Psychology BSc (Hons) (with Foundation Year)
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UCAS Code: C801|Duration: 4 years|Full Time|Hope Park
UCAS Campus Code: L46
Accredited|Work placement opportunities|International students can apply|Study Abroad opportunities
About the course
The importance and relevance of psychology to all areas of life and society continues to grow, meaning that an undergraduate degree in psychology will prepare you for a diverse range of careers. The Psychology courses at Liverpool Hope University equip students with knowledge and understanding of human thinking and behaviour. The single honours BSc Psychology course has a focus on applications of psychology and students are supported in their development of skills to apply psychological knowledge to real-life settings. As an alternative, a combined honours Psychology degree at Liverpool Hope allows you to study psychology alongside one of over thirty other disciplines (e.g., Tourism, Criminology, Geography; see the list on the combinations tab for the full range of Psychology combined honours courses) meaning you can choose to study psychology in a way that matches your interests.
Accredited by the British Psychological Society, the single and combined honours Psychology courses provide an in-depth scientific knowledge and understanding of the core areas of psychology. You will be supported by a friendly team of experienced and research-active lecturers to acquire skills of critical thinking and independent learning. The transferable skills developed through the course will be relevant to a variety of sectors including healthcare, the criminal justice system, education, and marketing.
You will have the opportunity to enrich your degree through a series of extra-curricular activities, such as working as a research intern, supporting your peers as a mentor, and applying psychology outside the University (e.g., working in groups on an outward-bound retreat and teaching in another country as part of our Global Hope network). You will also have access to the School of Psychology labs where you can gain first-hand experience of specialist psychology techniques and equipment, such as eye-tracking, EEG, and observational methods.
Course structure
Teaching on this degree is structured into lectures, where all students are taught together, seminars of smaller groups of around 15-20 students, and tutorials which typically have no more than 10 students.
During your first year of study, there are approximately 12 teaching hours each week, which reduces to approximately 10 teaching hours in your second and third years (if you are studying Psychology single honours all these hours will be taught by Psychology, if you are studying combined honours, half the teaching hours will be taught by lecturers in Psychology and half will be taught by lecturers from your other discipline.
On top of teaching hours, you are expected to spend a number of hours studying independently each week, as well as studying in groups to prepare for any group assessments that you may have.
Accreditation
Our single honours Psychology degree and our and combined honours Psychology degrees are accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and upon completion of your studies you will become eligible for Graduate Basis of Chartered Membership (GBC). This will give you access to the postgraduate training courses of the BPS and is the first major step in becoming a professional psychologist.
Assessment and feedback
You will complete a number of formative and summative assessments both individually and working in groups. This includes written exams, essays, reports, portfolios, presentations, and assessed laboratory work. In the final year all students complete an individual empirical research project in Psychology (dissertation).
Written feedback is provided for all coursework, along with the opportunity to discuss this in more detail with your tutor.
Curriculum overview
The single and combined honours Psychology programmes have been designed to explore psychological functioning and behaviour at a societal level in the first year, at an individual level in the second year, and at a biological level in the third year. Each year builds on the knowledge and skills gained through the course.
Foundation Year
The Foundation Year is a great opportunity if you have the ability and enthusiasm to study for a degree, but do not yet have the qualifications required to enter directly onto our degree programmes. A significant part of the Foundation Year focuses upon core skills such as academic writing at HE level, becoming an independent learner, structuring academic work, critical thinking, time management and note taking.
Successful completion of the Foundation Year will enable you to progress into the first year (Level C) of your chosen honours degree. Further details can be found here.
Year One
Introduction to Psychology
In the first year you will explore What is Psychology to develop an understanding of the historical and conceptual issues related to psychology as a scientific discipline. Here you will learn how to ask questions and consider whether humans are more than a set of psychological processes. Following this, we move to Individual and Group Perspectives that develops an awareness of social psychology, personality, and individual differences. You will study topics such as conflict, attitudes, altruism and prosocial behaviour, and discrimination. You will also study Research Design and Analysis, engaging in research and developing key skills around ethical issues, research design, and methods of analysis.
Each week you will meet with your personal tutor in small groups, focusing on developing academic and vocational skills such as peer-to-peer learning, communication, literature searching, and reflection.
If you are a BSc single honours Psychology student you will also cover Ethical and Global Issues in Psychology including topics such as morality, acculturation, and globalisation. You will have seminars introducing you to human reasoning and biases in Thinking as a Psychologist, and you will be introduced to specialist software to design research experiments in Experimental Programme Design.
Year Two
Explorations in Psychology
The second year focuses on cognitive and developmental psychology, and continues the training provided in research design and analysis. In Vision and Cognition, you will study topics such as visual perception, memory, attention, and language, and in Developmental Psychology you will cover topics such as maturational changes, biological factors in development, and emotional influences through the lifespan. Research Design and Analysis 2 introduces more complex research designs in quantitative psychology and also covers qualitative methods (e.g., observation, thematic analysis) and mixed methods approaches to research. Integral to this is the increased critical awareness of the role of ethics in research.
