Psychosocial Studies with Professional Studies Helps you to Make Sense of Yourself and the World around You.

The minimum requirements for entry for Level 1 entry is 240 UCAS tariff points from: A/AS level (Including 2 A2 passes), GNVQ, AVCE, Scottish Highers, International Baccalaureate. European Baccalaureate, BTEC / SCOTEC Diploma, Relevant Access Course or successful completion of the Level 0. Other qualifications, including overseas, may be considered.

We also welcome applicants from mature students who do not have formal qualifications but may have relevant experience. Students applying to this programme will be expected to demonstrate a specific interest in this area of study and should have a commitment to engaging with the subject. Applicants may be invited for interview.

Overseas Qualifications

The number of overseas qualifications which are accepted for entry are too numerous to list, but you can get advice from the British Council or our admissions unit on 020 8223 2835. You must be able to understand and express yourself in both written and spoken English and some evidence e.g. For level 1 entry a TOEFL score of 550 or an IELTS score of 6.0 (no skill level below 5) and for Level 0 entry an IELTS score of 5.5 (no skill level below 5) would be required.

• Explore the relationships between individuals and their society
• Enable the student to a acquire a range of specific skills as well as key and transferable skills for life and work
• Encourage reflection, self-reflection and critical analysis
• Provide study a distinctive interdisciplinary curriculum, organised around key issues in contemporary society;
• Equip students with knowledge and skills applicable in a variety of career paths, including the welfare professions, research, marketing and the 'culture industries'.

Programme outcomes

At level one, students will have been introduced to the disciplines of psychology and sociology. Specifically, they will have learned the following:-

Knowledge and understanding

• To recognise and describe different schools of psychology and analyse them in relation to each other to develop a deeper understanding of child development and social interaction
• To reflect upon own experiences from a psychosocial perspective
• To understand the development of sociology and to relate social theory to changes in social practice
• To assess critically the nature/nurture debate in relation to contemporary identities and inequalities
• To understand critically the social processes that go into the production of Official Statistics.

Students will also have learned the following intellectual skills

• To formulate an argument that uses empirical data
• To criticise theoretical perspectives and empirical data
• To select appropriate sources and arguments and identify problematic or omitted areas.
• To communicate clearly empirical findings, theories, and criticisms of them
• To evaluate critically the worth of findings derived from empirical research.
• To synthesise psychological and social accounts of human experience
• To identify and make distinctions between research methods and theoretical assumptions made in psychoanalysis, developmental psychology and social Psychology.
• To compare and contrast the similarities and differences between psychoanalytic, developmental and social psychological approaches to child development and social interaction.

The teaching and assessment processes for this will be delivered through three first year core modules (PS1201, PS1205 and PS1204). Students are also strongly encouraged to take the sociology module IS1206

Finally, students will have learned the following practical skills

• To perform an introductory psychological research project.
• To participate collaboratively in seminars
• Study skills, namely using lectures, selecting and locating sources of information, reading, note-taking, essay-writing, referencing, preparing for examinations
• To perform basic IT skills, using Windows, E-mail, Word for Windows to essay-writing level, and using the Internet.
• Communication skills (through experience of planning and giving presentation).

Students will also have had the opportunity to develop further key concepts of psychosocial studies, integrating psychological and sociological ideas, and exploring a major unifying theme, that of identity.

In their second year, students will have elaborated upon two central ideas, those of development and of individual/social relationships. They will then choose from a series of modules that introduce critically the key features of research, counselling, mental health, consumerism, culture and ethnicity.

In the final year they will choose from a wide range of specialist applications, both theoretical and practical. Those who wish to apply their studies in a work situation can do so and opportunities for study in depth come through the existence of dissertation modules.

All learning outcomes are covered in the programme’s single honours route and where Maj, J and/or Min is shown against a learning outcome, this confirms that the learning outcome is covered in the Major, Joint and/or Minor routes offered.

Knowledge:

Students should be able to:

• Describe and examine a range of key concepts in psychosocial studies theory, including and combining where relevant, psychological, psychoanalytical and sociological understandings of the self and society (Maj, J and/or Min)
• To evaluate and compare critically psychoanalytic and psychological theories of the self (Maj, J and/or Min)
• To place psychoanalytic and psychological theories of the self in a social and cultural context (Maj, J and/or Min)
• To understanding the shaping of identities in different cultural contexts and social settings (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Have knowledge of how to plan, carry out and write up a research project (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Have a knowledge of theories of the unconscious (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Understand the qualitative research methods and theories of qualities research (Maj, J and/or Min).
• Have an understanding of the different psychosocial stages of stages of human development (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Apply psychosocial understandings to the study of social and cultural modes of difference including class, gender and sexualities, ‘race’ and ethnicities, (Maj, J and/or Min).

