Business Psychology (Professional Placement Year)

Discover the science of human behaviour and its applications in the working world, whilst gaining the skills to investigate and generate new knowledge.

• Learn the research skills to understand and shape behaviour in the working world.

• Grounded in creative enterprise and employment-based skills.

• Opportunities for placements and optional modules to create a tailored course.

In this Business Psychology degree you’ll discover how the world of work is shaped by thought, unpick group dynamics and learn how to apply your knowledge to the workplace. You’ll explore current research and complete your own investigations, allowing you to add your voice to the field. Alongside students in other psychology degree programmes at Bath Spa, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about behaviour from a range of perspectives (e.g. biological, cognitive, social, and developmental) and develop skills in psychological methodologies, culminating in a final year dissertation project.

We’ll help you identify your professional aspirations and develop them through independent learning and research, whilst providing opportunities for reflection. This is enhanced through the chance to gain valuable business experience with opportunities to take part in a range of flexible work placements. By collaborating with the cutting-edge and internationally recognized Bath Business School, this core programme is supported by modules specific to business psychology, and allows you to tailor your learning to your particular interests by selecting from a range of options.

More about the Professional Placement Year
A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where you undertake a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between your second and final years of undergraduate study. You can engage in up to 3 placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) yourself, with support from the Careers team.

In your first year, you’ll be grounded in the fundamentals of psychological science and business psychology whilst beginning your journey with enterprise thinking. You’ll gain a grounding in psychology and business psychology, including organisational behaviour and management as well as discovering research methods to back up your learning. We’ll also explore psychology in the workplace through the lens of diversity and individual differences.

Within your second year, you’ll improve your understanding of the core content areas in psychology whilst advancing your understanding of business psychology in the real world through contemporary applications of business psychology. You’ll have the opportunity to pick optional modules exploring themes such as human resources, international business, entrepreneurship, operations and project management. You can also opt into a placement module as part of your course.

Your last year culminates with an independent research project within business psychology. You’ll also have the opportunity to take part in group work, using your skills in a real-world context to generate solutions based in psychological science. You’ll explore how workplaces can foster health and wellbeing for their employees, and you’ll be able to choose optional modules to explore new areas or continue the specialties from your second year.

Students will be supported in their development towards summative assessment by appropriate formative exercises. Assessment is continuous, and can include: essays, examinations, group presentations, research-based reports and portfolio-based work. We’ll provide you with regular feedback on how you're doing and give you regular guidance on how to improve your skills, knowledge and understanding.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• British Psychological Society