Skip Navigation

BSc (Hons) Educational Psychology course preparation

To help you feel prepared for your BSc (Hons) Educational Psychology studies, we’ve gathered together a range of course related activities including suggested reading, useful websites and some great things to do right now. Read on to find out more.

Suggested reading and listening

You’ll be given lots of information about which textbooks to read and introduced to the University Library, as well as the many ebooks we have for you to access, when you begin your studies in September.

In the meantime, here are some suggested books and articles you may like to read, and Ted Talks you may want to listen to, before starting your degree. We don’t recommend rushing out to buy texts before you arrive. But, if you can pick some up second hand, borrow from a library, or access online, we have a few suggestions.

Suggested books
Suggested articles
Ted Talks

Things to do over summer

Over the summer months you can prepare for your studies by familiarising yourself with online resources such as:

  • Discovering statistics This is a resource by Andy Field, author of Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics which is our recommended text for studying research methods and statistics in psychology. ‘Postverta’ is the first section of this guide and provides some of the foundations to statistics ‘Demystifying statistics’ and ‘The SPINE of statistics’ would both be really beneficial for those about to start a degree in psychology. His guides are accompanied by videos and tutorials too.
  • Go Cognitive This is an online resource that provides resources relevant to cognitive psychology, one of the core areas of psychology. There are a number of fun demonstrations of classic psychological phenomena such as ‘change blindness’ that you can take part in. There are also a number of interviews with noted psychologists (such as Professor Alan Baddeley) that cover key areas of cognitive psychology that are studied at undergraduate level such as language, attention and decision making. These are also topics linked to the research interests of many members of our department.
  • Introduction to Psychology Mastery by gWhiz. This is an app that can be downloaded via Google Play or from the App Store. The free version will give you access to practise questions and give some basic metrics on your progress.
  • Watch these animations of some of Dr Linda Kaye’s recent studies
  • Listen to the PsychCrunch podcasts – in each episode of this podcast from the British Psychological Society’s research digest they ‘explore whether the findings from psychological science can make a difference in real life. Just how should we live, according to psychology?’

Future progression

Although many of you will already know what follows, as you may have researched this course and/or the profession of Educational Psychologist in detail, please read this section carefully.

To qualify as a practising Educational Psychologist, which requires registration with the Health Professions Council (HPC), you need to undertake a three-year Doctoral training programme (D.Ed Psych) at one of twelve approved courses in the UK. One of the requirements of gaining a place on the D.Ed Psych course is an undergraduate degree which confers the Graduate Basis of Certification as a Chartered Psychologist (GBC) with the British Psychological Society.

The BSc (Hons) Educational Psychology degree does confer GBC (although you must gain a minimum of a second class honours degree). This course does not, therefore, allow you to qualify as an Educational Psychologist, but is the first step towards this, or developing a career in another area of education (such as teaching or research). Our course has been designed to provide you with thorough scientific training in educational psychology and to prepare you for work as a scientist-practitioner. However, it is not a hands-on guide for how to work with young children. If you have any concerns about whether this is the right course for you, please get in touch with [email protected] as soon as possible.