Course overview
Take an in depth look at the fascinating world of business psychology with this undergraduate programme. Focusing on real-life situations you will gain an understanding of the psychological behaviours of people in business or organisation contexts. This course will allow you to immerse yourself in a variety of unique and interesting topics including psychological development through the lifespan, leadership and managing teams, as well as individual differences, emotions and behaviours.
Job outcomes
- Organisational Psychology
- Management
- Human Resources
- Business development
- Business consultancy
- Staff training and development
- Careers Counselling
- Marketing/advertising
- Market research
- Finance
What you'll learn
You will learn to apply knowledge of the human mind and behaviour to investigate fundamental business functions, as well as adopting core psychological theories to understand organisational change, effective leadership, recruitment and selection, and corporate decision-making. Our courses involve a range of technical competencies which can be applied immediately to the real world, making you an asset to any team or employer.
Study method
- Online
- Blended
- In-class
Duration study load
- 48 months – part-time
Entry requirements
We have flexible entry requirements that look at both your academic and work-based experience. There are two entry routes onto our BSc (Hons) Business Psychology degree programme:
1. Academic Entry Route
In order to satisfy the Academic Entry Route requirements for our BSc (Hons) Business Psychology degree programme you must have the following qualifications as a minimum:
- Three A-levels, or equivalent; plus
- If English is not your first language, IELTS (academic) 6.0 or equivalent
- If you do not hold an IELTS or equivalent qualification, we require students to pass a free online English test
You are required to pass your initial assignment set during the first 21 days of the course in order to continue with your studies
2. Work Experience Entry Route
To apply for the BSc (Hons) Business Psychology degree via our Work Experience Entry Route you must meet the following criteria:
- GCSE Maths and English at grade C or above, or equivalent;
- Three years’ relevant work experience; plus
- If English is not your first language, IELTS (academic) 6.0 or equivalent.
- If you do not hold an IELTS or equivalent qualification, we require students to pass a free online English test
You will be required to pass your initial assignment set during the first 21 days of the course in order to continue with your studies.
Course features
You are supported throughout your course by a dedicated student adviser and have the opportunity to regularly interact with fellow students and your tutor. To ensure you receive the support you need from your tutor, we cap our class sizes at 20 students.
Assessment
We adopt an assignment-based approach to assessment instead of exams. Business Psychology assignments are based on real-life work experience and assessed by tutors on an ongoing basis.
You are always aware of your current provisional grade right from the start of the programme, allowing you to evaluate the success of your current study methods and clearly identify areas to improve.
We believe that this transparency gives you the information you need to make the most of your course. We achieve this by:
- Showing your marks clearly in your grade book, which can be viewed whenever you log onto the learning platform
- The rapid turnaround of work assessed to ensure that your grade book is always up to date
- Assessing your work throughout the module rather than waiting for the end of year exams
- Ensuring you have regular contact with your student adviser
- The simplicity and transparency in the design of our assessment criteria
We also have a policy of ensuring that the work submitted by students is authentic. As well as the fact that all work is frequently assessed, we use a well-established electronic monitoring system to check for plagiarism.
On successful completion of your BSc (Hons) Business Psychology, you will be invited to attend a graduation ceremony at the University of Essex, Colchester campus.
Delivery
As we are a 100% online university, we utilise a virtual learning environment instead of a traditional campus. The system tracks and manages the learning process in real-time and provides you with immediate access to your learning materials.
This learning platform allows both students and tutors to actively take part in real-time conversations and you can listen to, and view, live lectures and seminars over the internet. All courses are delivered in English only.
Subjects
The BSc (Hons) in Business Psychology is made up of the following modules and, upon completion, is equal to a total of 360 credits.
- Student Online Learning Orientation
- Technical & personal requirements/preparation
- Learning platform organisation and navigation
- Communication in eLearning – Synchronous and Asynchronous
- Using the online library
- Online assessments
- Collaborative learning tools – ‘Module Resources’
- Intrapersonal development
- Self-awareness, lifelong learning and capability
- Learning styles and personal values
- Managing stress, uncertainty, transition and time
- Project planning, problem solving and creativity
- Awareness of the world of work and society
- Understanding of citizenship
- Interpersonal development
- Verbal communication, including effective presentations
- Written communication, including effective report-writing
- Study skills
- Apply basic critical reading, writing, and reasoning skills
- Use a variety of personnel management tools and strategies to enhance learning
- Use problem-solving skills to increase academic and professional proficiency
- An introduction to the science of Social Psychology
- Social cognition and social knowledge [forming impressions, schemas and categories, stereotypes]
- Self and identity
- Causal Attribution
- Heuristics and judgements
- Attitudes and behaviours
- Ethics in Social Psychology
- An introduction to the biology of brain and behaviour
- The historical development of the study of the brain and behaviour
- The structure and function of the nervous system
- Research methods in biological psychology
- The biology of consciousness and memory
- Foundations of Cognitive Neuropsychology
- Neuropsychology techniques
- Specific brain functions – e.g. object and spatial processing, attention, executive processes, memory, consciousness,
language and communication, motor control - Brain injury and neurorehabilitation
- Contemporary breakthroughs in neuropsychology
- The replication crisis in social psychology
- Is scientific knowledge better?
- What is critical social psychology?
- Discursive psychology.
- Ethics
- Feminism, Marxism and Psychoanalytic critiques
- Social constructionism.
- Prejudice, discrimination and racism
- Emotion, attitudes and politics
- The history and foundations of developmental science
- Neuroscience, perceptual, cognitive and language development
- Personality, temperament and the social constructs of development.
- Children and the law
About University of Essex Online
Online learning is a cost-effective, convenient and flexible way to enhance your career. Our quality-assured distance learning courses allow you to work towards your qualification in a unique virtual learning environment and still have access to all the support and facilities you would expect to receive on campus.
University of Essex Online courses are delivered by Kaplan Open Learning, an experienced online learning provider, part of Kaplan International Pathways. The University and Kaplan have developed their partnership since 2007 in order to offer high-quality online courses.
