Psychology & Sociology

Duration: 4 years full-time with integrated placement year / 3 years full-time without integrated placement year option available for international students (i.e. non-UK / non-EU students).

UCAS Code: CL83

Please note:

• All candidates are considered on an individual basis based on all previous and predicted qualifications, experience, references and motivation. Whilst the grades listed here are our entry requirements, we understand that predicted grades are only an estimate. We will therefore consider applicants with lower predicted grades if the application is of a high standard (however, initial offers will not be lower than stated below).

• Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to provide evidence of an English language qualification. Find out more about our English language requirements.

• GCSE requirements: Five GCSEs at grade C/4 or above. This should normally include mathematics at grade B/5 and above. However, grade C/4 in mathematics will be accepted if an A level in a science (including psychology and geography), business, IT or economics is held at A level. A Grade C/4 in mathematics may also be accepted if the applicant holds a GCSE in another science subject at Grade B/5.
  

• All applicants receiving offers will be invited to an Applicant Visit Day to discover more about the course and Aston University.

• Find out more about our admissions policy.

• Application for second year entry will be considered by the programme director if there is space on that year of the programme. Typically, successful applicants for second year entry will:

• Have A level (or equivalent) qualifications similar to those required for first year entry
• Have gained (or be expected to gain) 120 credits on an equivalent programme at another recognised university
• Obtained (or be expected to obtain) an overall average of 60% or above on an equivalent programme at another recognised university
• Have not previously attempted the second year of a programme elsewhere
• Individual programmes may have additional requirements in addition to those stated above. These will be clarified upon application.

• The information contained on this website details the typical entry requirements for this course for the most commonly offered qualifications. Applicants with alternative qualifications may wish to enquire with the relevant admissions teams prior to application whether or not their qualifications are deemed acceptable. For less commonly encountered qualifications this will be judged on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the academic admissions tutor.
  

• Take a look at our FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

Typical Offers:

For 2018 entry:

• UK / EU students: £9,250 per year (£1,250 during placement year)

 

• International students: £14,950 per year (£2,500 during placement year)

Explore the costs involved in university and the financial support that may be available to you.

This course is designed to develop your sociological analysis and research skills and gain a thorough grounding in the principles and research methods of psychology.

You will develop an informed understanding of the major debates shaping today’s society, and cultivate a wider ‘sociological imagination’ of the contemporary world. You will establish foundations in sociological approaches to gender, ‘race’, class and sexuality. This will feed into higher level courses that deal with more complex issues including the relationship between science and ‘race’, reproductive politics, environmental justice and media power.

The distinctive flavour of studying psychology at Aston is the emphasis which is placed on applied as well as theoretical studies of psychology. The course covers a wide range of issues in, and theories of, cognitive, developmental and social psychology, psychobiology, and individual differences.

Your placement year will give you the opportunity to apply your key skills and competencies within a real work-based situation.

You will take 120 credits of modules per year, 60 in each semester. Each 10 credit module listed below comprises 100 learning hours and has up to three contact hours per week, in the form of lectures, tutorials, seminars, and practical classes. You will also spend time engaged in independent study.

This is an indicative list of modules:

Year 1

• Research Methods And Statistics
  
• Cognitive Psychology 1a
  
• Social Psychology 1
  
• Developmental Psychology
  
• Introduction to Psychology
  
• Introduction to Social Theory
• Becoming a Social Scientist

Year 2

During your second year you will take these core modules:

• Research Methods and Advanced Statistics

• Cognitive Psychology 2

• Individual Differences, Health & Personality

• Understanding Social Theory

You will also choose from a selection of topics such as:

• Global Society   
• Embodiment and Feminist Theory 
• Welfare States and Welfare Change
• The Social Life of Stuff

• CSI: Crime, Subversion and Injustice     
  

• Media and Society 
• Kith and Kin: Family in a Social Context

• Race and Racisms  

Placement year

Set your studies in context and enhance your employment prospects by selecting from a wide range of UK or overseas placement opportunities. Discover more below.

Final year

During your final year you have the opportunity to specialise in the areas of sociology of particular interest and relevance to your career. You will also complete core psychology modules and undertake a research project in an area of psychology of your choice.

• Final Year Project (Psychology)
  

• Critical Social Psychology
  

• Cognitive Neuropsychology

• Child and Adult Development

And a selection from:

• Health Policy
• Ageing, Society and Policy

• Work, Organisations and Society

• Racism, class and gender
• Learning to Labour: Education and Society
• Contemporary Social Movements
• Pregnancy and Politics: Cultural Norms and Family Policy
• Religion and Society
• Corporate Power in a Globalised World 
• Food and Society in a Global Context

• Popular Music and Society 
  

• International Migration and Policy

• .The Challenges of Climate Change
• The Citizen and the State

(Please note that not all optional modules are available every year.)

You will encounter a variety of learning opportunities, including

• Lectures

• Practical sessions

• Interactive workshops and tutorials

• Group work.

There is a much stronger emphasis on reading and on your own private, independent study than at school or college. To help you manage your learning, we set out your work for the year in an online student guide. This includes full details of all modules including week-by-week lecture breakdowns, reading lists and all coursework assignments for the year with the relevant deadlines.

You will be continuously assessed throughout the course. A wide range of assessments linked to learning outcomes are used, including

• Class tests / end of year examinations (unseen essay, short answer or multiple choice questions)
• Essays
  
• Research reports (group or individual)
• Presentations
• Statistics assignments
• Oral presentations.

The placement year offers you the opportunity to gain valuable experience and set your studies in the context of a working environment, alongside professionals. You can choose whether your placement has a psychology or a sociology focus, or can choose a more generic placement experience – for example, in business. By obtaining relevant work experience you will also boost your future employment prospects. It is highly attractive to potential employers and many of our students are offered graduate jobs by their placement employer.

