Psychology and Sociology BA(Hons)

Course structure

This course covers all of the major branches of psychology: developmental, cognitive, social and biological. It also teaches the conceptual and historical issues of psychology as well as the research methods used in its academic practice, while giving you the chance to specialise in subdisciplines like cyberpsychology and ecopsychology.

Sociology modules focus on getting behind the news to help you critically engage with contemporary issues such as poverty and globalisation. You also look at how individuals form groups and communities, and how they coordinate social action and protest.

Opportunities are available for a work placement with a local organisation in year 2.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up-to-date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you will be told about any new developments through our applicant portal.

Year 1

Year 1 introduces both psychology and sociology. You will also learn about research methods, which you will later apply in your own research work. 

Modules

• Introduction to Applied Psychology

  You will be introduced to the basic approaches and theories within psychology and consider issues of application in the field.

• Developmental Psychology

  The module will introduce you to key theories and topics in child development and lifespan development. You'll examine issues from infancy through middle-childhood to adulthood to explore how people develop through time. The module provides an historical, biological, social and cultural context for studying child development, and life-span development to help you frame the theoretical perspectives presented.

• Introduction to Psychological Research Methods

  This module will introduce you to the range of research methods used in psychology and will enable you to develop the skills necessary to collect and analyse quantitative data. It also provides an introduction to qualitative data collection and analysis.

• Contemporary Social Inequalities

  This module will provide you with the theoretical and conceptual tools to confront normative/normalising explanations of difference and inequality. You'll understand the ways that ‘differences’ and inequalities are formed and their consequences for everyday lived realities.

• Sociological Imaginations

  This module will introduce you to contemporary ‘sociological imaginations’ of the social world and will give you the opportunity to apply sociological theories and concepts to contemporary topics. You'll develop your ability to think sociologically, by first understanding key sociological concepts and then exploring how these are applied in contemporary sociological research examples.

• Foundations of Sociology

  This module will equip you with an understanding of traditional sociological theory and its applications today. You'll be introduced to the foundations of sociology including key thinkers, key debates, and main theoretical perspectives.

  The module will examine the development of classical ideas and the continued relevance for different sociological perspectives throughout the twentieth century. Recent challenges to traditional sociological theory will also be examined and assessed.

Year 2

Year 2 will elaborate on the scientific basis of psychology and show how we process the outside world.

Modules

• Psychology, the Body and Individual Differences
• Psychology, Cognition and Social Worlds
• Theorising the Social World 
• Sociology of the Life Course 
• Psychological Research Methods

Options*

• Community Engagement: Theory into Practice 
• Critical Analysis

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year

Your final year at Brighton will give you room to choose  which areas of psychology or sociology you would most like to pursue.

Modules

• Critical Community Psychology
• Dissertation OR Psychology Dissertation
  (the psychology dissertation must be taken and passed to be eligible for graduate basis of chartered membership of the BPS)
• Sociology Topic 1 
• Sociology Topic 2

Options*

• Cyberpsychology
• Ecopsychology
• Mental Disorder and Anthropology
• Critical Addiction Studies
• Sexualities
• Psychology of Poverty

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Facilities

The School of Applied Social Science has invested £250,000 in multi-purpose Psychology Resource Laboratories. They will provide high-tech facilities including:

• an applied cognition lab
• a creative methods lab for interactive experiments and focus groups
• experimental booths for one-to-one computer-based experiments
• mobile eye tracker, eye-tracking glasses and psychophysiology measuring kit.

You will also benefit from an open-access teaching space and a dedicated psychology technician who will support your experiments.

Take a virtual tour of our psychology labs and follow our psychology lab blog run by our technicians Joe and Marta.

Volunteering

Volunteering is a great opportunity to develop your vocational skills and gain practical work experience while contributing to the wider community. Our award-winning Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) can pair you up with a local organisation and find a volunteering placement that is right for you.

The optional Community Engagement module in year 2 allows you to incorporate volunteering in your degree programme. It involves 30 to 50 hours of work with a not-for-profit or community organisation that reflects your academic interests and career aspirations.

Previous students have had volunteering roles including:

• activity volunteer for CCHF All About Kids
• centre volunteer for the Centre for Ecotherapy
• communication supporter for Connect
• listening and support volunteer for the Samaritans
• support volunteer for the MS Society
• volunteer for Fresh Start
• volunteer befriender for the Alzheimer's Society.

