Bachelor of Psychological Science

Overview

Do you want to understand more about what drives human behaviour? Gain in-depth knowledge of the scientific study of human behaviour, as well as research and analytical experience, with UNE's innovative Bachelor of Psychological Science. Delivered flexibly online or on campus, our accredited three-year undergraduate degree is designed to give you a balanced education with a psychology focus. Along with completing a mandatory minor in Psychological Health and Wellbeing, you will have the freedom to choose electives from any unit offered by UNE. With opportunities to focus your study with a Counselling major or Criminology minor, our course allows you to future proof your career by developing transferable skills that are highly valued in the workplace and opens doors to further advanced study in psychology.

2024 Health scholarships

Starting a UNE Health course in 2024? Get up to $12,000 towards your studies. For more information about the range of health scholarships and subsidies available, register your interest now.

Why study the Bachelor of Psychological Science with UNE?

Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour – our individual characteristics and abilities, how we act in social situations, how our brain works, and how our experiences and biology interact to produce normal and abnormal behaviour. UNE's Bachelor of Psychological Science provides you with a thorough grounding in the core areas of psychology and emphasises the development of transferrable skills, ensuring you're able to change and adapt to challenges and opportunities in the workplace.

Explore a wide range of subjects, studying more focused psychology units as you progress through each year of the degree. Our Bachelor of Psychological Science includes the study of the history and philosophy of psychology, motivation, emotion, social psychology, the biological bases of behaviour, cognition, language and more.

Our course provides you with an accredited undergraduate psychology sequence so that you can continue on to a fourth-year psychology program such as the Bachelor of Psychology with Honours should you wish to pursue provisional registration as a practising psychologist.*

What makes our course different?

Flexibility is key to our Bachelor of Psychological Science, and we offer blended delivery of the course to suit your needs. By choosing UNE, you are choosing an industry leader in the provision of online learning. In fact, UNE is Australia's longest continuous provider of distance (now online) education. Our course gives you opportunities to:

Balance study with your existing commitments. We have course intakes in all three trimesters, and options to study online and on campus, meaning you can study at a time and place that suits you. Some units include intensive schools, giving you the opportunity to interact and engage with your peers and academic staff face-to-face at our vibrant Armidale campus.

Pursue a career in counselling by completing a major in Counselling — a direct pathway to UNE's accredited postgraduate counselling courses. Choose this major and you will complete two fieldwork placement units involving working with clients.

Add value to roles in health and social care, community services and youth work with an understanding of the social factors that underpin crime. Our Criminology minor provides you with knowledge and understanding of the criminal justice system, and and the choice to focus on issues such as working with offenders, and drugs, alcohol and crime in Australia.

Complement your knowledge with our Psychological Health and Wellbeing minor, which includes units exploring motivation and emotion, health and sports psychology, and learning principles and behaviours change.

Follow the study pathway that is most relevant to you, with the freedom to choose electives (up to 48 credit points) from any units offered by UNE, as long as you meet the individual requirements and timetabling constraints for the unit.

Our mission in the School of Psychology is to provide you with an excellent learning experience, with innovative teaching from friendly, experience staff. We give you the support you need in order to thrive.

As Australia's oldest regional university and a pioneer in the delivery of distance education, UNE is a proven expert online. Students consistently award UNE the maximum 5-star ratings for Overall Experience and Student Support in The Good Universities Guide.

*Progression to a fourth-year psychology program, such as UNE's Bachelor of Psychology with Honours, for the purposes of obtaining provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia, requires you to have sufficient grades for entry. Places are competitive, and quotas apply.

Study online

Most of our students choose to study online across three study periods with 24/7 tutor support* and fit study around work and family commitments. Uniquely, our online students are mostly over 30 and bring valuable experience with them. They form a community of adults juggling the same challenges and priorities and who bring their life and work experience together at UNE in order to become future-fit and better respond to a rapidly changing world.

Study on campus

Many of our students choose to take advantage of the on-campus lifestyle in Armidale, in the beautiful New England region, with access to unparalleled support, accommodation and sporting facilities. These students are often starting their first degree and have left school recently. Through access to academic and career support they get a fantastic start to their careers.

* 24/7 tutor support includes: essay feedback (within 24 hours); live chat 24/7 for generic feedback on academic writing; and subject-specific help at a foundation or first-year level for subjects including mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, business, accounting, microeconomics, macroeconomics and statistics. There are also a wide range of workshops, resources and courses available in academic skills support to assist you and help you to succeed.