Your placement year may be in the UK or abroad. Placements are generally paid, with the average salary being around £16,000. 

Recent examples of placements include:

• Administration Assistant at The Children’s Society

• HR placement at Janssen-Cilag

• Placement with the Suffolk Youth Offending Service

• Study placement at the University of Tampere

• Educational assistants in schools, pupil referral units and at local Behavioural Support Centres

• Co-ordinating volunteer work in Tanzania and with the charity/advocacy group People and Planet

• Working in a women’s shelter

• Working with the Birmingham Youth Offenders Service and West Midlands Police

• Lloyds Bank placement

• Teaching English at the British School of Kuala Lumpur.

You'll receive plenty of help and advice in finding your placement and specialist support and supervision from the University during your placement. 

The placement is optional for international (i.e. non-UK / non-EU) students.

Find out more about placement years in Life & Health Sciences.

Our Psychology and Sociology graduates go on to pursue a very wide range of career paths. Graduates enter business and commercial careers, caring and social careers, teaching and local government careers and many others. Progression rate to a first job is very high for Aston students and career prospects are good.

The growth of the service sector puts Psychology & Sociology graduates at a  premium – they have insight into motivation and behaviour and know about people, communities, relationships and group dynamics. Our graduates have excellent communication and teamwork skills, are critical and analytic and can design, conduct and analyse and evaluate research.

Graduates who have studied a Joint Honours Psychology or Sociology course, have a strong track record in finding jobs.

Our recent graduates have gone on to work in organisations including the Civil Service, the Police Service, local government, the NHS,  Nestlé, Deloitte and IBM.

Recent roles of graduates from all Aston psychology courses include:

• 1:1 Support Worker, Leicestershire Council 
  
• Account Executive, PCC - Perowne Charles Communications 
  
• Assistant Director, Explore Learning 
  
• Assistant Insight Manager, Müller UK & Ireland Group 
  
• Assistant Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, Herefordshire Foundation Trust/2gether Foundation Trust 
  
• Assistant Psychologist, Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 
  
• Assistant Psychologist, NHS 
  
• Assistant Psychologist, Oakleaf Care 
  
• Assistant Psychologist, Priory  Group 
  
• Behavioural and Mental Health Support Officer, Wolverhampton City Council 
  
• Behavioural Mental Health Support Worker, Northampton Borough Council 
  
• ChildLine Supervisor, NSPCC ChildLine 
  
• Educational Psychology Intern, Birmingham City Council 
  
• English Teacher, Shireland Collegiate Academy 
  
• Family Support Worker and Project Facilitator, Malachi Specialist Family Support Services CIC 
  
• Forensic Mental Health Support Worker, Inmind Healthcare Group 
  
• Graduate Trainee, Thames Water 
  
• Health Informatics Graduate Scheme, NHS 
  
• Independent Mental Health Advocate, Advent Advocacy 
  
• Marketing Internship, Red Cross 
  
• Mental Health Support Worker, Prospects 
  
• Mentor, Archery Academy 
  
• MSc Health psychology, Aston University 
  
• Paediatric Research Assistant, Leicester Royal Infirmary 
  
• Project Worker, Addaction 
  
• Psychology Assistant, HMP Full Sutton 
  
• Psychotherapist, NHS 
  
• Recruitment Consultant, Albany Beck 
  
• Science Teacher, Teachfirst 
  
• Senior Psychologist, Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 
  
• Special Educational Needs Caseworker, Salford City Council 
  
• Special Needs Assistant, Harestock Primary School 
  
• Speech and Language Learning Support Assistant, Eldon Junior School  
  
• Support Worker, UK Young Autism Project 
  
• Teacher, City of London Academy 
  
• Youth Crime Prevention Worker, Hampshire County Council.

This course is designed to also give you a range of transferable and practical skills to succeed within your chosen career. We make extensive use of group working and presentations to prepare you for the reality of working life. Such work develops your team working and negotiating skills.

Our placement year gives you the opportunity to gain practical work experience that is invaluable in developing an appreciation of issues which cannot be replicated in the lecture room.

Aston University has recently invested over £400,000 to establish dedicated psychology laboratories for our students. Aston Business School teaching rooms and facilities have also been recently refurbished. You will benefit from:

• An observation suite (with covert audiovisual recording).
  
• Tools for psychophysiological measurement. 
  
• A driving simulator.
  
• Eye tracking technology.
  
• Motion-capture technology.
  
• Cubicles for computer-based cognitive experiments.  
  
• Larger labs for focus groups and audience based experiments.
• Refurbished lecture theatres and seminar rooms with modern audio-visual equipment.
• A large computer laboratory.
• A virtual learning environment used for general study, revision and assessment. This platform allows you to access a comprehensive range of study materials, scientific journals, e-journals, databases and much more.
• Course texts and relevant journals are available from the library either electronically or in book form.
• A newly refurbished and extended Aston University Library. The Library is open 7 days a week all year round, and at key times of the academic year, it is open 24 hours a day on 6 days a week.

 See some of the facilities for yourself

Although based in the School of Life and Health Sciences, this course is taught jointly with staff from the School of Languages & Social Science.

You may also be interested in the following courses:

• BSc Psychology
  
• BSc Psychology & Business (Joint Honours)
• BSc Psychology & Marketing (Joint Honours)
• BSc Sociology

Find out what it is really like to study at Aston by reading our student and graduate profiles.

Discover more in the following ways:

• Write to us: Life & Health Sciences Admissions, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET
• Call us: +44(0)121 204 3302
• Email us: ugadmissions@aston.ac.uk
• Take a look at our FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
• Follow us on Twitter: @AstonLHS
• Follow us on Facebook: Aston University School of Life and Health Sciences
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