveiled-fields-and-history-virtual-work-experience/WEXP-00025?queryID=90daf441884f047f392f12929bbd57a3&pos=2&fromUrl=%2Fvirtual-work-experience%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dpsychology

Or if you happen to be in Staffs:

https://www.springpod.com/virtual-work-experience/mental-health-careers-work-experience/WEXP-00087?queryID=cd2b3fb0ad07275f84fd9f9478c08b6c&pos=15&fromUrl=%2Fvirtual-work-experience%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dpsychology

Thanks for all your replies, they have all been incredibly helpful.

Not sure where you are based but saw this

https://www.westlondon.nhs.uk/work-experience

Might be worth seeing if your local NHS offers anything similar

I agree with others that volunteering in education, any type of residential care (mental health, learning disabilities, older adults), any work within criminal justice, any health related post all likely to be the most helpful work experience. But really not essential for a future career in psychology - did my WExp in a hairdressers 🤣