At Worcester you’ll learn and practice your skills with the help of our lecture theatre, fitness suite, sports centre, sports field and our expert lectures with professional backgrounds within psychology.
The course is professionally accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and, providing you achieve at least a 2:2 in your degree, you will be eligible for Graduate Membership of the BPS and the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC), the first step to becoming a Chartered Psychologist.
BPS accreditation is both an important hallmark of quality that is extensively acknowledged by employers in the field, and an essential stepping-stone if you are looking to progress to become a Chartered Psychologist after graduation.
Taking a BPS accredited course is necessary if you wish to pursue a career in psychology or in the wider psychological workforce. For information on the benefits of studying an accredited course, visit the BPS website.
University of the Year finalist
Recognised for our graduate success, we’re shortlisted for University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards 2025.
Overview
Previously known as Sport and Exercise Psychology, this degree is a perfect choice for those who are looking to help athletes perform better, support people’s mental health, or understand how sports teams work. This course will provide you with the support, skills and knowledge to take your first step towards becoming an accredited psychologist.
Throughout the course, you’ll explore a variety of areas within psychology and be able to specialise through choosing the Sports and Exercise pathway. You’ll learn and practice professional skills, understand how psychology is used in sport and exercise, and choose from our range of optional modules to tailor the course to your interests, such as coaching, business, or mental health and wellbeing.
When you join this course, you’ll become part of our welcoming and professional community of students and lecturers who are passionate about psychology and sport. You’ll have the chance to get involved with the Psychological Society at the University of Worcester and become a student-member of the British Psychological Society. You’ll have the opportunity to attend talks from guest speakers, go on group trips and benefit from regular informal feedback through our peer mentoring scheme.
To help build your experience within the professional field of psychology, you could get involved with developing new and innovative psychological research, by helping staff with their research projects (where applicable) and by taking part in research as a participant. In your final year you will also gain work-based experience on a placement of your choice. You’ll get hands-on experience through practical work/sessions and have the chance to practice and develop skills relevant to your chosen specialism within psychology, such as sports and exercise.
If you want to specialise on a particular field within Psychology, you'll have the opportunity to follow one of our Psychology pathways: Psychology with Mental Health Practice BSc (Hons), Psychology with Sport and Exercise Studies BSc (Hons) and Psychology with Criminal and Forensic Contexts BSc (Hons).
Placements
As part of the course, you will have the chance to see first hand what it's like to work as a mental health professional through your placement with a mental health charity, NHS, private health care, care home, or school of your choosing. You'll apply what you've learnt in lectures to practice, be able to speak to working professionals and learn from them, enabling you to gain a deeper awareness of the various roles and working environments within the profession and be able to reflex on your experience and apply that to your work and career aspirations.
You’ll be supported by our Careers and Employability team in arranging paid and voluntary placements with many local and national organisations. Recent placement opportunities have included the NHS, the British Psychological Society (BPS) and Mind, a mental health charity.
You can also choose to participate in psychological research or join our paid ‘students as researchers’ scheme, which will provide you with opportunities to work alongside staff on live projects.
Course content
Your first year will focus on providing the foundation to your psychology knowledge and will introduce you to how psychology is applied to sport and exercise. As you progress you'll deepen your knowledge of psychological research, theory and practice whilst being able to choose from a range of optional modules.
We regularly review our courses to reflect the latest research and developments in the subject area, as well as feedback from students, employers and the wider sector. As a result, modules may change to ensure the course remains current and relevant.
Optional modules will run if enough students choose to study them. It is not guaranteed that all modules will be offered every year.
Careers
Psychology graduates can find a career in every area of society, using their numeracy, IT literacy, communication and problem-solving capabilities to add value to their professions.