Cupp is an award-winning project that aims to tackle disadvantage and promote sustainable development through partnership with local organisations

Staff profile

Nichola Khan, course leader

Dr Nichola Khan is a chartered psychologist, social and psychological anthropologist, and principal lecturer in the School of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Brighton. Her research interests have developed around conflict, violence, migration, mobility and mental health in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UK.

Nichola is the author of Mohajir Militancy in Pakistan (2010, Routledge, 2012 paperback reprint). The work analyses violent militancy amongst Karachi’s ethnic 'Mohajirs' – descendants of the Muslim migrants from India to Pakistan during Partition in 1947. Her other books include Mental Disorder: Anthropological Insights (2016, University of Toronto Press) and Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi: Publics and Counterpublics (2016, ed., Hurst and Co.). She has published many articles on violence in Karachi, and Afghan migration and mobility in the UK and Pakistan. She previously held teaching posts at the University of Sussex and South Bank University, and has worked as a consultant on international development projects.

Nichola teaches anthropological, community, critical and psychosocial approaches across the psychology programme at Brighton. Her final year option Mental Disorder and Anthropology reflects a growing interest in psychology’s encounter with anthropology, and a wellspring of new university courses in psychological and psychiatric anthropology in the US, Canada, Europe and the Global South.

Nichola was shortlisted for the Inspirational Teaching award at the Brighton Student Union Excellence Awards 2015.

Student view 

Jenny Terry, 2017 graduate

"I would say that Brighton is a truly wonderful place to be, both in terms of the city and the university. The course will give you more than most other psychology degrees, not only will you learn about traditional psychology and research methods, but you’ll learn more critical, bleeding edge approaches that other universities are yet to embrace. You’ll also have the benefit of studying alongside sociology, politics, and criminology students, so you’ll also have the opportunity to learn about other disciplines. I found this deeply enriched my learning, and will make me a more rounded psychologist – and individual.

"I’m so proud to be showing my daughter that her future can be as bright as she wants it to be. I graduated with a first-class honours degree at Brighton last summer (July 2017). My ultimate goal is to lecture and work in research. Now I am working as a Research Officer at the University of Brighton on the Changing Mindsets project. I am also writing a paper for the research I undertook for my BPS scholarship, and am hoping I can publish my dissertation too.

Going back to university is the best thing I’ve ever done. My late dad told me he’d be proud of me whatever I did as long as I was happy – and I’m happier than I’ve ever been."

Research

All research in the School of Applied Social Science is carried out under the auspices of the Social Science Policy and Research Centre (SSPARC).

SSPARC offers a vibrant research culture for staff and students working both within and across the disciplines of sociology, psychology, social policy, politics and criminology and in the practice-based fields of social work, counselling and psychotherapy and substance misuse.

SSPARC undertakes research which is both theoretically and methodologically robust and which seeks to engage critically in public debate on a range of emerging and contemporary polices and practice-based issues.

Much of our research is undertaken collaboratively with agencies, organisations, groups and individuals, both in the local community and wider society, to ensure that our research has relevance and impact beyond the academy.

Care, Health and Wellbeing (CHEW)

Our research in this area explores interactions between lived experience, policy and practice. We adopt a critical perspective on policy, service delivery and the practices of workers within statutory and voluntary sector agencies. We have a particular interest in collective action amongst service users and the contribution of experiential knowledge and lay perspectives to research and public governance.

Culture, Identity and Society (CIS)

The interdisciplinary culture, identity and society cluster (CIS) draws on critical theory to examine the intersection between social structures and identities in local, national and transnational cultural contexts. The work of the cluster seeks to interrogate and expose the operation of power and social inequalities, and to critically examine hegemonic discourses which shape the production of knowledge and identities.

International requirements

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Course fees

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Applied Social Science are listed here.

• For some assessments you may be required to print large format posters for presentations at a cost of £5–£10 per poster.
• Most coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £100 for printing.
• Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £100 to buy your own copies.
• Some courses include an optional placement module for which students will need to cover the costs of travel to and from the placement and DBS checks as required.
• For the Humanistic Psychotherapeutic Counselling PGDip and Psychotherapeutic Psychodynamic Counselling PGDip, the following course-related costs are not included in the tuition fee:
  • Supervision fees: £1,170 for each full year. Estimated based on £45 per hour with fortnightly meetings. In some agencies, supervision will be provided at no cost. Where students have to pay, the cost will only begin when supervision begins.
  • Personal counselling/therapy: £2,000–£2,800 over the course. Estimated based on £40 per hour.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2019–20.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with us for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly. You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Falmer campus