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British Psychological Society (BPS) Accredited Pathways

Did You Know?

The Cardiff School of Social Sciences is a thriving centre for Psychosocial Studies (which is taught via the psychology Pathways of the Undergraduate Programme). This means that you can study the place of psychology within the social world, taking a fully social approach to psychology which emphasises how people operate in society, and how psychology relates to other social sciences. 

There are two British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited pathways in psychology, Education BPS and Social Science BPS:

BSc Social Science (BPS Route). You may follow the British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited pathway through this degree. This programme is accredited as conferring eligibility for Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) with the BPS, provided that the accredited psychology pathway is undertaken and the minimum qualification of Second Class Honours is achieved. This is the first step to becoming a chartered psychologist. This accreditation is essential to work in psychology professions, such as educational or clinical psychology. The advantage of our pathway is that you study psychology along with other social sciences and adopt a social approach to psychology.

BA Education (BPS Route). You may follow the BPS accredited pathway through this degree. This programme is accredited as conferring eligibility for Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) with the BPS, provided that the accredited psychology pathway is undertaken and the minimum qualification of Second Class Honours is achieved. This is the first step to becoming a chartered psychologist. This accreditation is essential to work in psychology professions, such as educational or clinical psychology. This is a good route to consider if you are interested in education or you are keen to know how psychology is applied in education and what it is like to be an educational psychologist.

 

What is Psychosocial Studies?

  • What kinds of innovative theoretical and methodological approaches are required in the critical study of psychology in the 21st century?
  • In what ways do the ‘psychic’ and the ‘social’ interrelate in contemporary social life, and how might we transcend such divisions?
  • How should we understand and investigate the relation between subjectivity, power and new forms of social organisation?
  • What should be the place of psychoanalytic theory and research in the interdisciplinary social sciences?

Psychosocial Studies in the Cardiff School of Social Sciences (SOCSI) comprises various approaches to the study of ‘psyche’ and ‘society’, how they relate, and ways in which we might go beyond such binaries in our theory and research. Our particular focus is the place of psychology within the interdisciplinary social sciences and the interdisciplinary study of human subjectivity. For example, our approach to undergraduate psychology is to explore the relation between psychology, subjectivity and the social world from an interdisciplinary perspective, investigating real world topics. Studying psychology as a social science involves engaging with important contemporary social issues such as asylum seekers, climate change, poverty, women in the workforce, insecure work in a global context, and others. Psychosocial Studies enable us to critically investigate such topics from an interdisciplinary social science perspective, with an emphasis on studying the complex relations between the production of subjectivity and the social world.

Psychology has a central place within the social sciences and can be understood as an object of study (as in, for example, discussions of the ‘psi’ sciences within post-structuralism), in terms of its place within social practice (for example in social work, medicine, law, education), and as a field of study which contributes to the social sciences (including, for example, social and developmental psychology). Psychosocial Studies at Cardiff SOCSI provides a focus for all of these kinds of research, with a clear remit to develop the specific place of psychology within an interdisciplinary setting. Our work also engages with and contributes to related fields of enquiry within and beyond psychology and the social sciences, such as sociology, education, labour studies, geography, anthropology, social theory, media and cultural studies.

We have a broad interest and set of expertise in Psychosocial Studies, including critical, social and developmental; cultural, discursive and narrative; feminist, psychoanalytic and educational approaches to the study of psychology and ‘the psychosocial’ as well as investigations in social, cultural and media theory. Our broad concern is with the development of innovative theoretical and methodological (mainly qualitative) research approaches, involving the interdisciplinary investigation of the ways in which the ‘psychic’ and the ‘social’ interrelate and can be transcended in contemporary social life. Our approach to Psychosocial Studies also concerns a broad range of theoretical perspectives, substantive topic areas, as well as methodological approaches, as illustrated below.

 

Research-Led Teaching

We adopt a research-led approach to teaching Psychosocial Studies at both undergraduate and postgraduate (MSc and PhD) levels.

Our undergraduate syllabus (on routes through BA Education and BSc Social Science degrees) is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) as leading to Graduate Basis for Recognition (GBR).

We offer a Psychosocial Studies route through MSc Social Science Research Methods.

We also offer PhD supervision and welcome applications within the area of Psychosocial Studies

We currently have PhD students, Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Associates working with us from around the world.

 

Academic Staff