Psychology - 3432

Program Summary

Faculty: Faculty of Science

Contact: http://www.psy.unsw.edu.au

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Typical Duration: 4 Years

Typical UOC Per Semester: 24

Min UOC Per Semester: 3

Max UOC Per Semester: 27

Min UOC For Award: 192

UAC Code: 429850

Domestic Entry Cut-off: 98.00  

International Entry Requirements: See International Entry Requirements

Award(s):

Bachelor of Psychology

Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)

Program Description
Psychology is a discipline of both scientific research and applied practice. As a science, psychology is concerned with the study of behaviour and its underlying mental and neural processes. Topics of study include learning, memory, cognition, perception, motivation, life-span development, personality, social interactions, and abnormal psychology. Psychology has many areas of application, especially in clinical, correctional, counselling, educational, and organisational settings. In addition, people with training in psychology pursue careers in academic research, health research, developmental disabilities and rehabilitation, ergonomics, occupational health and safety, personnel selection, training, and management, vocational guidance, and marketing.

Program Objectives and Graduate Attributes
The four-Stage full-time program leads to the degree of Bachelor of Psychology. The degree is designed to provide the student with:
  1. A sound understanding of psychological theory, research skills, and psychological techniques;
  2. Psychology elective studies in areas of individual interest;
  3. Supporting studies in science disciplines, and
  4. The opportunity to study courses in other Faculties, including Arts and Social Sciences, and Business.

Program Structure

Stage 1
  • 24 UOC free electives
  • 6 UOC General Education
Recommended elective (this course is not required but is recommended as a good complementary course for this major; it is only available to first-year students who have taken less than 48 UOC of Level I courses):

Stage 2
  • 12 UOC free electives
  • 6 UOC General Education

Stage 3
  • 30 UOC from Level III Psychology courses: at least TWO courses from each of the elective streams A and B below must be completed 1(see 'Notes' below)
  • 6 UOC free elective
Elective Stream A:
Elective Stream B:

Stage 4
Notes:
  1. Not all Level III Psychology elective courses are offered each year.

General Education Requirements
To fullfil the University’s General Education requirement, students must complete 12 UOC selected from courses outside the Faculty of Science. Science courses are defined in Table below, and cannot be taken to satisfy General Education requirements.

Academic Rules
  1. Students must complete 192 units of credit (UOC) including 12 units of General Education;
  2. The degree must contain a minimum of 138 UOC in Psychology including 48 UOC in Psychology at Honours level (as defined under the Program Structure rules);
  3. Students can take a maximum of 60 UOC of Level I courses. This includes any GEN-coded course, or mainstream Level I course taken to fulfil the 12 UOC General Education requirement;
  4. No student may commence Level II courses until 24 UOC of Level I courses have been successfully completed;
  5. Students may commence Level III courses upon successful completion of 72 UOC;
  6. Students will not be allowed to progress to Stage 4 unless they achieve an average across Psychology courses taken at Stages 1-3 of 75 percent or higher, although students achieving an average of 70 percent or more may be admitted subject to appropriate research and supervision resources being available and at the discretion of the Head of School;
  7. The final grading for the degree is based on performance in Stage 4 of the degree. Award: Class I or Class II Division 1, or Class II Division 2 or Class III. If requirements for these classes are not met, a Pass degree will be awarded;
  8. Study Load: This is a four-stage full-time program. In any one session students must enrol in a full study load of 24 UOC in accordance with the requirements of the program. Only in exceptional circumstances will students be allowed to enrol in a reduced program for a Stage;
  9. Academic Standing: Students are required to achieve an average of 70 percent or higher in Psychology courses taken in any Stage (based on the first attempted result for each course). Students not maintaining this level of performance in Stage 1 will be counselled. Students who fail to achieve an average of 70 percent or higher in all Psychology courses taken in Stages 2 and 3 will normally be required to transfer to the Bachelor of Psychological Science (3435, Pass Degree).

Fees
For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html

Registration as a Psychologist
The Fourth Year program meets the requirements of a fourth year towards provisional registration as a psychologist nationally (http://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/) and associate membership in the Australian Psychological Society (http://www.psychology.org.au).

Note: As of 1 July 2010, a single national registration scheme operates for psychologists in Australia, and all practising psychologists must be registered with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA). The national scheme will allow psychologists to work in any Australian State or Territory.

Table 1: Definition of 'Science' courses
'Science' courses are courses offered by the following Schools. The course prefixes that are associated with each School are in bold:
 Aviation  AVIA
 Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences  BIOS, BEES, CLIM, GEOS, IEST, MSCI,  ENVS
 Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences  BABS, BIOC, BIOT, MICR
 Chemistry  CHEM
 Computer Science  COMP
 Food Science  FOOD
 Materials Science and Engineering  MATS
 Mathematics and Statistics  MATH
 Medical Sciences  ANAT, NEUR, PATH, PHAR, PHSL, SOMS
 Psychology  PSYC
 Physics  PHYS
 Optometry and Vision Science  OPTM, VISN
 Science Faculty  SCIF, BSSM


Area(s) of Specialisation