BSc (Hons)

Psychology including Foundation Year

This Foundation year will help you to build your confidence and lay the foundations for you to successfully complete a full degree in Psychology.

How to apply Apply through UCAS Book an Open Day Chat to Us

Key Course Details

  • UCAS Code

    C80F

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £9,790*

  • International students

    £17,200*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
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Build the academic confidence and core skills needed for university-level study, while developing a strong foundation for future study and a career in psychology.

DESIGNED FOR

The Foundation Year in Psychology forms part of an integrated four-year degree programme and is designed for students who do not currently meet the admissions criteria for direct entry onto the BSc (Hons) Psychology course.

Career paths

  • Mental Health
  • Social Work
  • Teaching
  • Research
  • Prison Service

Skills taught

  • Critical Thinking
  • Communication
  • Creative Problem Solving
  • Proficiency with Statistics and Data
  • Researching

We make a difference in practice, not just on paper. Our courses are designed by people who offer jobs - and taught by people who have real work experience.

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Three psychology students sitting at a table happily working on a university project
Two students having a conversation in a psychology classroom

Course Highlights

Gain key skills

Develop a range of skills and qualities that will enrich your learning in year one of the degree and beyond.

Taught by experts

Students are taught by academics with relevant industry experience who are supportive and dedicated to helping them succeed.

Placement Opportunities

Students who progress to the BSc (Hons) Psychology degree will have the opportunity to undertake various placements, giving them a competitive advantage upon graduating.

Outstanding Psychology Facilities

Our students have access to a purpose-built Psychology laboratory, behaviour analysis clinic, bookable study rooms and a social learning space.

Module Overview

Across the foundation year, you’ll build academic confidence, explore core psychological ideas and develop essential research skills, preparing you to progress successfully into undergraduate study. 

Starting your University Journey
This module helps you develop academic, personal and professional skills for university study. You’ll reflect on your progress, build confidence, and create an evidence-based portfolio to support your future learning.

Understanding Research: People, Health and Society
Develop core research skills, including data collection, analysis and presenting findings, to help you understand and carry out research in applied contexts.

Childhood through the Ages
Explore how childhood has changed over time, examining key thinkers, ideas and policies. You’ll develop research and presentation skills while investigating how societies have understood and shaped children’s lives.

The Impact Challenge: Shaping Real World Solutions
The Impact Challenge is a Foundation Year project module where students work in teams to tackle real-world issues, developing solutions through research, curiosity, teamwork, and responsible problem-solving.

For details of the modules you will study after successful completion of the Foundation Year, please see the main course page.

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

You will learn through active, real-world learning experiences that encourage curiosity, collaboration and independent thinking. Teaching helps you understand how learning works at university, while building academic confidence, critical thinking and self-reflection. You’ll work independently and with others through discussions, practical activities and guided reflection, supported by digital tools. Regular feedback helps you recognise progress and plan next steps, supporting wellbeing, resilience and a strong sense of belonging as you prepare for a higher level of study. 

How you’ll be assessed

You’ll be assessed in different ways, including short tasks, coursework, presentations, and group work. Early assessments are designed to support your learning and help you understand what is expected at university. Most assessments are coursework-based and help you develop key skills such as research, academic writing, teamwork, and communication. You’ll also reflect on your progress and use university systems and digital tools. Clear, timely feedback will help you understand how to improve and support your next steps. 

Placements

Once you progress onto the full Psychology degree, you will have specific opportunities to apply and understand psychological theory to the workplace, with additional focus for these opportunities in the Professional Practice and Employability module. You can also opt to volunteer for longer than the required hours in your allocated placement setting, or volunteer to support a range of activities across different settings.

We want to help you enhance your skillset to open as may doors as possible for your future career. You can also find a range of options for this through our Psychology Plus scheme, including volunteering, internships and short courses.

Facilities

The Psychology facilities at USW are invaluable in helping us understand human behaviour. Our purpose-built Psychology lab is filled with industry standard equipment that you will use throughout your studies, as well as interview and observation rooms that allow you, as a researcher, to observe human behaviour in a natural manner through a one-way screen. Some of the equipment that you will use includes eye-tracking equipment, Electroencephalography (EEG) machines, and BIOPAC systems. As part of our dedicated Psychology space, you will also be able to book a space for quiet study and access the dedicated social learning space with computers and Psychology textbooks.  

