Psychology with a Foundation Year – BSc (Hons)

Looking for a foundation course in psychology in Birmingham? Our BSc (Hons) Psychology with a Foundation Year degree has lower entry requirements and can lead to a full undergraduate qualification.

This course has been specifically designed to allow home and EU students, who do not initially meet the Birmingham City University entry requirements for our standard Psychology degree, to undertake additional level 3 study designed to ensure they are successful on their chosen degree course.

What’s covered in the course?

The foundation year itself will equip you with the required knowledge and skills to proceed on to any of our undergraduate Psychology degree courses offered within the School of Social Sciences.

You will gain a deep understanding of how the core and specialised areas in psychology contribute to our understanding of contemporary issues, as well as looking at the role of brain function across multiple psychological perspectives. You’ll apply scientific reasoning and evaluate patterns of behaviour, gaining key transferable skills in communication, teamwork and problem-solving. You’ll also adopt a variety of perspectives ensuring you get the big picture.

You will explore scientific approaches to understanding the mind, brain and behaviour. Our Psychology department works in partnership with the nationally recognised Higher Education Academy (HEA) to continually develop the quality of both our staff and the course, focusing on self-development, contemporary learning practices and integrating practice within the community.

Instead of only engaging with other academics and psychologists, we focus on connecting with, and making an impact on, the local community through links with businesses, NHS and the surrounding prison services.

Why Choose Us?

• This course is designed to progress students who fall below normal entry requirement levels on to full Undergraduate degrees.
• The BSc (Hons) Psychology degree is accredited by the British Psychological Society. This means that on successfully completing your degree with a pass of over 50%, you will gain Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the British Psychological Society. This allows you to pursue a career path in Psychology through accredited Master’s and Doctoral programmes throughout the UK. The course is therefore as professionally relevant and up-to-date as possible, taking into account the very latest developments in the profession.
• On all of our programmes you will gain a professional focus and real world experience of psychology, ensuring you are equipped to make an immediate impact in your career. You have the opportunity to embark on a year-long sandwich placement as part of your degree course.
• All of our programmes have an international focus. This is embedded throughout the curriculum, giving you the opportunity to transform your experience with us into a global one. There are a variety of exciting possibilities open to you, ranging from our successful international travel scholarships scheme, through which you can spend a summer working for a charitable organisation overseas, to one of our many overseas study exchange programmes.
• As a student on one of our undergraduate degrees, you will be able to benefit from our Graduate+ initiative. This three-year award programme enables you to gain award levels for all the extra-curricular activities you undertake so that you can stand out from the crowd on graduation.
• You’ll have the opportunity to work in collaboration with our academic researchers to gain specialist insight into the fields of clinical, forensic, health and occupational psychology.
• You can get involved with additional Psychology projects via our Voluntary Research Assistantship and Student Research Scheme.
• All of our assessments emphasise the practical elements of the course, giving you a taste of what it is actually like to be a psychologist.
• You will study in our state-of-the-art City Centre Campus, ideally located for you to take advantage of our links to industry in the UK’s second city.
• We have the latest in psychological testing equipment, including eye tracking and EEG scanners.
• Student support is at the forefront of our approach, with everything designed to give you the skills you need to succeed in the profession.