Psychology

• The course is accredited by the British Psychological Society.
• You can study Psychology on its own or combine it with another subject, from a wide range of options.
• You will experience a truly international environment, with students and staff from over forty countries around the world.
• We have regular external speakers.
• There are dedicated support staff with a multitude of interests.
• You will receive high-quality teaching.
• The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) found that 95% of Brookes' Psychology research was internationally recognised, and there was double the world leading or internationally excellent research compared to 2008.

Seven basic modules are available in Year 1. These introduce you to current theories, methods and findings in experimental psychology, the study of social and personal influences on individual and small-group behaviour, children's social and emotional development, biological psychology, the history of psychology, key skills for psychologists, and basic psychological investigative procedures and data interpretation.

Modules taken in Year 2 give further grounding in data collection and analysis, and in empirical techniques. Optional modules allow you to study many different aspects of psychology such as social, developmental, and biological psychology, personality and individual differences or cross-cultural perspectives.

In Year 3 you will have the opportunity to undertake your own research project and you can specialise in options from cognitive, developmental and social psychology as well as abnormal psychology and atypical development. 

Study modules

As courses are reviewed regularly, the module list you choose from may vary from that shown here. You can read a detailed list of the modules here.

Year 1

• Foundations of Cognitive Psychology
• Foundations of Social Psychology
• Introduction to Psychological Research
• Foundations of Developmental Psychology
• Foundations of Biological Psychology
• Psychology and Contemporary Issues
• Influential Papers in Psychology.

Years 2 and 3

• Social Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Abnormal Psychology (Honours)
• Cognitive Psychology
• Personality and Individual Differences
• Biological Psychology
• Advanced Statistics and Experimental Methods for Psychology
• Qualitative Methods for Psychology (Honours)
• Questionnaire Design for Psychology
• Topics in Cognition (Honours)
• Topics in Developmental Psychology (Honours)
• Topics in Social Psychology (Honours)
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Psychology
• Explanatory Concepts in Psychology (Honours)
• Empirical Project (Honours) (double module)
• Neuroscience
• Understanding Developmental Disorders (Honours)
• Multidisciplinary Project
• Independent Study.

Our 'Topics in...' modules include a number of staff-led research topics within each module which students can choose for further study.

Single honours Psychology students may also choose to study up to four of the following acceptable modules:

• Anthropology of Ritual
• Motivating Health Behaviour
• Crime and Society (Honours)
• Gender and Society
• Race, Ethnicity and Exclusion
• Sociology of Work
• Approaches to Challenging Behaviour in Health and Social Care
• Bodywork and Touch
• Culture and Care (Honours)
• Poverty and Welfare
• Psycholinguistics (Honours)
• The Social World of Childhood
• Psychology of Learning
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind (Honours)
• The Philosophy of Religion
• Design for Online Communication
• Persuasive Communication
• Sports Psychology.

Modules may be subject to change in the future.

There are no additional costs other than those normally expected to enable students to study (textbooks etc).

Study abroad

Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.

Please note that the free language courses are not available if you are:

• studying at a Brookes partner college
• studying on any of our teacher education courses or postgraduate education courses.

Programme changes

On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our Changes to programmes page.

Teaching and learning

Our undergraduate modules employ a range of teaching and learning formats for delivery and assessment including lectures, seminars, discussion sessions, group tutorial sessions, and independent work with tutorial supervision. Progressive practical classes in statistical analyses and empirical methods, using a variety of approaches and tools including e-learning, culminate for most students in the honours project module where an independent empirical enquiry is undertaken and written up.

You will be taught by staff who are actively engaged in research projects spanning the spectrum from social to biological aspects of behaviour, which means that your learning will be informed by the very latest academic thinking. The department has a stimulating and friendly atmosphere, and there is a lively student psychology society which organises regular events including speakers, films and social events.

We make a concerted effort to ensure that you acquire useful abilities that will help you in your career. These include interviewing and other interpersonal skills, working in groups, measurement and evaluation of behaviour, use of statistics, computers and word-processing systems in psychology, and use of psychological knowledge to solve problems and design experiments. These skills are taught entirely within the course and do not require special prior experience.

Approach to assessment

Tuition fees

Home/EU - full time fee: 2018/19: £9,250. 2019/20: £9,250.

Home/EU - part time fee: 2018/19: £750 per single module. 2019/20: £750 per single module.

International - full time: 2018/19: £13,150 2019/20: £13,410

*Please note tuition fees for Home/EU students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by government. Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.

Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning home and EU students at the maximum permitted level.

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course, if any, are detailed in the 'This course in detail' window above.

Questions about fees?
Contact Student Finance on:
+44 (0)1865 483088
finance-fees@brookes.ac.uk

Funding and scholarships

For general sources of financial support, see:

• Funding for Undergraduate students from the UK and EU
• Funding for Undergraduate students from outside the EU

Typical offers

UCAS Tariff points: 120

A-Level: BBB or equivalent

Wherever possible we make our conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff. This combination of A-level grades would be just one way of achieving the UCAS Tariff points for this course.

