School of Psychology (Undergrad)

Psychology impacts on every aspect of human behaviour.

Across the globe, people are confronted daily with new technologies, unfamiliar cultures, and ongoing challenges that affect all facets of how we live. Studying psychology at Essex allows you to embark on a journey into the thoughts, feelings, and actions of those individuals.

You will learn from internationally recognised experts, on diverse topics including brain and behaviour, child development and ageing, relationships and sexuality, personality and perception, culture and identity, memory, emotion and psychopathology. We will also help you develop important skills to think critically, analyse evidence, build complex arguments, and communicate effectively with others.

Learning isn’t just about sitting in a classroom. At Essex, we pride ourselves on providing a research-led education with award-winning lecturers who are also world leaders in their research fields. As an undergraduate student, you can get real research experience by working alongside researchers through our Research Experience Scheme (RES). During a RES placement, you can gain experience developing all kinds of skills used by researchers from all areas of psychology, including experiment set-up and design, literature reviews, recruiting and testing participants, and even coding and data analysis.

A degree in psychology prepares you for a wide range of career pathways. While many students go on to become trained psychologists, counsellors and therapists, others pursue fulfilling careers in education, forensic sciences, data analysis, health, marketing, advertising, public policy, organisational development and human resources.

Our department is proud of the multicultural mosaic that makes up our community. Our staff and students come from over 40 countries around the world, bringing their own unique perspectives and experiences, which enrich our teaching, learning, and research.