Psychology (Counselling) with Foundation Year

The Integrated Foundation Year offers a new and exciting route into studying for a degree, attracting ambitious and driven students who are willing to learn and advance.

If you have non-standard qualifications or do not quite meet the admissions requirements for Psychology (Counselling) we can offer you a fantastic opportunity to study a four year Psychology (Counselling) programme which includes an Integrated Foundation Year. The Integrated Foundation Year will help you develop the theoretical/practical and academic skills you need, in order to successfully progress to the full award.

Featuring a reduced tuition fee in the first year, our four-year courses will enable you to successfully follow the degree pathway of your choice while gaining essential study skills. The foundation year of your chosen degree will be studied on a full-time basis and is aimed at supporting the transition to higher education. Years two, three and four are then studied as a standard degree programme.

By studying at the University of Northampton, you can be sure that:

• You will experience student life at the University’s £330 million Waterside Campus. Come along to an Open Day and find out more.

• At UON we guarantee a room in our Halls of Residence for all new full-time, first year students who apply and accept their room offer by June 2025 - and we won't ask for a deposit for September 2025*.

• Students enrolling on this course at Northampton will be provided with their own brand new laptop** to keep at no additional cost. All sports clubs and societies are free to join at Northampton and every essential course text book is available via the library, meaning you won’t have to purchase copies. For more information on this visit our website (northampton.ac.uk/benefits).

• Our expert academics teach in small groups supported with one to one assistance. Our academics and students form a tight bond, providing individualised support and guidance whilst challenging students academically.

• Whatever your ambitions, we’re here to help you to achieve them. We’ll support you to identify the skills you’re learning during your course, find your strengths and secure practical experience so that when it comes to applying for jobs or further study you’ll feel confident in standing out from the crowd.

The Northampton Employment Promise

• In fact, we’re so confident in our careers and employability support that if you achieve at least a 2:2 degree and complete either our Employability Plus Gold programme or achieve a Changemaker Gold Certificate during your time studying with us, but still haven’t secured full-time employment 12 months after graduating, we will secure a three – six month paid internship for you or support you into postgraduate study.

✱ eligibility criteria apply. See northampton.ac.uk/student-life/accommodation/ for more information
✱✱ eligibility criteria and terms and conditions apply. See northampton.ac.uk/benefits for more information

The Integrated Foundation Year (IFY) offers a new and exciting route into studying for a degree. The foundation year will be studied on a full-time basis and is aimed at supporting your transition to higher education. Years two, three and four are then studied as a standard degree programme.

Stage 1a
• Transition to University – Learning to Learn (Compulsory)
• Investigating your subject (Compulsory)
• Foundations in Psychology (Compulsory)
• Negotiated Learning Project (Compulsory)

STAGE 1b
• Introduction to Counselling (compulsory)
• Becoming a Psychologist (compulsory)
• Introduction to Psychology (compulsory)
• Psychology in Practice (compulsory)
• Positive Psychology (compulsory)
• Psychology for Life (compulsory)

STAGE 2
• Counselling: from Theory to Practice (compulsory)
• Research Methods and Statistics (compulsory)
• The Psychology of Well Being (designated)
• The Psychology of Learning and Teaching in Educational Settings (designated)
• The Human Animal (designated)
• Biological and Cognitive Psychology: Mechanisms of the mind (compulsory)
• Development and Society (compulsory)
• Personality & the Fundamentals of Psychology (compulsory)

Optional Placement Year
• The FHES Placement Year Experience
Students must have successfully completed 100 credits at Level 5 in order to undertake placement.

STAGE 3
• Counselling Psychology Dissertation (compulsory)
• Counselling in Context (compulsory)
• The Psychology of Mental Health (designated)
• Psychology of Spirituality, Religion and Wellbeing (designated)
• Parapsychology and Anomalous Experiences (designated)
• Applying Positive Psychology (designated)
• The Psychology of Health (designated)
• Educational Psychology (designated)
• Neuroscience of Mind (designated)
• Lifespan Development (designated)
• The Psychology of Work and Organisations (designated)

*Students must take the compulsory modules and three designated modules. Students who do not complete the Honours Degree will be eligible for an Ordinary Degree in the named subject upon successful completion of a minimum of 60 Level 6 credits. These can be from any Level 6 modules, whether identified as compulsory or designated.

**Module information is quoted for 2024/25 entry. Please note that modules run subject to student numbers and staff availability, any changes will be communicated to applicants accordingly.

A variety of assessment strategies are used at each level to ascertain your level of competence in a range of academic and transferable skills. These strategies include essays, practical reports, multiple-choice tests, oral presentations, time-constrained essays, seen and unseen examinations, critical reviews, group project work, patchwork blogs, audio-visual presentations, and reflective reports, for example.

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

• British Psychological Society