Teaching Psychology in the United Kingdom

1. Psychology is a popular subject at pre-tertiary and tertiary level: 50,000+ students at A-level (pre-tertiary qualification); 12,500+ graduated with Bachelor degree and 4,000+ with Doctorate or Masters degree in in 2008/9 (Joint Council for Qualifications & HESA websites) Undergraduate (Bachelor level): Approximately 115 departments offer undergraduate programmes accredited by the British Psychological Society. Non-accredited degrees are also available. Accredited courses must cover seven main areas of psychology: biological psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, personality and individual differences, conceptual and historical issues, research methods. Postgraduate courses: The British Psychological Society provides an accreditation process for postgraduate training in psychology and maintains a public Directory and a List of Chartered Members (formerly the Register of Chartered Psychologists).  In order to become a Chartered Psychologist (C.Psychol.) completion of accredited undergraduate (in order to acquire the Graduate Basis for Chartership - GBC) and postgraduate training in psychology is required.  Regular reviews are conducted by the British Psychological Society to ensure that accredited degrees continue to reach the necessary standards. Students are currently required to obtain a Lower Second class degree, or better, on an accredited undergraduate degree in order to obtain the GBC. Employability: It is estimated that 15-20% of psychology graduates become professional psychologists (including academic careers). Professional careers: After completing a Bachelor degree students can continue to study psychology through a Masters degrees in, for example, forensic, occupational, health, teacher training or sport and exercise psychology. A professional doctorate is required for clinical psychology, counselling psychology and educational psychology. Other students may study a postgraduate qualification in their chosen career area. Careers after Bachelor level: Various! Including Health and Social Care, Marketing and Public Relations, Management and Human Resources, Education or Public Sector work. Within the health sector there has been an increase in job roles that require psychological skills (e.g. psychological wellbeing practitioner, low-intensity cbt therapists) Professional body: The British Psychological Society (BPS) represents psychology and psychologists in the UK, formed in 1901. It develops, promotes and applies pure and applied psychology to the public good. Statutory regulation of psychologists: In order to obtain employment as a practitioner psychologist, further postgraduate study and supervised training are required, normally lasting a further three years. By law, from July 2009, anyone describing themselves as a registered psychologist, practitioner psychologist, clinical psychologist, counselling psychologist, educational psychologist, forensic psychologist, health psychologist, occupational psychologist, or sport and exercise psychologist must be registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC), and have undertaken an HPC approved programme of training. Teaching Psychology in the United Kingdom • The Quality Assurance Agency provides subject benchmarks for individual disciplines, including psychology. These include suggested topics for study and graduate attributes. www.qaa.ac.uk • Fees: £3300 per year for UK/EU students at undergraduate level; postgraduate fees variable Contact: Peter Reddy Centre for Learning, Innovation and Professional Practice Aston University http://www1.aston.ac.uk/clipp/ Annie Trapp The Higher Education Academy Psychology Network The University of York www.psychology.heacademy.ac.uk • EUROPLAT: European Network for Psychology Learning and TeachingFunded with support from the European Commission. • Reference 155981-LLP-1-2009-1-UKERASMUS-ENWA