Psychology

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for Psychology

The Guardian University Guide 2026

for Student Satisfaction in Psychology

Complete University Guide 2026

9th out of 100 for Student Support in Psychology

Daily Mail University Guide 2026

Curious about why people think, feel and act the way they do? At University of Staffordshire, you’ll get to explore human behaviour through hands-on and immersive experiences.

You won’t just study psychology with us – you will investigate it. You’ll design your own experiments, work on live research and use real-world contexts. There are also opportunities to undertake placements to help you become career-ready.

From our purpose-built Science Centre to specialist tools like our driving simulator, you’ll test theory in action: whether examining attention, decision-making, child development or criminal behaviour.

Choose from five accredited pathways and shape your degree around the areas that fascinate you most. Wherever your interests lie, you’ll graduate with practical research experience and the confidence to apply psychology beyond the classroom.

Courses

Related courses

Why study with us?

We combine academic credibility with hands-on investigation.

Accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), our degrees are research-informed and delivered by academics actively shaping the field. But you won’t just learn theory, you’ll test it through live research, independent projects and immersive simulation facilities.

Our quality and student experience are consistently recognised in national league tables. In 2026, we ranked 11th in the UK for Psychology (Guardian University Guide), 11th for Student Satisfaction (Complete University Guide) and 9th for Student Support in Psychology (Daily Mail University Guide).

This builds on a strong track record of performance, including Top 10 rankings in 2025 for Student Satisfaction and Academic Support, and 5th nationally for Assessment and Feedback.

You’ll be supported to succeed, academically and personally, from day one.

What can you do with a psychology degree?

Psychology opens more doors than you might think.

The subject doesn't just lead to one type of career. In reality, it opens pathways across health, education, business, justice and public services.

With an undergraduate degree, graduates go on to roles in:

  • Mental health support and wellbeing services
  • Youth work and community outreach
  • HR, recruitment and people management
  • Market research and consumer insight
  • Criminal justice and victim support
  • Education support and SEND roles
  • Data analysis and research assistant positions

If you choose to continue into postgraduate study, you can specialise further in areas such as clinical, forensic, counselling or educational psychology.

But you don’t have to follow one single route. Your degree equips you with research skills, critical thinking, communication and analytical ability valued across sectors.

Careers and connections

Psychology at Staffordshire is designed with your future in mind.

You’ll build practical research experience from day one – designing studies, analysing data and contributing to live projects, working alongside experienced academics. Real investigations with real impact.

We work closely with external partners across health, education, justice and community organisations, giving you opportunities to apply your knowledge beyond the classroom. Many students choose to take short-term or year-long placements, gaining valuable professional experience before they graduate.

Along the way, you’ll develop the skills employers look for: critical thinking, evidence-based decision making, ethical awareness, communication and cultural understanding.

Whether you continue into postgraduate training or move directly into graduate employment, you’ll leave with more than a degree – you’ll gain experience too.

Work placements

You will have the chance to gain real-world experience during your course. One of our students won a national award for their placement with the Prison Advice and Care Trust, where they supported prisoners and their families.

Other placements have included working with young adults with dementia and people facing mental health challenges.

“My university training made this role easier… and I’d recommend a placement to anyone.”

 Psychology placement student Laurence on working within the refugee and asylum support field. Read Laurence’s placement reflection: Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

If you're passionate about wanting to help and understand people, University of Staffordshire is the place to be.
Andrew Keating

Psychology graduate

Our students

I have honestly loved every part of studying at Staffs and I would do my degree again in a heartbeat! If I had to pick best bits, I’d say the lecturers are all brilliant! Always there to help no matter how busy they are! The facilities at Staffs are excellent and the Psychology technical staff are so friendly and helpful, especially when it comes to doing your final year project!

Grace Bridgwood

Graduate, BSc (Hons) Psychology and Criminology

There’s such a wide amount of stuff that’s covered on the course. We don’t just talk about psychology – we talk about crime related things and juvenile delinquency and murder – it’s such a wide variety of topics that we discuss that it never gets boring.  

Samantha Martin

BSc (Hons) Psychology and Criminology

For me, the best part of the course has been getting to choose my optional modules. There were a variety of modules available for us to choose from and it helped me tailor my experience on the course to be specific to the topics that I was interested in, which then allowed me to gain a wider knowledge on some of my biggest interests.

Mikki-Anne Smith

BSc (Hons) Psychology and Criminology

As part of my undergraduate project, I carried out a research project on sound sensitivities and stress. Which I couldn't have done without access to the psychology and forensic labs, and all the varieties of online and in-person laboratory resources there is on offer.

Doing an in-person study gave me a great deal of technical skills and experience I couldn't get from running my study online. Even more, without the extensive knowledge and assistance from the lab technicians in creating and executing my project, it would have been significantly more time-consuming and practically impossible.

Holly Owen

Psychology

Features

From classroom research to conference presentations: Al’s Psychology journey

Psychology student Al Payne shares how a research module led to a paid assistantship, conference presentations, and real-world experience supported by expert lecturers at University of Staffordshire.
How to Win The Traitors (According to Psychology)

How to Win The Traitors (According to Psychology)

Could you win The Traitors? A psychologist explains deception, trust and why spotting a liar is harder than it looks.
Jay Vernon receiving his award for Academic Mentor of the Year

Student Union award wins for psychology academics

This year our Psychology team scooped awards for Academic Mentor of the Year and Lecturer I’m Never Late For.
Laurence Evans

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

A reflection from a Psychology undergraduate student on a placement year working in Refuge and Asylum Support.
Graduating student Interview

From Student to Professional Practice: Clara’s Story

Graduating undergraduate student Elysia Interviews MSc Counselling, and former Psychology undergraduate, student Clara on her journey to professional practice.