The transferable skills and psychological knowledge you will gain from this course will provide you with a foundation to either pursue further psychological or medical qualifications like Counselling MSc, Business Psychology MSc, Occupational Psychology MSc, Occupational Therapy (Pre-registration) MSc, and Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner in Specialist Adult Mental Health (PG Cert/ Grad Cert) which could lead into psychology based careers such as:
- Practising psychologist
- Sports psychologist
- Physical therapist
- Lecturing and/or research
- Private or public healthcare
- Government and policy
You could also progress into careers within professional sport or fitness and health industries such as:
- Coaching
- Personal trainer
- Sports centre manager
- Armed forces
- Police service
Specialisms
To practice as a psychologist, you'll need to complete an accredited postgraduate qualification in your chosen specialism, these include:
- Clinical psychology
- Counselling psychology
- Educational psychology
- Forensic psychology
- Occupational psychology
- Sport and exercise psychology
You can find out more about the different specialisms and postgraduate training from the British Psychological Society (BPS).
Course highlights
Teaching and Assessment
Through a mix of taught classes, work-based placement and assessments, this course is designed to provide you with a platform for achieving chartered membership within psychology, and have the skills and experience needed to move into a wide-range of jobs.
Teaching and assessment contents
You'll be taught through a mix of lectures and discussion based seminars and lab based work to learn and practice using the experimental technology, such as as an eye-tracker and software such as Jamovi and Gorilla, to build familiarity with the equipment used in postgraduate and professional psychology.
Meet the team
Just a few staff members from the wider team of psychology lecturers.
Dr Jack Brimmell
Jack has previously worked with elite sporting organisations (i.e., the Premier League, the RFU and professional Women’s football teams) to try and use sport psychology to enhance performance. Jack is published in a number of top level sport psychology journals and is also reviewing work for these journals. He is predominately interested in how feelings of anxiety and stress can disrupt attentional control and perceptual-cognition during pressurised sport performance.
Matthew Spokes
Matt is a lecturer in Psychology, and one of our Academic Integrity Tutors in the School of Psychology. Alongside teaching he is also currently enrolled on the BPS stage 2 qualification in sport and exercise psychology working in applied settings in a range of sporting environments.
Lara Baker-Power
Lara is a lecturer in Psychology, specialising in Psychological Interventions, and is a Personal Academic Tutor (PAT). Lara is currently teaching full time on the Postgraduate Certificate and Graduate Certificate in Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner in Specialist Adult Mental Health courses.
Dr Jack Brimmell
Jack has previously worked with elite sporting organisations (i.e., the Premier League, the RFU and professional Women’s football teams) to try and use sport psychology to enhance performance. Jack is published in a number of top level sport psychology journals and is also reviewing work for these journals. He is predominately interested in how feelings of anxiety and stress can disrupt attentional control and perceptual-cognition during pressurised sport performance.
Matthew Spokes
Matt is a lecturer in Psychology, and one of our Academic Integrity Tutors in the School of Psychology. Alongside teaching he is also currently enrolled on the BPS stage 2 qualification in sport and exercise psychology working in applied settings in a range of sporting environments.
Entry requirements
UCAS tariff points required: 112
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|---|
| A-level | BBC |
| T-level | MMM |
| BTEC National Extended Diploma | DMM |
If your qualification is not listed, please contact our Admissions team for advice. If you have experience of learning in a similar field to this course, this could be considered as part of the entry requirements in some cases.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about entry requirements, please call our Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk.
Fees
Fees contents
UK and EU students
In 2026/27 the standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees is £9,535 per year (subject to changes in the government tuition fee cap).
Tuition fees are reviewed annually and may increase each year for both new and continuing students.
For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.
International students
In 2026/27 the standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees is £17,200 per year.
Tuition fees are reviewed annually and may increase each year for both new and continuing students.
For more details on course fees, please visit our course fees page.
How to apply
How to apply contents
Applying through UCAS
UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for full-time undergraduate courses in the UK.
Read our how to apply pages for more information on the application process, or if you’d like to apply for part-time study.
- Psychology with Sport and Exercise Studies BSc (Hons) - C813
- Psychology with Criminal and Forensic Contexts BSC (Hons) - CL83
- Psychology with Mental Health Practice BSC (Hons) - C843
- Psychology BSc (Hons) - C800
Contact
If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way.
Admissions Office
admissions@worc.ac.uk01905 855111More to explore
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