Home Courses Psychology and Counselling BSc (Hons) Educational Psychology 
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Understand the psychology behind learning and how to help those who are struggling

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C8X3
3 years Full Time
Bishop Otter Campus (Chichester)

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Overview

Learn to support children and young people experiencing problems in education 

Our BSc (Hons) Educational Psychology degree develops your knowledge and understanding of how to apply psychological principles to an educational context and is ideal if you want to become an educational psychologist.

Examine the psychological factors that affect how we learn

You will explore the psychological principles behind how we learn and how these relate to the development of children and young people who experience problems that impact their ability to grasp new information within an educational context.

As part of this, you will consider how these problems hinder their educational attainment and experience in educational contexts.

You will consider topics that include:

  • Learning difficulties
  • Social and emotional problems
  • Issues around disability
  • Complex developmental disorders in children and young people
  • Teacher training
  • Parenting and family contexts

Combine education studies with psychological theory

The course combines key psychological theories and practice with educational and pedagogical study and principles as you build a strong foundation of knowledge to better support those who struggle to learn for a variety of reasons.

Apply your knowledge and skills to a professional placement setting

In your third year, you will look to apply your newly acquired knowledge, understanding, and practice to a professional setting through our integrated work placement to provide you with valuable experience ahead of your future career.

Small teaching groups for more personalised support

Our small, interactive seminars mean you are seen as an individual, not just another face in the crowd as our lecturers get to know you and how best to support your academic and personal development.

Learn from expert practicing researchers who really get to know you

Our team of expert psychology and education active researchers and practitioners bring their knowledge and research directly into the classroom with them and really get to know and how best to support you throughout your studies.

Accreditation

Our BSc (Hons) Educational Psychology course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), which means you’ll graduate with an industry-recognised qualification ready that acts as a first step to becoming a psychologist.

British Psychology Society Accredited Undergraduate programme logo

On this course you will:

  • Understand the psychology behind how children develop, behave and when they learn best
  • Examine the factors that affect children's ability to learn and how best to support them.
  • Apply your knowledge and skills on a dedicated work placement within a professional setting.
  • Learn from psychology and education experts who really get to know you and your needs.
  • Study on a British Psychological Society-accredited course

The Course

Understand the psychology behind how children learn and develop

Year One

Your first year acts an introduction to the fundamental psychological, pedagogical, and sociological principles, theories, and practices that you will use throughout your degree.

Year Two

In your second year, you will explore more specialist areas of psychology such as biological, cognitive, and developmental, as you consider the impact of specific educational practices such as forest schools.

Year Three

Your third year focuses on the development of a final independent project that acts a culmination of your learning across your degree, alongside modules that focus on the roles of technology, creativity, and mathematical thinking within education.

You will also undertake your work-based placement in a professional setting.

Indicative modules

You will study a selection of core and optional modules in each year. Each module is worth a number of credits and is delivered differently depending on its content and focus of study.

This list is indicative and subject to change.

Select a year

Analysing Attitudes to Work & Performance

This module helps define a range of everyday experiences using psychological models of attitudes, as you learn how to analyse attitudes and explore psychological constructs, methodology and theories associated with experiences. Fundamental data analysis skills will be developed through lectures and the use of statistical software, with a focus on understanding patterns of data via visualisation.

Assessment

You will be assessed through a coursework assignment and a practical report.

Education, Philosophy and Thinking – Historical Perspectives

You’ll begin to explore the key debates in philosophies of education with a particular focus on personal and institutional value systems and how educational contexts have developed over time.

The module introduces a coherent historical framework, which helps you to understand how educational perspectives and values change and evolve.

Equality of Opportunity and Diversity

This module will explore relationships between cultural identity, social policy and issues of equality and diversity.

You will examine key features of the theory and practice of social and educational inclusion from several perspectives, and explore issues, central to inclusion, human rights, equal opportunities, and social justice.

You will explore patterns of inequality in selected areas of social policy and provision with reference to the British experience and some international issues.

Experimental Design in Context: Usability and Cognition

This module explores functions and experiences relevant to using technology, focusing on the criteria used to assess technology’s usability and how human limitations relate to this usability and usage. You will be introduced to certain psychological theories and empirical findings from investigations into information processing by the mind, and discuss a range of methodologies and analyses such as laboratory experimentation and inferential statistics.