From Wallflower to Therapist

Level 5 Psychology student Cassy reflects on her first few days at University of Staffordshire as a new student.

My placement year with the Prison Advice and Care Trust

Forensic Psychology student Hana Bosworth helped to reunite prisoners with their families as part of her placement work.

5 ways you'll get work-ready with University of Staffordshire

At University of Staffordshire, we’ll not only help you explore the fascinating field of psychology but also equip you with the skills and experiences needed to succeed in your future career.

Research spotlight: Grandparent Special Guardians’ lived experiences

A study to develop further insights into the experiences of grandparents taking on the role of Special Guardianship and the subsequent impact on relationships within the family.

Research spotlight: Support priorities of older carers

A study by Dr Daniel Herron and Dr Jessica Runacres to understand the support priorities of older (65+ years old) carers of people living with dementia.

April Sinclair

Psychology and Counselling

April works for Stoke-on-Trent-based charity Asha, which helps refugees and asylum seekers. As a support worker for young people, she gives the space to talk.

Read full story

Facilities

Our specialist Psychology facilities are designed for real investigation.

From immersive VR and simulation spaces to EEG, brain stimulation and biometric labs, you’ll explore behaviour using the same tools found in professional research environments.

Psychology Simulation Facilities

Simulation equipment is available throughout the psychology laboratory areas and as stand-alone resources for facilitating research and teaching. Read more

Find out more about our simulation facilities.

Psychology Human Sciences Suite

The Psychology Human Sciences Suite has an impressive array of laboratory equipment which includes the Electroencephalography (EEG) Laboratory, the Pain Laboratory, and the Cardiovascular Laboratory. Read more

Find out more about our Human Sciences Suite. 

Psychology Cognitive Cubicles

The Psychology Cognitive Cubicles are a set of small cubicles used to run Psychology based tests on individual participants using specialist software. Read more

Find out more about our Psychology Cognitive Suite.

Psychology Eye Tracking Cubicles

The Psychology Eye Tracking Cubicles house desktop and portable eye trackers that allow us to track participants’ visual attention during psychology experiments. Read more

Find out more about our eye tracking cubicles.

Psychology Observation Suite

The Observation Suite contains an Observation Laboratory setup with a one-way mirror, video cameras and microphones to allow activities to be observed and recorded from the Control Room. Read more

Find out more about our Psychology Observation Suite. 

Counselling Suite

The counselling suite contains four cubicles for practising counselling skills or conducting interviews with participants, and a base room for teaching and peer observation of counselling sessions. Read more

Find out more about our Counselling Suite. 

Children's Lab

The Staffordshire University Children's lab is a research facility where we invite young children and their parents to join us to take part in research projects. Read more

The Psychology Children’s Lab is a research facility which enables us to explore how babies and children develop. Read more about our Children’s Lab.

Expertise

Kirsty Apps

Course Director

Kirsty is an experienced pre-hospital practitioner and educator. Her main area of interest is the development of professional practice and support for students and mentors in practice.

Kirsty's profile

Dr Sunghwan Kim

Lecturer

Dr Sunghwan Kim is a lecturer in forensic and criminological psychology at the University of Staffordshire.

Sunghwan's profile

Dr Daniel Herron

Senior Lecturer

Leader in psychology education, carer and dementia research, and impactful health research.

Daniel's profile

Mel Hall

Lecturer

Mel's research interests include legal and criminological psychology and the impact of psychology in E-learning and the web. She is module leader for 'People Behaving Badly', 'The Psychology of Crime', 'Psychological Contexts of Crime and Punish…

Mel's profile

Dr Sarah Rose

Associate Professor

I love inspiring students at all levels about child development and how we can share our psychological expertise to make a difference to children and their families. My research focuses on education, children’s wellbeing and children’s use of tech.

Sarah's profile

Dr Claire Barlow

Course Director

Claire's research is primarily focused on children's drawings with further projects focussing on the development of expressive drawing, and more specifically how this compares to the development of representational drawing skill, longitudinal de…

Claire's profile

James Vernon

Lecturer

After completing his MSc in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, James splits his time between academia and his private counselling practice. His research interests are in the field of bereavement counselling especially in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

James's profile

Dr Gemma Hurst

Course Director

I am the Course Director for Postgraduate Psychology and I contribute to our Health Psychology programmes (MSc and Professional Doctorate). I am a Chartered Psychologist (BPS) and a HCPC registered Health Psychologist.

Gemma's profile

Linda Szekely

Senior Lecturer

My research interests are in the field of counselling mostly related to working with children with attachment difficulties and the impact of trauma on the body and the brain.

Linda's profile

Dr Emily Buckley

Senior Lecturer

Emily is the Admissions Tutor for Health Psychology, alongside being a registered Health Psychologist with a background in health promotion.

Emily's profile
for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2025

for Social Inclusion

The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026

for First Generation Students

The Mail University Guide 2026

in the UK for Games Education

Rookies Games Design and Development 2023, 2025

TIGA Best Games Institution 2024, 2025

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021