Educational Psychology BSc (Hons)
UCAS code: C812
Untangle the relationship between the brain, learning and development. Understand the core concepts of psychology and what makes humans tick. Apply your learning in educational settings on this degree, accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).
Overview
| Course length: | 3 years full-time 6 years part-time |
|---|---|
| Start dates: | September 2025 September 2026 |
| Location: | Edge Hill University |
| Example offers: | BBB-ABB (A Level) or DMM (BTEC) |
| Subject(s): | Psychology |
| Faculty: | Arts and Sciences |
| Department: | Psychology |
Please note this course will be renamed BSc (Hons) Psychology with Educational Perspectives from 2026 entry.
Discover the processes of human learning and development on our educational psychology degree.
We’ve designed this course to focus on psychology and the human brain, with some modules looking at the core theory through an educational lens.
Investigate the four key areas of psychology (social, developmental, biological and cognitive), as well as the relationship between brain and behaviour. Delve into the fascinating functions of the brain including memory, intelligence, personality and individual differences.
You will be taught by experts who are carrying out world-leading research in their field. They’ll help you investigate different areas by asking “how”. How do thinking, language and emotion enable us to process what goes on around us? And how do social influences alter our individual behaviour? We’ll investigate the answers to these questions and more during your time on this course.
Developing research skills is vital too. We’ll help you explore the latest methodologies. At the same time, you’ll develop career skills in creativity, critical thinking and communication.
As you discover what influences motivations and behaviours in an educational setting, you’ll test your skills hands-on. This course gives you the opportunity to do a work placement. Bring techniques and strategies for learning, teaching and assessments to life in a school or other educational-based setting.
There are three key reasons why we believe that studying Educational Psychology at Edge Hill gives you an advantage over studying elsewhere:
- We can help you think like a Psychologist – the applied focus of our curriculum and practical learning opportunities, enables you to apply your subject knowledge to personal and professional scenarios
- We can help you get more from being a Psychology student- our ethos of student involvement means we open up opportunities for you to be part of our psychology community
- We give you access to psychology experts- all our academic staff are research-active and we also have registered psychology practitioners representing areas including Clinical Psychology and Coaching Psychology. Our experts weave their subject knowledge into the curriculum, which means you will always be learning from psychology experts.
A BPS accredited degree
This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC), which is the first step towards becoming a chartered psychologist. Our degree is the perfect foundation on which to build your further education and training.
British Psychological Society - accredited
Course features
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International students can apply
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Professional accreditation
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Sandwich year option available
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Studying abroad option available
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Work placement opportunity
What you'll study
Our introductory psychology modules delve into the relationship between brain and behaviour, perception, memory and intelligence. We’ll introduce you to research methods and data analysis that help problem solving in the real-world. There’s a focus on key undergraduate skills like academic reading, group work and critical writing. We’ll also build your personal development. What’s more, your introduction to Educational Psychology will involve examining the issues facing education today.
You’ll study four major areas of psychology (social, developmental, biological and cognitive) to develop critical awareness and improve your interpersonal skills. We’ll introduce you to research methods where you’ll use your findings to better understand human behaviour. The opportunity to do a work placement at the end of Year 2 of your BSc (Hons) Psychology with Educational Psychology degree will give you practical experience in a school setting or in other educational settings.
Use research to explore specific areas of educational psychology for your dissertation. You’ll consider how to apply your knowledge of educational psychology in practice to prepare you for future employment or further study. We’ll give you a range of optional modules in your final year, where you can really focus in on educational development. Learn how autism, dyslexia and ADHD impact behaviour and learning. Or explore how you can use theories of motivation to help you be a successful student.
How you'll study
Our teaching methods vary from traditional style lectures to tutorials, seminars and workshops. There are well-equipped laboratory facilities consisting of IT rooms and research cubicles. We have a wide range of IT facilities, including experiment generation and statistical packages.
