As part of our dedication to providing meaningful experiences, we integrate key employability strategies within our curriculum and extracurricular provision. This helps our students think like psychologists, by putting their subject knowledge and skills into practice with real-world scenarios.
Paid internship scheme
We are dedicated to providing meaningful opportunities for our students, and as testimony to this, we have provided opportunities for our students to take part in a Paid Internship Scheme. This is a competitive scheme in which our second year undergraduates and first year Masters Conversion students can apply to work as a research assistant or knowledge exchange trainee on live projects in our department.
As well as our students gaining important graduate level skills from this scheme, we also have an impressive track record of having our student’s work published in academic journals.
We encourage student participation in departmental research. This approach is designed to allow students to experience the importance of research (and the associated processes) in the subject of psychology.
There are two ways in which you can participate in our research:
Undergraduate psychology students are encouraged to take part in studies for course credit as part of module learning activities
You can also participate in research for a small payment.
All studies are ethically approved and you will receive information about each prior to signing up. The data collected in each study is kept confidential and anonymous and only used for research purposes.
Take part in research
If you are interested in taking part in research, you need to register with the Psychology Research Participation System (Edge Hill SONA-Systems). This contains information about the research projects and allows you to sign-up to take part in these projects.
Essential Skills in Applied Psychology module– a compulsory module in the first year dedicated to developing our students academically, personally and professionally. Here we focus on building lifelong skills which equip our students well for their future ambitions. In particular, we encourage key transferable skills such as: collaboration, team-work, creativity, communication and problem-solving.
Introduction to Applied Psychology– this compulsory module on our BSc (Hons) Psychology programme helps our students development knowledge of key areas of applied psychology, including both professional psychology training routes, and broader applications of psychology in career areas out of, but allied to, the discipline. Some of the opportunities on this module include applying psychology to the design of a community-based initiative. Students on our other undergraduate courses do modules which are specific to their specialised degree pathway, to help apply subject knowledge to relevant issues and contexts.
Psychology of Well-being– this is a compulsory module for all our first year students. This really gets our students to think about how the psychological principles and techniques they are learning about apply to themselves to thrive as students at university. All students get a free copy of The Unbreakable Student (Nic Hooper) which directs them through regular workbook activities and exercises.
Psychology Placement Module– our students can elect to do a Psychology Work Placement in their final year, to aid their critical reflections of psychological theory in workplace practice.
Enterprise and Innovations in Psychology module – our students can select to do this module, which encourages them to consider the broader nature of psychology in practice. The module encourages our students to develop an innovative initiative or product for how psychology can be applied to solve a real-world problem or issue. Within this, our students develop a commercially-viable initiative or product, presenting it at the end of the module to a panel of outside experts in a Dragons’ Den format. The module develops employability and entrepreneurship skills.
From the quality of the presentations and confidence of the students, I would say that their job prospects are extremely good.
Additionally, Manus Mynne, a TV producer and director who also judges at the event, added:
I was very impressed by the high standards of the initiatives presented by the students. Not only were the presentations confident and well thought out, the skills developed at the University clearly informed pitches that had real commercial worth.
Year 2
Year 2 Applied Modules– all our undergraduate programmes include applied psychology modules in year 2 which are carefully aligned to each of our specialised pathways. These help our students recognise the applications of their subject knowledge to specialised real-world contexts. We routinely invite experts and practitioners from industry to do guest lectures for these modules, as a way of helping our students understand how theoretical ideas are being used in psychology careers relevant to their degree pathway.
Mock Assessment Centre– students on all our undergraduate pathways do a Mock Assessment Centre exercise as part of their applied module. This actively engages our students in the process of writing job application forms, psychometric testing and being interviewed. This not only helps our students develop key employability and transferable skills, but to effectively articulate them to employers. We actively work with employers who support the delivery of our Mock Assessment Centre day. These are some examples of the organisations who have supported us on this: Enterprise, West Lancashire Borough Council, Royal Air Force (RAF), Autism Initiatives, AEC – Airborne Environmental Consultants Ltd.
This is what our students say about their experiences of our Mock Assessment Centre:
“The feedback from the employers gave me so much more confidence in myself’
‘Getting to know other students from the course as that’s what university is about, I also came out of my comfort zone doing something different’
‘Receiving one to one feedback from the employers because it allowed me to know what I individually need to work on in the future’
Year 3
Psychology Placement Module– our students can elect to do a Psychology Work Placement in their final year, to aid their critical reflections of psychological theory in workplace practice. We have a range of professional partners including HMPPS, ReachOut ASC, West Lancashire Borough Council and many more which can provide pathway-relevant placements for our students.