Assessment

You will be assessed through a practical report and research participation.

Learning Communities – Children Learning, Children Thinking

This module explores the sociological influences relating to our success as learners.

You will use research on thinking, learning and development to consider how individuals can maximise learning opportunities for themselves and help others to learn.

In addition, you will explore influences on learning, development and identity and discuss how learners are included or excluded from education settings.

Central to the module is a sociocultural perspective on learning and education that looks beyond the individual to communities and the historical contexts in which learning takes place.

Perspectives On Psychology

This module seeks to enable you to understand the contribution of key thinkers to the development of modern psychology and to appreciate their biographical backgrounds. The lives and work of key thinkers will be introduced and contextualised with reference to contemporary ideas and more.

Study & Research Skills for Social Scientists

This module is an opportunity to advance your personal, research and study skills and will support other content-led teaching. You will be assessed through a report and research participation.

The Study of Human Interaction

This module explores the functions of understanding relationships. You will study the processes related to forming an impression of someone and forming a relationship with them through a variety of behaviours.

Certain psychological theories and empirical findings will form investigations into attraction, prejudice, and stereotyping and a range of methodologies and analyses, such as interviewing, content analysis and observational approaches will be explored.

Biological Psychology

This module explores the ways biological processes have been studied, for example through brain lesions and cell stimulation methodologies.

The areas of behavioural genetics, neuro-imaging, neuropsychology, socio-biology and evolutionary psychology will be investigated in terms of underlying theory and empirical research.

Cognitive Psychology

This module will introduce you to the ways cognitive processes have been studied in the past. This includes studying experimental and cognitive neuropsychological methodologies. You will investigate the areas of attention, perception, learning, thinking and language and relate your findings to underlying theory and empirical research.

Developmental Psychology

This module explores the study of development and maturation in cognitive, personality, and social processes, as well as introduce you to basic theory, research findings, and methods of investigation in childhood, adolescence, and lifespan development.

You will consider the ways in which behaviour is influenced by developmental factors, the nature of developmental processes, and the ways in which empirical research can help us to understand how developmental processes influence what we do.

Forest Schools Principles and Practices

A Forest School is a journey of self-discovery and awareness in the outdoors in which participants are given the freedom to explore their surroundings, themselves and others through their curiosity and imagination.

The approach is heralded by some as inspirational but described by others as re-branding of old ideas giving questionable impact.

This module explores principles that underpin the Forest School approach and reflects on evidence for its effectiveness.

Global Citizenship: Living and Working in A Diverse and Interconnected World

This module allows you to critically engage with some of the key global issues of our times and prepare you to think beyond your immediate locality about how you are connected with people and environments that you may never have seen.

Individual Differences Psychology

On this module, you will be introduced to how individual differences processes have been studied in the past, for example through psychometrics and case study methodologies.

You will investigate areas of personality, intelligence, cognitive style, motivation, gender, and ethnicity in terms of underlying theory and empirical research.

Assessment

You will be assessed through an essay and a lab report.

Research Methods: Experimental Designs & Analysis

This module will develop your understanding of experimental designs and associated methods of analysis, and introduce you to research ethics.

Research Methods: Survey and Qualitative Designs and Analysis

The module aims to develop your understanding of survey and qualitative designs and associated methods of analysis related to Psychology.

Creativity, Technology and Learning

This module will enable you to investigate, both academically and practically, how innovative technologies can be used in learning and teaching in a wide variety of mainstream and specialist educational settings.

Exploring Mathematical Thinking

What is mathematics and why does it seem to matter so much? This module will inspire you to reflect on this question and, in doing so, increase your critical knowledge of mathematics education. Your own relationship with the subject will be explored, as will ideas on the beauty and power inherent within the subject.

Independent Project

In this module, you are encouraged to adopt a problem-oriented approach. The first stage is to identify a problem in psychology of interest and relevance to your studies.

You will determine an appropriate approach to addressing the problem through discussion with tutors who have relevant theoretical and practical expertise.

Your investigation may be based within a single discipline, or it may involve more than one discipline, but it must be based within your chosen degree programme.

Project Management and Presentation Skills

This project will support you to develop a wide range of skills from project management to the ability to present your research results in an accessible form. You will develop their scientific reasoning and reporting skills and produce a poster to present your research work.

