Psychology with Placement Year

Psychology is the scientific study of human thought, feeling, and behaviour. It draws on biology, neuroscience, social science, and experimental methods to understand why people act as they do, how mental processes develop across the lifespan, how social contexts shape individual behaviour, and what happens when psychological functioning is disturbed. A BPS-accredited degree provides the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society, which is the recognised route into postgraduate professional training in clinical, educational, forensic, and occupational psychology.

At the University of Keele, this four-year, full-time programme includes a placement year, in which you spend an extended period working in a professional setting relevant to your interests. The placement might be in a clinical, educational, research, or occupational context, and it gives you the chance to apply your academic knowledge in practice and to develop the professional skills that employers value. The core programme covers biological, cognitive, developmental, and social psychology alongside research methods and statistics, giving you the scientific foundation that the discipline requires.

The degree is BPS-accredited, so it provides the basis for graduate membership and the route to chartered status through further supervised practice and postgraduate training. Keele's campus environment and its emphasis on interdisciplinary thinking provide a supportive and intellectually stimulating place to develop as a psychologist.

Graduates of Psychology with Placement Year move into a wide range of careers. Those who wish to practise as professional psychologists typically go on to postgraduate training in clinical, educational, occupational, or forensic psychology. Others find careers in human resources, market research, social care, health promotion, education, and public sector roles.

The scientific and analytical skills the degree develops transfer broadly across any sector that deals with people and behaviour. The placement year adds concrete professional experience that significantly improves graduate employability.