Sheffield’s four-year BSc in Psychology with Placement Year covers five core areas, giving you a comprehensive understanding of the subject:

Social and health psychology

Neuroscience and clinical psychology

Cognitive psychology

Developmental psychology

Research methods

Within these five areas you'll get the chance to explore important topics with real world relevance, such as addictions, eating disorders and depression. You'll run your own experiments and learn from some of the UK’s top psychology researchers, too.

In the first year of your degree, you'll study fundamental psychology topics, including how memory works, how we interact with others and our environment, and the biology behind human behaviour. In second year, you go even deeper into these core subjects. For example, you’ll learn about eating disorders, how children learn, and why people struggle to follow through with their intentions.

Advanced research methods run through this course like a spine. By the end of year two you’ll know how to use professional statistical analysis software, and how to take ethical considerations into account when designing research projects.

In your third year, you’ll have a wide range of modules to choose from. Whether it's criminal psychology, the psychology of sleep, clinical psychology, or the psychology of eating behaviour and weight management, you can focus on what interests you the most.

You'll also complete an in-depth research project on a topic you've chosen, with access to state-of-the-art psychology research facilities and tools like EEG, eye tracking, or virtual reality. You could even choose to undertake a six-week part-time work placement, making a real contribution to a local community partner.

A placement is a great opportunity to test out a career path that you're considering, whether that's within the field of psychology or applying your transferable skills in industry. Our students have previously completed their placements with organisations including the NHS, Prison and Probation Services and IBM. You'll pay reduced fees for the year you're on placement and you'll have the support you need from your tutor and the University.