Special Educational Needs and Disability – Engaging All Learners

This module will introduce students to a range of developmental, cognitive, social, and emotional influences that affect pupil learning and progress.

You will learn how to plan, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that contribute to removing barriers to learning, including the use of Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC) AAC and ICT.

Work-Based Placement

This module broadens your knowledge of a range of educational contexts and provides you with insights from beyond the classroom as you undertake a placement experience in an education setting of your choice.

Teaching and Assessment

Feel the support of our experienced and expert staff

Teaching

You will build your subject knowledge and practical experience through lectures, workshops, tutorials, and seminars.

These sessions will encourage theoretical and critical inquiry, debate, and practice research skills.

Smaller class sizes for better learning

You will build your subject knowledge and practical experience through lectures, workshops, and tutorials in small classes, which means our expert teaching staff really get to know you and what support you need.

Assessment

You will be assessed through a range of assignments including:

  • Scientific reports
  • Essays
  • Group and individual presentations
  • Poster design
  • Multiple choice papers
  • Short answer papers
  • Research participation
  • Essay exams

Experience

Discover our range of specialist research equipment and facilities

Work Placements

Gain vital experience within a professional environment to support your learning

During the third year of the course, you will have the opportunity to participate in a work-based placement in an educational setting, which provides you with an opportunity to work with children and young people in a professional setting.

Placements provide you with the opportunity to display your capacity to engage in the workplace alongside professionals, as well as to learn by observing, doing, and reflecting on their performance.

Who organises the placements?

Placements are organised by you in conjunction with relevant staff and provide you with a choice of approved setting, according to availability.

Where could I go on placement?

Settings may include:

  • special schools
  • day nurseries
  • family support teams
  • out of school provisions
  • libraries
  • community play or youth schemes
  • medical provisions for children or young people.

How will this help my development?

You will learn to support your own development by keeping a learning journal or diary which incorporates targets and self-evaluation.

Study Abroad

Explore the opportunity to study part of your course abroad

As a student at the University of Chichester, you can explore opportunities to study abroad during your studies as you enrich and broaden your educational experiences.

Students who have undertaken this in the past have found it to be an amazing experience to broaden their horizons, a great opportunity to meet new people, undertake further travelling and to immerse themselves within a new culture.

You will be fully supported throughout the process to help find the right destination institution for you and your course. We can take you through everything that you will need to consider, from visas to financial support, to help ensure that you can get the best out of your time studying abroad.

Careers

Where you could go after your studies

Our BSc (Hons) Educational Psychology degree prepares you for a range of careers in education and psychology and you will graduate with transferable skills in many more fields.

You may work with children, young people, families, teachers, carers, schools and the wider community. You may work in a local educational authority, schools, colleges, nurseries, special units. You could also work as a psychology assistant, in education settings, or with young people and children outside of education.

Becoming an Educational Psychologist

Educational Psychologists can work in local education authorities, nurseries, colleges, and special units. You will need to continue your studies to become an educational psychologist.

When you graduate from this degree you will have a graduate basis of registration for the BPS. You will then need to complete a BPS accredited educational psychology doctorate before applying for the Health Care and Professions Council Protected Title of Educational Psychologist.

Once you have achieved your Educational Psychology doctorate (a HCPC protected title), you will be a Chartered Educational Psychologist.

Course Costs

Course Fees 2024/25

UK fee
£9,250
International fee
£15,840

For further details about fees, please see our Tuition Fee page.

For further details about international scholarships, please see our Scholarships page.

To find out about any additional costs on this course, please see our Additional Costs page.

Entry Requirements

Typical offers (individual offers may vary):

UCAS
104-120
tariff points from A levels or combination with AS / EPQ / BTEC/ Cambridge Technical.
A Levels
BBB-BCC
including psychology or a science at B.
BTEC/Cambridge Technical
DDM-DMM
(Applied Science)
Access to HE Diploma
Pass
including 12 science credits at Merit
GCSEs
C/4 or higher
English, mathematics and a science
IB
26-28 points
including science Higher at 4
IELTS
6.0 overall
with no element lower than 5.5.

Are you interested in this course and would like to learn more? Please email Professor Esther Burkitt on e.burkitt@chi.ac.uk for admissions queries.

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