IB Diploma: 32 points

BTEC: DDM

Other typical offers include:

• AB at A-level and BB at AS-level
• vocational A-levels at equivalent grades.

For combined honours, normally the offer will lie between the offers quoted for each subject.

Other academic qualifications that fulfil the entry requirements include:

• a recognised foundation or access course
• European Baccalaureate.

Further EU qualifications are also accepted; for more details please contact the admissions office.

Specific entry requirements

GCSE: Mathematics or Statistics at grade B or equivalent

• Applicants with a GCSE Mathematics grade C will also be considered if they have, or are predicted to achieve, a grade A or B in A-level Psychology.
• If you are over 21 years old and you do not have these qualifications, you should contact the admissions office to discuss your application.

Please also see the University's general entry requirements.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, we will need proof of your English language ability - IELTS (6.5 or above). 

Please also see the University's standard English language requirements

Pathways courses for international and EU students

If you do not meet the entry requirements for this degree, or if you would like more preparation before you start, you can take an  international foundation course. Once you enrol, you will have a guaranteed pathway to this degree if you pass your foundation course with the required grades.

If you only need to meet the language requirements, you can take our  pre-sessional English course. You will develop key language and study skills for academic success and you will not need to take an external language test to progress to your degree.

English requirements for visas

If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.

How to apply

Terms and Conditions of Enrolment

When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.

Credit transfer

Oxford Brookes operates the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). All undergraduate single modules are equivalent to 7.5 ECTS credits and double modules to 15 ECTS credits. More about ECTS credits.

Why Oxford is a great place to study this course

As a student in Oxford you'll be at the heart of the UK's most successful economic region and in a centre for leading industries which will provide you with a host of work placement and other learning opportunities.

One of the world's great academic cities, Oxford is a key centre of debate, with conferences, seminars and forums taking place across education, science, the arts and many other subjects. It is a vibrant city with plenty of attractions for its large student population.

Support for students studying Psychology

As a Psychology undergraduate, the support you receive at Oxford Brookes is unparalleled. As well as our teaching staff, the psychology team includes knowledgeable laboratory technicians and demonstrators. They are there to help students resolve academic problems (for example by helping with the statistical analyses of experiments). One of our demonstrators has won the UK Technician Demonstrator Award from the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network for his innovative support to students.

When you arrive at Oxford Brookes you will be assigned an academic adviser who will provide you with academic support and supervision throughout your degree. They will also keep you up to date with events such as visiting speakers and career events.

In addition, our dedicated student support co-ordinators are on hand from the day you start to the day you leave. They are here to help with anything from academic advice, such as helping you choose your modules, through to any personal issues you may experience. Our unique, free Upgrade study service is available to anyone who needs advice on study skills, from planning and writing essays to highlighting areas for improvement.

Specialist facilities

Based on the Headington Campus just a mile from Oxford's historic centre, the Department of Psychology is purpose-built and includes:

• state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, with eye tracker and high density EEG and ERP facilities to measure brain activity
• a computer suite
• teaching rooms and a video-recording studio with observation room
• a dedicated psychological test library.

Psychology students have access to a wealth of online resources, journals and articles, available through our departmental portal. We have our own departmental PC network, including services developed in house and linked directly to the university computing services.

With over half a million books, DVDs and CDs, a vast range of databases, journals and reference materials, Oxford Brookes Library provides all the resources you need for your study of psychology. We have a dedicated psychology librarian who is on hand to answer your enquiries, teach you information skills and guide you around the electronic resources on offer. The library offers regular training sessions on accessing and making the best use of key resources in your specific subject area.

Once you reach the stage of writing your dissertation, you will also have access to the world-famous Bodleian Library.

General support services

Supporting your learning

From academic advisers and support co-ordinators to specialist subject librarians and other learning support staff, we want to ensure that you get the best out of your studies.

Personal support services

We want your time at Brookes to be as enjoyable and successful as possible. That's why we provide all the facilities you need to be relaxed, happy and healthy throughout your studies.

Professional accreditation

If you have vocational ambitions in psychology you can follow courses of study in both single and combined honours courses which are accredited by the British Psychological Society as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC), provided you major in Psychology and achieve a minimum of lower second class honours and a psychology project pass. This is the first step towards becoming a chartered psychologist.

Please note, BPS accreditation of this course is subject to review and can be withdrawn at any time.

Career prospects

Many of our students take up careers in educational, occupational or clinical psychology, or in academic research after further training. We encourage flexibility, and emphasise the general relevance and practical value of the discipline. This course equips you for a variety of careers in such areas as personnel work, market research, health care and teaching. Careers talks take place in the department.

The British Psychological Society has details of the many and varied careers that a degree in psychology can open up for you. There you will also find details on the route to becoming a chartered psychologist.

As a psychology student at Oxford Brookes you will gain expertise in your field, and also develop a set of skills to help you stand out from the crowd, including the ability to:

• be an independent worker and researcher
• use critical analysis and creative thinking
• keep in step with the latest developments
• use problem solving and numeracy skills
• become confident in presentation and public speaking
• contribute to teamwork
• develop networking opportunities
• refine your writing abilities.

Further study

Course downloads

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