Enterprise and Innovations in Psychology module – our students can select to do this module, which encourages them to consider the broader nature of psychology in practice. The module encourages our students to develop an innovative initiative or product for how psychology can be applied to solve a real-world problem or issue. Within this, our students develop a commercially-viable initiative or product, presenting it at the end of the module to a panel of outside experts in a Dragons’ Den format. The module develops employability and entrepreneurship skills.
Here are some examples of the pitches from our students in recent years:
•Safer Drinking for All (#SDFA)- intention to inform and educate on drug and alcohol spiking
•Wrestle for What you Deserve – a personality-informed intervention to address gender gaps in the workplace
•Using a board game to reduce youth crime
Our “Dragons” have been hugely impressed with the projects pitched to them as Fran Cassidy, founder of Cassidy Media Partnership and former marketing director of ITV/Carlton Television explained:
“From the quality of the presentations and confidence of the students, I would say that their job prospects are extremely good.”
Additionally, Manus Mynne, a TV producer and director who also judges at the event, added:
“I was very impressed by the high standards of the initiatives presented by the students. Not only were the presentations confident and well thought out, the skills developed at the University clearly informed pitches that had real commercial worth.”
Study Abroad
You have the opportunity to apply to spend an additional year studying or working abroad. The opportunities at present are to spend a year (between Years 2 and 3) at:
University of Caen (France)
Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania)
Baldwin Wallace University (USA)
Bellermine University (USA)
University of Central Arkansas (USA)
Oklahoma City University (USA)
Riser University (USA)
University of the Fraser Valley (Canada)
Valencia University (Spain)
Lingnan University (Hong Kong)
Chuo University (Japan)
Niagra University (USA)
Robyn Ashfield proved a trail-blazer for the Psychology department, the first student to study abroad on our programmes. Her spell at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania has inspired others to follow suit, and she made an impact during her studies in Eastern Europe with her fundraising efforts for the Autistic Society and Stroke Association. She has also spent a summer volunteering in Ghana, assisting doctors and nurses at a mental health unit and volunteered at a domestic abuse charity in Blackburn (the WISH Centre).
Our dedicated Careers Centre team regularly provide information and advice regarding job and placement opportunities. Here are some of the opportunities which have been on offer for our students:
•Aaban Partnership Limited (a children and adolescent mental health service)- Assistant Psychologist
•ABL Health LTD – Counselling Assistant
•Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust – Personality Disorder Hub- Psychological Assistant
•Targeted Services, Wigan Council- Youth Support Worker
• ReEngage Northwest LTD- Wellbeing Coach
Sandwich Year
You may have the opportunity to apply to complete a sandwich year placement as part of your programme, between your first and second year of study, to gain highly relevant work experience.
We have a dedicated Careers Service that supports students gain relevant experience in different industries. For example, helping students during their degree to obtain short term placements, summer jobs, 12 month industrial placements and internships.
We aim to deliver a psychology degree that will afford students the skills necessary to give them the competitive edge in their chosen career paths. We therefore provide students with degrees that are accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). This provides GBC (Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership), which is an essential qualification for those wishing to enter into professional post-graduate training programmes in areas such as Clinical Psychology, Forensic Psychology, and Educational Psychology.
Many psychology graduates also go on to pursue careers in a range of disciplines. Our graduates will have the useful skills needed for careers and further training in many fields and often go on to work in disciplines such as:
Research and Development
Health and Social Care
Marketing and PR
Management and Human Resources
Education
Public sector work
Many jobs are open to graduates of any degree discipline (although sometimes further study is required), such as research, management, media, teaching, finance, law, marketing and management consultancy. In these jobs personal qualities and transferable skills are the most significant factors, rather than the specific subject studied at degree level. There are also a number of graduate training schemes available, where a degree in psychology puts graduates in a very good position.
A degree in Psychology will stand our students in good stead for a range of other careers. For example there are a number of companies that offer Graduate Training Schemes where a Psychology degree would be useful. Additionally, psychology graduates are very well suited to roles involving behavioural science, or public health interventions.
Whatever your interest, we offer the support and excellent advice needed to set you on the right path through our dedicated careers service team.
