BSc Psychology with Economics
Why do people get into debt? How do interest rates, tax and government spending affect us? How does human psychology guide people to make economic decisions? At Essex you understand how and why individuals make economic decisions and errors.
Satisfy your curiosity by learning from innovative researchers at the cutting edge of psychological science. At Essex we take a multi-method approach, working beyond traditional boundaries to combine different expertise and share fascinating techniques and intriguing theories.
You study both psychology and economics, developing parallel methods of analysing decision making and cognition. Blending insights of psychology and economics provides valuable knowledge as to why individuals are not always behaving in their own best interests. Understanding this and the frameworks of behavioural economics can help policymakers create environments that nudge people towards making wiser decisions and healthier lives. Over the past 20 years, economics has developed a rich literature on human behaviour.
On our BSc Psychology with Economics, you will cover core areas of psychology and economics, including:
- Personality and individual differences
- Behavioural economics
- Brain and behaviour
- Social psychology
- The science behind human behaviour
You will also have the opportunity to take one or more of our applied modules across your three years with us in the areas of health, self improvement, sustainability, the criminal mind and more, developing your knowledge of real-world psychology.
We provide one of the most immersive and exciting experiences of studying the human mind in the UK. Learn from our researchers and work together in the same space via our Research Experience Scheme (RES) which gives you the opportunity to work one-on-one with a psychologist as their researching assistant. Our SHOUTS scheme allows you to use your skills and creativity to make our department a better place and promote what we do beyond Essex, through social media, activities and events.
- You have unparalleled access to research equipment such as EEG, TMS and eye tracking.
- We have a vibrant Psychology Society offering student-led social events and activities.
- We are 17th in UK for research power in psychology (Times Higher Education research power measure, Research Excellence Framework 2021).
Study abroad
Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.
Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.
If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university.
Placement year
You can also undertake a placement year in which you gain relevant work experience with a business, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. You will be responsible for finding your placement, but with support and guidance provided by both your department and our Employability and Careers Centre.
If you complete a placement year you'll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.
Our expert staff
Our psychology lecturers include award-winning teachers and prize-winning researchers who are international experts in their own research areas.
Our staff carry out research into areas of psychology that fall under our three key themes: thinking about the world, interacting with the world, and experiencing the world. These three themes help tie your knowledge together as they directly feed into our modules, where you can study how we remember things, what captures out attention, how relationships work, what our emotions do with us, or the impact of culture on ourselves and others.
Our economics researchers are at the forefront of their field and have even received MBEs. Our department is a richly diverse home to staff and students from all over the world who have a strong sense of belonging and want to think, learn and change the world together.
Specialist facilities
We are committed to giving you access to state-of-the-art facilities in higher education, housed entirely within our purpose-built psychology building on our Colchester Campus:
- Dedicated laboratories including a virtual reality suite and an observation suite
- Specialist areas to study visual and auditory perception, developmental psychology and social psychology
- Our Babylab is the leading infant lab in the east of England that explores perceptual, emotional, and cognitive processes in infants
- Our multimillion pound Centre for Brain Science (CBS) allows staff to investigate brain activity, and to measure eye movements and other physiological responses
You will also benefit from the extensive learning resources within the Department of Economics:
- Extensive software for quantitative analysis, available in all computer labs across the university
- Access to a variety of economics databases and multiple copies of textbooks and e-books in the Albert Sloman Library
Your future
- A psychology degree, especially one accredited by the British Psychology Society, will provide you with the foundations needed for specialising in diverse areas, including clinical and educational psychology.
- Many of our psychology graduates choose careers outside traditional psychology fields. The skills you learn during your degree opens doors to careers in market research, human resources, and people-focussed careers such as a high-intensity therapist or special educational needs.
- Our psychology graduates have progressed in diverse careers across the public, private and third sectors, including working for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, and Prison and Probation Service, mental health charity MIND, and organisations like the BBC.
We also work with our University's careers services to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.
At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.
The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.
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