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 in 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 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.

• 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.