Select your course options:
Summary:
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (CL83)
Course Code: CL83
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (C10F)
Course Code: C10F
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (CL88)
Course Code: CL88
Where Are You Applying From?
How Would You Like To Study?
When Do You Want To Start Your Studies?
Which Campus Would You Like To Study At?
Which Options Would You Like With Your Course?
Why choose the School of Psychology
91% of our psychology students were satisfied with the academic support they received and how well the course developed knowledge and skills for the future (NSS, 2024).
Specialised forensic psychology units have been developed with a panel of industry professionals, including from the probation service and police.
Take this course with a fee-free placement year where you gain valuable experience in the field.
About the course
Our accredited course brings to life this exciting field, exploring how psychology can help us understand the minds of offenders, criminal behaviours and why people commit crimes, with reference to specific crimes. You also focus on crime investigation and what happens in the courtroom in areas such as eyewitness behaviour; detecting deceptive behaviours; and exploring how juries reach their verdicts. In your final year, you develop the advanced skills needed to assess offenders and put in place interventions.
Course accreditation
Honours or above makes you eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society.
Facilities and specialist equipment
You have access to a range of specialist, industry-standard psychology laboratories and computing environments including:
- Cognitive neuropsychology lab
- Virtual reality lab
- Research cubicles
- Driving simulator
- Eyetrackers
- Physiological data-acquisition system
- EEG
- Podcasting equipment
- Data-analysis software
- Experiment and survey-building software
Industry links
Our specialised forensic psychology units have been developed with a panel of industry professionals including from the probation service and police. They help to inform our authentic assessment strategy, which means your assignments reflect real-life tasks.
Student experience
Benefit from friendly, approachable staff, small class sizes and easy access to academic support.
Get to know your peers and academics well by taking part in the School’s many social events, which run throughout the academic year in a dedicated space for psychology students.
Learn from a highly experienced team who are active in the criminal justice sector, bringing real-life practice to their teaching and research.
Take up the opportunity to apply your knowledge and new skills on placement such as working with our local probations service.
Develop your professional research skills working on cutting-edge research projects with our academic staff through our Junior Research Assistant Scheme.
Our research addresses real-life, day-to-day issues including the accuracy of eyewitnesses in identifying criminals; reading development; cognitive function in long COVID; and prevention of gender-based violence.
Conduct supervised research on a forensic topic of your choice, and present it to your peers and psychology professionals at our annual Student Research Conference.
Enjoy field trips to a range of organisations and locations including Luton Crown Court where you will observe real-life cases from the public gallery.
Hear from guest speakers who share their experience and expertise at special events run by the School.
Psychology Subject Spotlight
Take a look at our subject spotlight on Psychology! Dr. Joseph Adonu explores if love at first sight actually exists!
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Course Leader - Dr Andrew Clark
I joined the School of Psychology in 2016. Before starting at the University of Bedfordshire, I was a PhD candidate in Erasmus Mundus House of Legal Psychology programme.
My PhD research examined the consequence of withdrawing belief about the occurrence of past events. I am interested in the application of psychology to forensic issues.
Course Leader - Dr Andrew Clark
I joined the School of Psychology in 2016. Before starting at the University of Bedfordshire, I was a PhD candidate in Erasmus Mundus House of Legal Psychology programme.
My PhD research examined the consequence of withdrawing belief about the occurrence of past events. I am interested in the application of psychology to forensic issues.
Course Leader - Dr Andrew Clark
I joined the School of Psychology in 2016. Before starting at the University of Bedfordshire, I was a PhD candidate in Erasmus Mundus House of Legal Psychology programme.
My PhD research examined the consequence of withdrawing belief about the occurrence of past events. I am interested in the application of psychology to forensic issues.
Course Leader - Dr Andrew Clark
I joined the School of Psychology in 2016. Before starting at the University of Bedfordshire, I was a PhD candidate in Erasmus Mundus House of Legal Psychology programme.
My PhD research examined the consequence of withdrawing belief about the occurrence of past events. I am interested in the application of psychology to forensic issues.