You will have the opportunity to complete a work placement at the end of Year 2 within an educational context such as a school, educational psychology service or educational research group. Some placement types are limited and travel may be required.
Typical time commitment for scheduled sessions is approximately 2.5 days per week, with the remainder of the time dedicated for self-directed study.
How you'll be assessed
Most modules are assessed by a mixture of examination and coursework, though some are assessed solely by coursework. Coursework assignments might be essays, research project reports, portfolios, group presentations, posters, or the critical analysis of research papers. In addition, in Year 3 you will complete a dissertation.
Who will be teaching you
You will be taught by team members who are experts in their fields. Psychology staff regularly publish their research in major national and international peer reviewed journals such as the British Educational Research Journal, and the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Psychology staff also collaborate with educational institutions such as schools, education trusts and local authorities to conduct research and inform policy-making.
The Department of Psychology operates a research internship scheme where you may have the opportunity to volunteer to assist with staff research across a range of exciting projects. Previous projects have focused on subjects including eye movements and memory, alcohol and inhibition, autistic traits, attentional bias to pictures and words, personality and offending behaviour, behaviour change and food awareness, multiple perspective taking, the neural underpinnings of action simulation, and the question of whether emojis reveal true emotions.
Partners and Placement Providers
We work with a range of external partners who contribute to our courses. Some of our partners and/or placement providers include: Reachout ASC, Empower Psychology Services Limited, Mosaic, TRU Rehab, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Knowsley Council, Colne Citadel, Enterprise mobility, West Lancashire Borough Council, Anthony Walker Foundation, Royal Air Force, Autism Initiatives, Airborne Environmental consultants, Cassidy Media Partnership, Aaban Partnership Limited, ABL Health LTD, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust: Personality Disorder Hub, Targeted Services, Wigan Council: Youth Support Services, ReEngage Northwest LTD: Wellbeing Coaching services, HMPPS.
Where your course includes optional modules, these are to provide an element of choice within the course curriculum. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by timetabling requirements. Some restrictions on optional module choice or combinations of optional modules may apply.
Entry criteria
Typical offer 120 – 128 UCAS Tariff points, for which no specific subjects are required, plus GCSE English and GCSE Mathematics at Grade C or Grade 4 or above (or equivalent).
Please note, for the purposes of studying psychology, level 2 literacy and numeracy qualifications are not considered as equivalent to GCSE Grade C or Grade 4 in English Language and Mathematics.
Example offers
| Qualification | Requirement |
|---|---|
| A Level | BBB-ABB. |
| UCAS Tariff points | 120-128 points. |
| BTEC Extended Diploma (or combination of BTEC QCF qualifications) | Distinction, Distinction, Merit (DDM). |
| T Level | Overall grade of Merit. |
| International Baccalaureate (IB) | We are happy to accept IB qualifications which achieve the required number of UCAS Tariff points. |
| Access to Higher Education Diploma | 45 credits at Level 3, for example 24 credits at Distinction and 21 credits at Merit or 30 credits at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit. The required total can be attained from various credit combinations. |
Please note, the above examples may differ from actual offers made. A combination of A Level and BTEC awards may also be accepted.
If you have a minimum of two A Levels (or equivalent), there is no maximum number of qualifications that we will accept UCAS points from. This includes additional qualifications such as Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), AS Levels that haven't been continued to A Level, and General Studies AS or A Level awards.
English language requirements
International students require IELTS 6.0, with a score no lower than 5.5 in each individual component, or an equivalent English language qualification.
If your current level of English is half a band, one band, or one-and-a-half bands lower, either overall or in one or two elements, you may want to consider our Pre-Sessional English course.
Fair Entry Criteria
Our new Fair Entry Criteria is a Contextual Admissions Policy that takes an applicant’s personal and educational background into account. This policy will allow eligible applicants to receive up to a two-grade reduction in their entry requirements for this course. Find out more and see if you qualify.
How to apply
Apply full-time
Read our guide to applying through UCAS to find out more about the application process.