If you are a single honours Psychology student, you will continue to consider how psychology can be applied to different contexts and settings. You will study Health Psychology, exploring how to identify health issues (e.g., shift working, stress) and the principles of promoting healthy lifestyles. In Educational Psychology you learn about the role that cognitive, social, and emotional factors play in learning and educational contexts, and the importance of evidence-based practice in applied educational settings.
You will also study Clinical Psychology, exploring the cause(s), progression, and consequences of mental health conditions and how assessment and psychological intervention can reduce distress and enhance psychological well-being.
Year Three
Advanced Studies in Psychology
The final year examines psychological functioning at a biological and cellular level in Biological Psychology and relates this back to societal and individual issues covered in years one and two. The topics covered include brain plasticity, reward circuits, and neuroscientific methods. In Motivation and Emotion, you learn about the principles and processes associated with motivational goals, such as growth mindsets, social-emotional intelligence, and aggression. This final year marks the point where students have more ownership over their studies. This will include you choosing to study one from a selection of 12-week Specialist Seminars (topics include Cognition and Wellbeing, Forensic Psychology, Psychology of Addictions, and Perception and Action in Training and Rehabilitation*).
In the final year all students on the BSc Psychology programme complete an independent empirical research project, the Dissertation. Here you will explore in-depth an area that you are passionate about and you will be supervised by a lecturer in the School of Psychology. A series of lectures and workshops support the dissertation, helping to further develop the skills needed to conduct an independent research project.
You will also complete the relevant studies in your other discipline.
If you are a single honours Psychology student, you will have the opportunity to explore Future Challenges for Psychology, critically reflecting on the future of the discipline and the challenges (and opportunities) associated with identity and wellbeing, an aging population, increased globalisation, and a warming world. You will also choose to study two from a selection of 12-week Options (options include Psychology of Aesthetics and the Arts, Counselling Theory and Practice, Psychology of Religion, Applied Developmental Psychology, Human Memory, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Psychology of Peace and Conflict*).
*subject to change
Entry requirements
There may be some flexibility for mature students offering non-tariff qualifications and students meeting particular widening participation criteria.
Careers
Studying a Psychology degree course at Liverpool Hope will support the development of subject-specific skills including psychological knowledge, the application of psychological knowledge to the real-world, research design and analysis, and ethical principles. The course will also support the development of transferable and vocational skills including reflective learning, oral and written communication, team-working, data handling, critical thinking and problem solving, project management, and active citizenship.
The programme confers eligibility for graduate basis for chartered membership (GBC) with the BPS, a prerequisite for entry onto further postgraduate training to follow a career in applied areas of professional psychology such as counselling, clinical, educational, forensic, health, occupational, and sports psychology. The knowledge and skills gained from this course will also enable students to work in a variety of settings such as social work, education, human resources, the criminal justice system, and marketing.
Enhancement opportunities
SALA
The Service and Leadership Award (SALA) is offered as an extra-curricular programme involving service-based experiences, development of leadership potential and equipping you for a career in a rapidly changing world. It enhances your degree, it is something which is complimentary but different and which has a distinct ‘value-added’ component. Find out more on our Service and Leadership Award page.
Study Abroad
As part of your degree, you can choose to spend either a semester or a full year of study at one of our partner universities as part of our Study Abroad programme. Find out more on our Study Abroad page.
Tuition fees
The tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year are £9,535* for full-time undergraduate courses.
If you are a student from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, your tuition fees will also be £9,535*.
The University reserves the right to increase Home and EU Undergraduate and PGCE tuition fees in line with any inflationary or other increase authorised by the Secretary of State for future years of study.
*subject to Council approval.
Additional costs
On top of your tuition fees, you will need approximately £250 for the purchasing of key textbooks. There may also be a cost for any fieldtrips; details of costs will be given to you with plenty of notice.
There is a small cost for student BPS membership, and once you graduate, there is a registration fee and annual fee thereafter for Graduate Membership – full details of costs can be found on the BPS website.
Many students find it useful to have a laptop during their studies. Any laptop will be fine; however, we do not recommend a Chromebook as this does not support some of the psychology-specific software that you will need in your degree.
You will also need to consider the cost of your accommodation each year whilst you study at university. Visit our accommodation pages for further details about our Halls of Residence.
Scholarships
We have a range of scholarships to help with the cost of your studies. Visit our scholarships page to find out more.
International tuition fees
The International Tuition fees for 2025/26 are £14,500.
Visit our International fees page for more information.
Course combinations
This course is also available with Foundation Year as a Combined Honours degree with the following subjects: