Birmingham City University
UCAS Code: 1034 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
A Level: 112 UCAS tariff points / BBC (or equivalent). AS Level: Must be in a different subject to A Levels. A maximum of four subjects will be considered. Excluded subjects: General Studies
Pass with 60 credits, 45 credits at level 3. Accepted subjects: Social Sciences or Humanities which includes a minimum of 3 credits at level 3 in Psychology
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE Maths at grade C/4 or above. If you do not have this or are not undertaking it, we accept other level 2 equivalents, or we may ask you to pass BCU's GCSE equivalency tests.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Obtain a minimum of 28 points overall. For students who do not already hold a GCSE in Mathematics at grade C/4 or above, grade 5 in Maths (Standard level) from the IB Diploma will be accepted.
Minimum of 112 UCAS tariff points, achieved in five Higher level subjects
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Excluded subjects: Health and Social Care pre-2016 syllabus
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Excluded subjects: Health and Social Care pre-2016 syllabus
112 UCAS tariff points. Diploma accepted with one A Level or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Extended Certificate accepted with two A Levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications. Excluded subjects: Health and Social Care pre-2016 syllabus
112 UCAS tariff points from three Advanced Highers (CCD) or two Advanced Highers (CD) plus two Highers (CC)
112 UCAS tariff points from three Advanced Highers (CCD) or two Advanced Highers (CD) plus two Highers (CC)
T Level
Merit overall. All subjects considered
UCAS Tariff
About this course
The BSc (Hons) Psychology and Counselling will be of particular interest if you are thinking about a career as a Counselling Psychologist, Psychotherapist or a Counsellor. The course has been carefully developed to enable graduates to gain the required knowledge base, practical skill and emotional awareness and maturity required for these, normally postgraduate professions. Whether or not further study is for you, an in depth exploration of – among other things - human development, mental health and distress and practical listening and relationship building skills will prepare graduates for range of people-focussed roles with adults, young people and children.
This course integrates traditional psychology teaching with the theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy into unified course which enables an early focus on applied practice without any loss of the rigour of a pure psychology degree. The course team consists of chartered psychologists and accredited, practising psychotherapists and counsellors, ensuring the theoretical and practical relevance of your student experience.
**Professional Placement Year**
This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.
If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course.
Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.
**£1,000 scholarships for 2025/26**
If you apply to BCU by 30 June 2025, you could be eligible for one of our £1,000 scholarships:
- Accelerate – if you are from a lower income family or household
- High Achievers’ – if you achieve 144 UCAS points or more from your main three qualifications
For full details and terms, visit www.bcu.ac.uk/scholarships
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
Curzon Building Campus
School of Social Sciences
What students say
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Applied psychology
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This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
We don't have more detailed stats to show you in relation to this subject area at this university but read about typical employment outcomes and prospects for graduates of this subject below.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Applied psychology
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£18k
£22k
£24k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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