Program Overview

BSc (Hons) Forensic Psychology

Overview

This course examines the five core areas of Psychology as specified by the British Psychological Society (BPS) in a unique and integrated way to allow for learning to be more applicable and relatable to your future career. You will explore how Psychology is applied to understanding offenders and forms of serious and violent offending, such as those a Forensic Psychologist might encounter in the field.

Why us?

• Psychology was awarded an Athena Swan Bronze Award in 2021, in recognition of its commitment to supporting and transforming gender equality
• Our Psychology courses are 1st in the north-east for teaching quality (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024)
• Our BSc (Hons) Forensic Psychology course has a 100% positivity score for how good teaching staff are at explaining things. (National Student Survey 2024)

Course structure

Teaching methods include a mixture of large and small lectures, seminars and workshops, one-to-one and group tutorials. Students will have personal development sessions with academic staff to help with your studies and developing your employability skills.

As well as assessments that count towards your degree, there are also on-going assessments for feedback and consolidating your learning. Assessment methods include essays, scientific reports, presentations, multimedia web pages, expert witness reports, writing formulations, case studies, exams, portfolios, online quizzes, academic posters, patchwork text, an exhibition, an academic poster conference, post occupancy evaluation and designing behaviour change interventions.

This course shares a common first year with BSc (Hons) Psychology, BSc (Hons) Psychology with Counselling and BSc (Hons) Clinical Psychology, which allows you to change routes at the end of the first year should one of these specialisms appeal to you.

Modules

Year 1 (national level 4):

• Mind and Social World: Developmental, Social and Cognitive Psychology (30 credits)
• Brain and Behaviour: Biological Psychology, Individual Differences and Quantitative Methods (30 credits)
• The Building Blocks of Psychological Research (15 credits)
• Counselling Foundations (15 credits)
• Forensic and Criminal Psychology (15 credits)
• Clinical Psychology and Allied Professions (15 credits)

Year 2 (national level 5):

• Interactions and Influences: Social Psychology, Individual Differences, and Qualitative Methods (30 credits)
• Human Development and Cognition: Developmental, Cognitive and Quantitative Psychology (30 credits)
• Mental Health and Psychopathology (15 credits)
• Biological and Evolutionary Foundations of Human Behaviour (15 credits)
• Psychology of Detection and the Criminal Trial (15 credits)
• Psychology of Investigative Interviewing and Interrogation (15 credits)

Final year (national level 6):

• Communicating Psychological Science (30 credits)
• Empirical Project (30 credits)
• Application of Psychology to Serious and Violent Offending (15 credits)
• Forensic and Criminal Psychology in Practice (15 credits)

Optional modules (choose two for a total of 30 credits)

• Health Psychology (15 credits)
• Psychology Placement (15 credits)
• Sexual and Romantic Relationship Dynamics (15 credits)
• Advanced Research Methods and Statistics (15 credits)
• Digital Humans (15 credits)
• Perspectives on Addiction (15 credits)
• Psychology of Belief (15 credits)
• Classic Studies in Psychology (15 credits)
• Environmental Psychology (15 credits)
• Applied Environmental Psychology (15 credits)
• Independent Literature Review (15 credits)
• Research Experience (15 credits)
• Development in Unique Populations (15 credits)
• Neonatal Psychology Across the Lifespan (15 credits)
• Male Psychology (15 credits)
• The Psychology of Gaming (15 credits)
• Exploring Psychological Issues in Women's Reproductive Health (15 credits)
• Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging (15 credits)
• Human Animal Interaction and Wellbeing (15 credits)
• Applying Psychology to Work and Organisations (15 credits)
• Positive Psychology (15 credits)
• Creative Methods for Exploring Issues in Psychology (15 credits)
• Applying Research in Reality (15 credits)
• Biopsychological Measurement Skills (15 credits)

Facilities

• Helen McArdle House is based on our City Campus and has benefitted from a multi-million pound investment in modern facilities in recent years.
• The Living Lab boasts a unique immersive simulation room, that allows participants to experience a range of simulated scenarios in a safe environment.
• The University boasts a collection of more than 430,000 books with many more titles available through the inter-library loan service.
• Specialist psychological and computer laboratories for our counselling, forensic, clinical and psychology courses, plus the ‘Sandbox’, a dedicated space for you to develop ideas collaboratively.

Entry requirements

• Our typical offer is:
  • Irish Leaving Certificate: 112 UCAS points – Students must have H1-H7 or O1-O4 in Maths & English.
  • QQI/FETAC 5: Pass profile overall. For entry we also require H1-H7 or O1-O4 in Maths and English from Irish Leaving Certificate.

Fees and finance

• The annual, full-time fee for this course is:
  • £9,535 if you are from the UK/Europe
  • £16,500 if you are an international student

Career ready

• Psychology is one of the best degrees for transferrable skills that a student can do, as it is about behaviour and can be applied to a range of areas.
• Graduates may go on to study forensic psychology at postgraduate level in order to become a Chartered Forensic Psychologist.
• Graduates can also apply their skills in workplaces such as prisons, rehabilitation units, and secure hospitals working with criminals.

Career options

• Forensic Psychologists are usually employed in fields such as criminal justice and rehabilitation, police, probation, prison service, legal sector, and other Psychology careers such as clinical psychology, educational psychology and as mental health practitioners.
• Many graduates also follow a non-psychology career route due to developing highly transferable skills. These occupations include careers advisor, counsellor, psychotherapist, human resources, marketing, schoolteacher, play therapist, art therapist, dance therapist, social worker, policy officer, neuroscientist, mediator and border force officer.