Course summary
Our four-year BSc (Hons) Psychology and Business Joint Honours course with integrated placement year will enable you to benefit from a unique mix of expert teaching, and real-world placement opportunities, which will help you to develop the skills and insight needed for a variety of careers. Psychology is a fascinating subject that aims to understand why people behave in the way that they do, by considering the complex interplay between biological, psychological, environmental, cultural, and social influences on behaviour. Alongside this, studying Business will provide you with a breadth of business knowledge including the functions of management and the science of decision-making. The BSc (Hons) Psychology and Business is, therefore, an ideal combination of complementary disciplines, with Psychology providing you with an understanding of the foundations of human behaviour, which can then be applied to Business contexts, while, studying Business will enable you to understand psychological knowledge and theories in the context of a real-world setting. Studying psychology and business at Aston University gives you the opportunity to complete a professional placement year, in the UK, or even overseas. Taking a placement year gives you valuable life experience in the context of working alongside professionals in a working environment. You will gain genuine practical work experience that is invaluable in developing an appreciation of issues such as office politics, which cannot be replicated in the lecture room. Such an experience is both personally enriching and valued by future employers. The programme is accredited as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS) if students gain at least a lower second-class honours degree classification. This accreditation is the first step you’ll need to become a Chartered Psychologist if you wish to take this path. This means that not only will you have the right preparation and knowledge, but the right accreditations for a successful career as a psychologist too. On successful graduation from the course (this includes the completion of a work placement, appropriate choice of final year modules, and payment of the appropriate membership fee) you will also be eligible to become an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and be permitted to use the letters Assoc. CIPD after your name. Key course benefits:
- Unique dual accreditation by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD).
- As a BSc (Hons) Psychology and Business student, when you graduate from the course you will also be eligible to become an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), and be permitted to use the letters Assoc. CIPD after your name.
- Excellent student experience: 95% of our students felt that staff were good at explaining things. (NSS, 2024)
- Real-world experience - Integrated placement year to give you real world experience, with specialist support and supervision while you undertake your role in industry. Recent examples of Psychology student placements include working for the Home Office, Civil Service, British Energy, Aston Villa Football Club, Ford Motor Co, and GlaxoSmithKline.
- Psychology graduates have gone on to secure work in organisations such as the Civil Service, the BBC, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, HSBC, IBM, Deloitte, Cooperative Bank, Jaguar Land Rover, KPMG, PwC, private care companies, and the NHS.
Modules
Year 1 Study a mixture of key psychology and business topics from biological and social psychology, to organisational behaviour and accounting for business. Core modules: Key Skills in Psychology I, Key Skills in Psychology II, Biological and Cognitive Psychology, Developmental and Social Psychology, Introduction to Organisational Behaviour, Introduction to Marketing Management, Introductory Accounting for Business, and Introduction to Human Resource Management (HRM). Year 2 Expand on the knowledge you gained during your first year and delver deeper into a range of specialist areas across the two specialties. Core modules: Research Methods and Data Analysis, Applied Psychology and Professional Skills, Individual Differences, Health and Personality, Cognition and Cognitive Neuropsychology, Employee Resourcing, Psychology and Work, Developing Creativity, and Effective Teamwork. Placement year The integrated placement year is an exciting opportunity to gain valuable career boosting experience. You’ll be able to apply what you have learnt so far and set your studies in a real world context of a working environment alongside professionals. Final year In addition to completing your final year project, you will study a series of core modules as well as getting the opportunity to select from a range of optional modules in both psychology and business topics. Core modules: Final Year Project, Social Psychology, Lifespan Development, Strategic HRM, and Employment Law for HRM. For more information, please visit our website.
Assessment method
Our close employer links and focus on practical experiences to transfer to the workplace means you’ll get a blend of learning and teaching experiences that will leave you well quipped for your future career. You will encounter a variety of learning opportunities, including: lectures practical sessions interactive workshops and tutorials group work. There is a much stronger emphasis on reading and on your own private, independent study than at school or college. To help you manage your learning, we set out your work for the year in an online student guide. This includes full details of all modules including week-by-week lecture breakdowns, reading lists and all coursework assignments for the year with the relevant deadlines. Each year of study is worth 120 credits, with each credit equivalent to 10 learning hours. The learning hours may include but are not limited to lectures, seminars, tutorials, lab sessions, practicals, online activity, reading, other independent study, reflecting on assignment feedback, field trips and work placements. You will be assessed throughout the course via wide range of assessments linked to learning outcomes. These include: class tests/end of year examinations (unseen essay, short answer or multiple choice questions) essays research reports (group or individual) presentations statistics assignments oral presentations.
Professional bodies
Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.
- British Psychological Society
- Personnel and Development, Chartered Institute of
How to apply
This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application codes
- Course code:
- CN81
- Institution code:
- A80
- Campus name:
- Main Site
- Campus code:
- -
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
International applicants
Please visit our helpful webpage for International Applicants: https://www.aston.ac.uk/international
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - Not accepted
A level - BBB - BCC
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DDD
Access to HE Diploma - D: 15 credits M: 30 credits P: 0 credits
Scottish Higher - ABBBB
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DD
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - D
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate (first teaching from September 2016) - D
Pearson BTEC 90-Credit Diploma (QCF) - DD
Scottish Advanced Higher - BBC
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 31 - 28 points
Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (first teaching September 2015)
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017) - H3, H3, H3, H3, H4
GCSE/National 4/National 5
T Level - D
Offerholders Visit Days Once you have received an offer, you will be invited to an Offerholders Visit Day to discover more about the course and Aston University.
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
https://www.aston.ac.uk/study/courses/psychology-and-business-bsc/
Student Outcomes
The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
England | £9250 | Year 1 |
Northern Ireland | £9250 | Year 1 |
Scotland | £9250 | Year 1 |
Wales | £9250 | Year 1 |
International | £20700 | Year 1 |
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
Sponsorship information
Please visit our helpful webpage for applicants: https://www.aston.ac.uk/undergraduate/your-application/funding
Provider information
Aston University, Birmingham
Aston Triangle
Birmingham
B4 7ET