Psychology (Counselling) BSc (Hons)

At the University of Northampton, everything we do, from funded trips to paid internships, is to give you everything you need to make a difference when you leave.

If you join our full-time Psychology with Counselling degree at Northampton, you will receive a laptop when your course begins*. The laptops are built to a bespoke custom specification ideal for use in the seminar room, collaborative group work or studying at home.

Whatever your ambitions, we’re here to help you to achieve them. We’ll support you to identify the skills you’re learning during your psychology and counselling degree, find your strengths and secure practical experience so that when it comes to applying for jobs or further study you’ll feel confident in standing out from the crowd. We’ve created the Northampton Employment Promise because we are so confident that if you focus on your studies and complete one of our awards you’ll be highly employable by the time you graduate. Putting you in a great position to secure employment or continue your studies.

To check out the full list of perks for this psychology with counselling course, visit our Student Perks page or dedicated International Perks page.

* UK fee payers only (see Terms and Conditions for further details)

The Integrated Foundation Year (IFY) offers a new and exciting route into studying for a psychology counselling degree, attracting ambitious and driven students who are willing to learn and advance.

If you have non-standard qualifications or do not quite meet the admissions requirements for Psychology with Counselling BSc, we can offer you a fantastic opportunity to study a four-year programme that includes an Integrated Foundation Year. The Integrated Foundation Year will help you develop the theoretical/practical and academic skills you need to successfully progress to the full award.

Our four-year courses will enable you to successfully follow the degree pathway of your choice while gaining essential study skills. The foundation year of your chosen degree will be studied on a full-time basis and is aimed at supporting the transition to higher education. Years two, three and four are then studied as a standard psychology and counselling degree programme.

What can I do with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and counselling?

With a psychology and counselling degree, you can specialise within different pathways and develop within an area of your choice in the field of psychology. You may also choose to follow various career paths outside of the psychological profession. Throughout this course, you will have gained an invaluable set of skills and a knowledge base that enables you to succeed in areas outside of psychology.

For example, our graduates are employed in education, the health service, the police force, human resources management, marketing, the civil service, broadcasting, social work and many other professions. The work-based elements of this course provide valuable careers-based skills.

As well as our annual Psychology Careers Event, at the University of Northampton, we also offer other volunteering opportunities through our Changemaker Hub, Employability Plus recognition, STEAM Opportunities and support from our careers team. Upon completion of this course, and depending on degree classification, you can progress to postgraduate training to obtain British Psychological Society (BPS) ‘chartered’ status (GBC) as counselling, clinical, educational, occupational, health or forensic psychologist. You could pursue a career as an academic psychologist, conducting research and teaching in higher education. More information about psychology careers can be found on the BPS website.

Is this degree good for a career in counselling?

This course is a good grounding for careers in chartered counselling psychology. It teaches you the skills to succeed in clinical, occupational, education or forensic psychology. This course will prepare you for roles such as a coach, counselling psychologist, counsellor, psychotherapist and wider helping professions. As well as an introduction to counselling, this course will give you a deeper understanding of counselling theories, ethics and self-awareness. Furthermore, our changemaker team is available to help support you with work experience in the appropriate field from the start of your studies, until after you graduate.

How is this course different to single honours psychology?

Within this course, you will have the opportunity to choose modules levels from 4, 5 and 6 which focus on counselling and wellbeing. These include, Introduction to Counselling, Counselling: From theory to practice, The Psychology of Wellbeing and Counselling in context. Furthermore, your level 6 dissertation project will focus on a counselling topic. These modules will focus on transferable therapeutic skills, self-awareness and knowledge required for a career in counselling.

Is Psychology and Counselling BSc a good degree?

One of the main draws for a degree in psychology and counselling, is that it does not limit you to just working within psychology or counselling. Those options are still available (and more information about psychology careers can be found through the BPS website), but the skills that are acquired throughout a psychology and counselling degree apply to careers much more broadly. Transferrable skills that you can expect to develop across the course include critical thinking, writing and computer literacy. You will also become an effective communicator in a variety of different channels with thorough and ethical research practices. Many of the skills from a psychology and counselling degree are transferable across many different careers and therefore allow you to develop yourself towards any route you would like to pursue.

How long is a Psychology and Counselling degree?

The BSc Psychology with Counselling route here at the University is between 3-6 years, depending on your availability to study. This gives you the time to develop a foundational knowledge of psychology and appropriate research skills. You will also be able to develop towards the areas that are of interest to you, and have time to explore career opportunities and areas of expertise, alongside our staff team.

Are there work placements?

There are multiple points throughout this counselling and psychology degree where there are opportunities for work placements. During stage one, there is a short work placement to complete as part of a module assessment. Following from here, there are work placement opportunities within our Education focused modules at stages two and three. We also run an optional placement year, between stages two and three, giving you the opportunity to strengthen career skills alongside your degree, should you so wish.

Does this course qualify me to be a counsellor?

Taking this psychology with counselling course does not automatically qualify you to become a counsellor. However, this course is accredited by the professional body that oversees Psychology in the United Kingdom, the British Psychological Society (BPS).

This means, that providing you meet the minimum standard of a lower second class honours (2:2) level, you are eligible for the Graduate Basis for Chartered (GBC) membership of the BPS. GBC is considered the first stage necessary for becoming a chartered practitioner, in counselling psychology as well as several other areas. This status is crucial if you wish to pursue a counselling career or a related profession, such as a psychotherapist. You will also need to complete core practitioner training that is at a minimum level of a psychotherapy or counselling diploma or masters.

How will I learn on the Psychology and Counselling degree?

Teaching methods on BSc Psychology Counselling course include an innovative, active blended approach to learning which makes the acquisition of knowledge more dynamic and flexible for students than ever before. This involves face-to-face seminars, tutorials, practical or laboratory workshops and computer assisted learning. Independent and group work will be supplemented with online seminars, self-directed learning and virtual tasks.

You are encouraged to actively engage and participate with your psychology and counselling course material both online and in class discussions to further enhance your learning. This includes a willingness to complete independent study alongside attending your classes. Practical work represents an important component of the Psychology course in each of your three years of study.

Throughout the counselling and psychology degree, you are exposed to different research approaches, and will develop an ability to apply both quantitative and qualitative techniques to research questions. We have extensive online resources that support face-to-face contact in class. You are taught by experienced, well-qualified staff that are experts within their disciplines. Staff in the Subject Group are active researchers, producing research that is nationally and internationally recognised.

If you are studying this psychology and counselling course full-time you will take 120 credits each academic year. You will study a mix of core subjects and can choose from a range of modules that reflect your interests. At each level, you will take a core module in Counselling combining three key elements:

• key theoretical concepts and therapeutic practices
• the development of self-awareness
• the development of counselling skills.

How will I be assessed?

A variety of assessment strategies are used at each level to ascertain your level of competence in a range of academic and transferable skills. These strategies include:

• Essays
• Practical reports
• Multiple-choice tests
• Oral presentations
• Time-constrained essays
• Seen and unseen examinations
• Critical reviews
• Group project work
• Patchwork blogs
• Audio-visual presentations
• Reflective reports