Student Stories

A female psychology students stands confidently in front of the camera whilst smiling
Realising I could turn my passion for understanding the mind into a lifelong career

Emily Campbell

Psychology student

Psychology student, Odette, smiles for profile shot
My passion for fencing inspired me to study psychology

Odette Hornby

Psychology student

A female psychology students stands confidently in front of the camera whilst smiling
Turning challenges into opportunities through Higher Education

Antigone Cooper

Psychology graduate

Graduate Jack wearing his graduation cap and robe
I’ve grown as a person during my three years at USW

Jack Erasmus

Psychology graduate

Psychology student, Robin, smiles for a selfie
I realised early on that I wanted to pursue a PhD

Robin

Psychology student

Close up photo shot of Psychology student Isabel
Achieving goals, overcoming obstacles and pursing my Psychology dreams

Isabel

Childhood Development graduate

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

A Psychology degree can take you into a range of interesting careers when you graduate. We will provide you with exciting opportunities to enhance your skills that look great on your CV and give you a cutting edge when looking for a job. Whether you are interested in traditional Psychology careers, working in the social and welfare profession, or analysing human behaviours, you will have plenty of opportunities to enhance your future career prospects and equip yourself to make an impression on a future employer. You could also progress onto a Psychology research degree such as a PhD or Masters by Research.

Industry Partners

Our external partnerships are leveraged throughout your studies, giving you the opportunity to work with real world clients and make contacts that can be helpful with your career. You will be able to showcase your skills to our partners at multiple points throughout your degree and will be encouraged to interact with partners directly. 

Careers support

You’ll have access to advice from our careers and employability service throughout your studies and when you graduate. This includes one-to-one appointments with faculty-based career advisers either in person or virtually through video call or email. We also have online resources to help explore career options and ensure you present yourself well to employers. These include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, an interview simulator, and application help. We also have over 2,000 registered employers targeting business graduates, so we’ll sign you up to receive weekly email alerts for jobs that match your interests too. 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

UCAS points: 48 (or above)

Typical qualification requirements:

  • A Level: DD to exclude General Studies.
  • BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Pass Pass Pass
  • Access to HE: Pass Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 48 UCAS Tariff points.
  • T Level: P (D or E)

 

Additional requirements include:

The University normally requires a minimum 3 GCSEs including Mathematics and English at Grade C/Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent but consideration is given to individual circumstances.

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Fee

£9,790

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£17,200

per year*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Bursaries Cost of Living Support

Additional Costs

Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of stationery, printing, or equipment during your foundation year.  For costs after you progress to year 1 of your degree programme, please see the list below.

 Students will be expected to pay for a DBS or certificate of good behaviour from their home country. The DBS fee includes £49.50 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee and the online administration fee

Cost: £64.74

Subscription required for each year of the course for a yearly fee of £16. Please note the service has to be joined within 30 days of receipt of your enhanced DBS certificate

Cost: £16

Cost is dependant on location.

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

Life at USW

Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.

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Student Life
The University's Ty Crawshays building at Treforest, Pontypridd.
Pontypridd Campus, Treforest
A double room at our Pontypridd accommodation featuring a large window.
Accommodation

How to apply

All applications for full-time undergraduate courses or foundation degrees should be made via UCAS. Take the next step: Apply through UCAS. You can apply to us directly for all part-time undergraduate courses, if you’re seeking advanced entry or you’re an international student. To apply directly, please choose the application form below for your preferred start date and mode of study (full-time or part-time).

Advanced entry

If you already have a relevant qualification or experience related to the course you're applying for, you may be eligible to start at a later stage of the course. For example, students from partner colleges can ‘top up’ their qualifications to a degree by joining us in Year Two or Year Three of a course. This process is known as ‘advanced entry’, you can apply directly to the University for 'advanced entry' using the application forms provided above.

Applicants accepted through advanced entry may study a different combination of modules to those advertised, as they will be joining a course already in progress. You will be contacted and advised about these modules once your application has been processed and an offer made.

International admissions

International applicants can apply to us directly. If the University has an in-country team in your region, your application will be assigned to them for assistance.
 

Next Steps

How to apply
Apply Through UCAS
Book an Open Day
Chat to Us