What will you study?
Studying our Forensic Psychology BSc (Hons) course will introduce you to the issues, techniques and debates at the forefront of practice in criminal, investigative and forensic psychology. In core areas of study, you will build your understanding of the Foundations to Psychology that include the history and concepts surrounding cognitive and biological psychology. As a fundamental element to the study of psychology, you will also be given an Introduction to Psychological Research Methods and Data Analysis that will equip you with the skills to design, conduct, analyse and write an ethically sound research project. You will build on this further in our Methods of Research in Psychology unit that will expand on your knowledge of research methods to be able to assess personalities and develop methods of psychological assessment. Moreover, you will develop your knowledge of contemporary topics and theory in psychology in the context of everyday behaviours in our Psychology in Everyday Life unit.
In areas of social psychology, you will explore key topics to understand how people change and develop biologically, cognitively and socially across their lifespan while considering cultural and social factors in our Social Processes and Lifespan Development unit. By combining areas of Biological and Cognitive Psychology, you will examine the human thought process, perception, language, memory and learning from both perspectives. In other areas of study, you will deepen your understanding of criminal behaviour in our Psychology and Criminal Behaviour unit that covers a range of compelling issues, theories and research in criminal and forensic psychology. To effectively rehabilitate offenders within the prison system, our Applied Forensic Psychology unit will teach you to investigate and evaluate various treatment and rehabilitation programmes to prevent relapses in behaviour. Moreover, you will learn how psychology contributes to law-making processes, enforcement and prosecution in criminal justice settings in our Psychology and Criminal Justice unit. We also offer a range of optional units on this course.
With a particular focus on children and young people, you can study the causes and treatment associated with exceptional children in our Atypical Child and Adolescent Development: Theories and Applications unit. Aside from this, you may also choose to explore the history of the science behind Cognitive Neuropsychology to understand memory and amnesia; or study concepts of Critical Social Psychology and consider how this can be applied to behaviours such as aggression and violence. You will also be able to explore the cultural effects on human psychology in our Culture and Individual Differences unit to understand the contemporary applications of psychological diversity and the links between cultural norms and behaviour. If you are interested in areas of mental health, our Psychology of Mental Health unit will allow you to examine the clinical symptoms of the most common psychological disorders.
In more specific areas, you can develop an understanding of Problem Solving behaviours in humans and the biases that arise during thinking and decision-making. You may also choose to explore areas of Occupational and Organisational Psychology that will introduce you to how psychology contributes to the performance and wellbeing of organisations and employees in the workplace. Finally, you will complete a Forensic Psychology Research Project where you will conduct a significant piece of supervised academic research on a topic of your interest that is relevant to the field of psychology. To prepare you for your career, you will have the opportunity to undertake a Placement Year (Psychology) to develop your employability skills and gain relevant work experience.
How will you be assessed?
As this is a science-based course you will have the opportunity to take part in empirical studies in the early stages and to run your own later on as part of both your learning and assessment. The Virtual Learning Environment is used in a variety of ways including e-learning collaboration and communication using blogs and wikis and formative and summative assessments.
Careers
A degree in forensic psychology will put you in an excellent position for the postgraduate training required to become a practising forensic psychologist. Our BPS-accredited course enables you to apply for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society (with a 2:2 or higher). This is an essential first step in progressing to the MSc Forensic Psychology course offered at the University of Bedfordshire and then on to becoming a professional forensic psychologist.
A degree in forensic psychology can also help you start a career in sectors such as the police; prison service; social services; youth justice; education; drug alcohol and mental health services; and research.
Some of our graduates choose to seek employment in non-psychology areas. As a psychology graduate you will have many transferable skills which are desirable to employers including critical thinking analytical skills reflection self-motivation planning and organisation. These are valuable skills in careers such as human resources teaching market research and the civil service.
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points including 96 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
Entry Requirements
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points including 96 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
Entry Requirements
- 112 UCAS tariff points including 96 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Virtual Tour
