PDAPPSYC - PGD Applied Psychology

This course is designed for suitably qualified graduates who wish to qualify for GBC with the BPS. It covers the BPS's GBC curriculum and the application of psychology to a variety of practice settings. It has a September start, and takes nine months full time (1 full-day and 2 half-days' attendance per week in autumn and spring semesters) and two years part time (2 half days per week).

The overarching aim of the course is to provide suitably qualified non-psychology graduates and graduates with non-accredited psychology degrees an opportunity to qualify for GBC with the BPS. More specifically, the course aims are:
1. to provide a programme which builds on students’ prior study of psychology and which deepens students’ understanding of the core areas and approaches in psychology;
2. to provide an opportunity for students to choose among a range of areas for advanced study in the application of psychology to a variety of practice settings;

3. to provide advanced training and expertise in the design, analysis, evaluation and presentation of research in psychology;
4. to ensure that each module fosters an understanding of the conceptual issues, research history and the current issues in the area of psychology that it covers;
5. to ensure that the wide range of skills that students following the course develop may be generalised to a broader context.

Knowledge and Understanding
The student is expected to have:
1. acquired in-depth knowledge and understanding of the core areas that constitute psychology as an academic discipline, including a critical awareness of current issues and developments;
2. acquired knowledge and understanding of the application of psychology to selected practice settings;
3. understood the empirical basis of psychology and the range of different approaches and research methods applicable to advanced scholarship in psychology;
4. a critical understanding of the ethical issues and responsibilities associated with the study and practice of psychology.

Cognitive/intellectual skills
By the end of the course the student is expected to develop higher order skills that are reflected in the student's ability to:
1. assess the quality of published studies with respect to the validity of the conclusions made on the basis of the methods applied and the data reported;
2. generate testable hypotheses from theories of psychological processes.

Practical skills
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. use IT to access sources of information and to work with discipline based software;
2. summarise numerical data and test statistical hypotheses using appropriate techniques;
3. apply suitable IT tools to the analysis of data, interpret the output from analyses appropriately, extract key information from the output and present it in the required style for publication in the psychological literature;
4. be competent communicators of complex ideas and analysis;
5. present written work to an accepted international standard for publication (American Psychological Association);
6. design, plan, organise and deliver an individual empirical study (research project).

Key/transferable skills including employability and professional practice
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. think critically and evaluate the validity of conclusions based on argument;
2. communicate effectively in a variety of media and in a style appropriate for different audiences and stakeholders;
3. use IT appropriately to search for, analyse and present information;
4. work effectively within a team to meet common goals and targets;
5. continue to learn independently and develop professionally.

Knowledge and Understanding

The student is expected to have:

1. acquired in-depth knowledge and understanding of the core areas that constitute psychology as an academic discipline, including a critical awareness of current issues and developments:

PY7184 LO1, LO2
PY7185 LO5, LO7
PY7186 LO1
PY7189 LO1, LO4

2. acquired knowledge and understanding of the application of psychology to selected practice settings:

PY7188 LO2
PY7189 LO2
PY7190 LO2, LO3

3. understood the empirical basis of psychology and the range of different approaches and research methods applicable to advanced scholarship in psychology:

PY7188 LO2
PY7189 LO2
PY7190 LO2, LO3

PY7185 LO4
PY7186 LO2
PY7P91 LO3, LO4

4. a critical understanding of the ethical issues and responsibilities associated with the study and practice of psychology:

PY7188 LO2
PY7190 LO3
PY7P91 LO4

Cognitive/intellectual skills

By the end of the course the student is expected to develop higher order skills that are reflected in the student's ability to:

1. assess the quality of published studies with respect to the validity of the conclusions made on the basis of the methods applied and the data reported:

PY7184 LO3, LO4
PY7185 LO4, LO6
PY7186 LO3
PY7187 LO3
PY7188 LO1
PY7189 LO3
PY7190 LO1

2. generate testable hypotheses from theories of psychological processes:

PY7185 LO1
PY7187 LO4
PY7P91 LO2

Practical skills

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. use IT to access sources of information and to work with discipline based software:

PY7187 LO1
PY7P91 LO1, LO3

2. summarise numerical data and test statistical hypotheses using appropriate techniques:

PY7185 LO2
PY7187 LO2
PY7P91 LO3

3. apply suitable IT tools to the analysis of data, interpret the output from analyses appropriately, extract key information from the output and present it in the required style for publication in the psychological literature:

PY7185 LO2
PY7187 LO2
PY7P91 LO3, LO4, LO5

4. be competent communicators of complex ideas and analysis:

PY7185 LO3
PY7P91 LO5, LO6

5. present written work to an accepted international standard for publication (American Psychological Association):

PY7185 LO3
PY7P91 LO5, LO6

6. design, plan, organise and deliver an individual empirical study (research project):

PY7187 LO4
PY7P91 LO1

Key/transferable skills including employability and professional practice

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. think critically and evaluate the validity of conclusions based on argument;

2. communicate effectively in a variety of media and in a style appropriate for different audiences and stakeholders;

3. use IT appropriately to search for, analyse and present information;

4. work effectively within a team to meet common goals and targets;

5. continue to learn independently and develop professionally.

N/A

The course is assessed through a variety of tasks that allow for the demonstration of academic learning. These include unseen written examinations, practical reports, essays, case studies, a project proposal and a project report.

N/A

1. Students may be granted up to 60 accreditation of prior learning (APL) credits for modules of the course except the Further Research Methods and Project module. Accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) is not permitted on this course. All work for which APL is awarded must have been completed within the ten academic years preceding enrolment on the course. Decisions concerning the award of APL credits will be taken by the course leader.
2. To qualify for the award of the PGDip, students must have passed, or have been given APL credits for, all modules identified as core modules and one of the modules identified as option modules in the course structure.

Successful completion of this British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited degree will make you eligible for Graduate Membership and Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC). GBC is required to obtain Chartered status where you can then use the letters CPsychol after your name.

After completion of this conversion degree, you’ll qualify for a Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the British Psychological Society (BPS). This will allow you to progress to a postgraduate professional training programme in an area of psychology including forensic, clinical, health, educational, occupational and counselling psychology.

The University offers MSc a BPS accredited course in Organisational and Consumer Psychology MSc.

You will be required to have:

• a lower second class honours degree (or above) or overseas equivalent
• Mathematics GCSE at grade C (grade 4 from 2017) or above (or equivalent)
• completed our University Certificate in Psychology for Graduates (by Distance Learning) course or obtained 60 credits in any combination of biological, cognitive, developmental, personality and social psychology, and research methods (including statistics) with another institution

All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.