Thinking skills

Students should be able to:

• Assess the merits of competing explanations of human behaviour (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Draw on evidence to evaluate competing explanations (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Recognise contrasting explanations of events and evaluate those contrasts in a critical way (Maj, J and/or Min).
• Contrast points of view and discuss them (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Understand the ethical dimensions of research (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Have an awareness of group processes and interaction (Maj, J and/or Min)

Subject-Based Practical skills

Students should be able to:

• Carry out a small research project (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Be able to interpret qualitative research data (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Obtain qualitative data (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Have a critical awareness of qualitative research methods such a drawing up a questionnaire, interview techniques, library research methods and textual analysis.
• Have IT skills (Maj, J))
• Know how to present reports and convey information through visual aids such as PowerPoint, through the spoken and written word and through email communication (Maj, J).

Skills for life and work (general skills)

On graduating with an honours degree in Psychosocial Studies with Professional Studies, students should be able to:

• Have good communication skills in spoken, written and visual forms (Maj, J and/or Min).
• Construct a CV and covering letter (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Understand the processes of job hunting and career development in a relevant field (Maj, J).
• To develop an awareness of the underlying dynamics of communication processes in one-to-one and group contexts (Maj, J and/or Min).
• Problem solve and present solutions in a clear a effective manner (Maj, J and/or Min)
• Have an understanding of the different psychosocial stages of stages of human development and feeling and apply this knowledge in different social and cultural settings (Maj, J and/or Min).
• Have acquired research skills that can be applied in a range of psychosocial work contexts (Maj, J)).
• Have acquired the capacity to think in a reflective and reflexive manner (Maj, J and/or Min).
• Have acquired a social and cultural awareness of psychosocial issues and the capacity to reflect upon those issues in a critical and reasoned manner (Maj, J and/or Min).

The expected duration of this programme is four years when attended in full-time mode or five years in part-time mode. It is possible to move from a full-time mode of study to a part-time mode of study and vice-versa, to accommodate any external factors such as financial constraints or domestic commitments. Many of our students make use of this flexibility and this may impact on the overall duration of their study period.

The teaching year begins in September and ends in June. A typical student, in full-time attendance mode of study, will register for 120 credits in an academic year. A student in a part-time mode of study may register for up to 80 credits in any academic year.

This programme is part of a modular degree scheme. A student registered in a full-time attendance mode will take six 20 credit modules (or fewer, if any are 40 credit modules) per year . An honours degree student will complete modules totalling 120 credits at level one, modules totalling 120 credits at level 2 and modules totalling 120 credits at level 3.

It is possible to bring together modules from one field with modules from another to produce a combined programme. Subjects are offered in a variety of combinations:

• Single - 120 credits at levels one, two and three
• Major - 80 credits at levels one, two and three
• Joint - 60 credits at levels one, two and three
• Minor - 40 credits at levels one, two and three

Modules are defined as:

• Core - Must be taken
• Option - Select from a range of identified modules within the field
• University wide option - Select from a wide range of modules across the University

In order to gain an honours degree you will need to obtain 360 credits including:

• A minimum of 120 credits at level one or higher
• A minimum of 120 credits at level two or higher
• A minimum of 120 credits at level three or higher

In order to gain an ordinary degree you will need to obtain a minimum of 300 credits including:

• A minimum of 120 credits at level one or higher
• A minimum of 120 credits at level two or higher
• A minimum of 60 credits at level three or higher

In order to gain a Diploma of Higher Education you will need to obtain at least 240 credits including a minimum of 120 credits at level one or higher and 120 credits at level two or higher

In order to gain a Certificate of Higher Education you will need to obtain 120 credits at level one or higher.

In order to gain a Foundation Degree you will need to obtain a minimum of 240 credits including:

• A minimum of 120 credits at level one or higher
• A minimum of 120 credits at level two or higher

(A foundation degree is linked to a named Honours degree onto which a student may progress after successful completion of the Foundation degree.)

Knowledge is developed through:

• Exposure to and guidance on how to use a range of paper and electronic resources, including monographs, journals, newspapers,
• Lectures, seminars, workshops and E-learning
• Field trips
• Interaction with academic staff who carry out research, write books and articles about their work.

Thinking skills are developed through:

• Lectures, seminars and workshop activity
• Interactive learning through E-learning
• tutorials
• Reading and research

Practical skills are developed through:

• IT workshops
• Library training
• Qualitative research methods training
• Study skills lectures and workshops
• Individual and group projects
• Placement workshops

Skills for life and work (general skills) are developed through:

• Engaging with academic staff and students in workshops, seminar and E-learning contexts
• IT workshop training
• Research methods training workshops
• Lectures containing employability training (e.g. CV and job application training)
• Training in communication skills including Powerpoint skills, email, wordprocessing
• Lectures and workshops on group processes
• Lectures and workshops on psychosocial understandings on human development
• |Lectures and workshops on the psychosocial capacity to tolerate differences
• Placement discussion workshops
• Placement reflexive journals
• Working in a placement setting