International
Please see our international student pages for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.
Part-time applications require a direct application to Edge Hill. Please select the year of entry that you wish to apply for.
Should you accept an offer of a place to study with us and formally enrol as a student, you will be subject to the provisions of the regulations, rules, codes, conditions and policies which apply to our students. These are available at www.edgehill.ac.uk/studentterms.
Call our Clearing helpline on 0800 028 6677, Monday to Friday from 9am - 5pm or complete our Clearing Application Form and get the guidance you need. Want to know more about Clearing? view our Complete Guide to Clearing 2025.
Apply through Clearing
Facilities
The £6m Law and Psychology building provides contemporary teaching and learning facilities for students in the Department of Psychology.
The three-storey building includes a 250-seat lecture theatre, seminar and tutorial rooms, and social learning areas which encourage a more informal and interactive style of learning.
We have a wide range of state-of-the-art facilities, including research equipment to help us understand human thought and behaviour. Many of these can be used to research issues relevant to educational psychology. These include our eye-tracking labs; eye-tracking helps us understanding what people are paying attention to and how it affects information processing. We know that attention is a critical component of effective learning, and so eye tracking research can be extremely useful to know us better understand factors which might affect attention, or how we might design visual learning materials to attract optimal attention. All these can be beneficial when applied in educational contexts.
We also have our Coaching Psychology Clinic which is led by our registered Coaching Psychologists. Many people interested in Educational Psychology might apply coaching principles to their professional practice. As such, there can be a significant overlap between student-centred teaching and support when used in educational contexts, as there might be in coaching psychology practice.
Discover more about our facilities here.
Where you'll study
Finance
Tuition fees
UK Full-Time
£9,535
a year
UK Part-Time
£79 per credit
for 360 credits
International
£17,000
a year
EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as well as Irish nationals, may be eligible for the UK tuition fee rate.
Financial support
Subject to eligibility, UK students joining this course can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan from the Government to cover the full cost of tuition fees. UK students enrolling on the course may also be eligible to apply for additional funding to help with living costs.
Scholarships
We offer a range of scholarships, which celebrate the determination, commitment and achievement of our students. Many of our scholarships are awarded automatically. There are some however, where you will need to be involved in an application or nomination process. To find out more about our scholarships and check your eligibility, please visit our dedicated scholarships pages.
Money Matters
Please view the relevant Money Matters guide for comprehensive information about the financial support available to eligible UK students.
EU/EEA and Swiss students who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme may be eligible to apply for financial support. Irish nationals can ordinarily apply to Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). If you are an EU student who does not have settled or pre-settled status, or are an international student from a non-EU country, please see our international student finance pages.
Your future career
This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC), which is the first step towards becoming a chartered psychologist. Our degree is the perfect foundation on which to build your further education and training.
With this undergraduate degree you’ll be on your way to pursuing career paths such as:
- Educational Psychologist
- Learning support assistant
- Educational support worker
- Teacher
- Engagement Officer
- Peer Support Officer
- SENCO
- Support worker
- Well-being Mentor
- Young People’s Case Worker
- Outreach Officer
- Projects Worker/Coordinator
- Community Development Worker
- Education Welfare Officer
- Educational Mental Health Practitioner
- Youth and Community Worker
- Family Support Worker
Our graduates use this initial programme to kickstart their careers in the psychology sector and go on to apply their skills in a range of rewarding roles. It’s important to note that if you want to train as a psychologist, you’ll need to undertake postgraduate education. This undergraduate degree is the perfect first step to becoming a chartered educational psychologist.
At Edge Hill, we have a range of aligned postgraduate pathways which can enable you to continue your journey from our Educational Psychology course:
- · MSc Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Well-being
- · MSc Health Psychology
- · MSc Coaching Psychology
- PGCE (Primary, Secondary, or SENDI)
Course changes
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, however our courses are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may necessitate alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses.
Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of professional bodies, revisions to subject benchmarks statements, to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.
