Modules

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Full-time

The first two years of your degree comprise mainly mandatory modules taken by all students, which aim to provide you with broad-based knowledge of psychology and language sciences. They cover fundamental topics such as the neural basis of perception, memory and language, social psychology, individual differences, speech production and perception, and the development of communication and cognition. Skills in planning, running and analysing experiments are taught in research methods modules and laboratory classes in years one and two.

Students in the second year complete a weekly observational placement with children in an early years setting (for which a DBS check is required). This is an integral part of the degree which enables you to develop observational research techniques and relate developmental models of play and language to your real-life observations.

In your final year you will choose a research project to be completed under the supervision of an expert in your chosen field. Alongside the project you will select six modules from a broad range of specialised content areas, many of which relate to particular professional and research interests (e.g. educational psychology, behaviour change, speech and language therapy, neuroscience of language).

Successful completion of year three with at least a 2.2 class degree award allows you to graduate with a BPS-accredited BSc qualification, or you can continue to the MSci in the final (fourth) year, which will also require at least a 2.2 class degree award for BPS accreditation.

The final year consists of a 60 credit project based either on research conducted at UCL (in the research pathway) or on a placement (the applied pathway). Students on both pathways each take a different research methods module. Students then take additional Masters level modules to make up the remainder of their credits. These are mostly taught modules, but Practical Research Skills also offers additional mini-placements working in UCL labs. Students on both pathways receive a BPS-accredited MSci qualification.

Your learning

Your learning will involve attendance at lectures (sometimes shared with students on other programmes), smaller laboratory classes and back-up classes. Regular group tutorials with a member of academic staff will provide an opportunity to integrate learning and to discuss topics in more detail. Each student has regular meetings with a personal tutor to discuss academic progress.

In the fourth year during Term 1 and Term 2, students will spend on average three days a week on either a research or applied placement. The majority of the placement time will be spent working on a single, substantial research project. On the research pathway, projects are likely to form part of the supervisor's existing research programme. Projects on the applied pathway will be based on a topic generated by the placement provider.

Depending on year of study and module choice, the number of contact hours typically average between 8-12 hours a week with further time spent in self-directed study. A 15-credit module typically requires 150 hours of notional student learning time comprised broadly of teaching time, independent study, assessment and feedback. These reflect nationally accepted norms of 10 hours of student learning for each credit, based on national norms of 120 credits per academic year for undergraduate students.

Assessment

Each module is examined separately, often by a combination of essays, data exercises and examinations and performance is always assessed in the same academic year in which you take it.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing team.