Psychology with Neuroscience BSc (Hons)

Modules

• Year 1 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Cognition in Clinical Contexts
  • Individuals and Groups
  • Physiology and Disease
  • Psychology as a science

  Spring teaching

  • Analysing data
  • Neuroscience and Behaviour
  • Psychobiology
  • Psychology of Childhood

  Your degree

  In Year 1 you’ll develop foundational knowledge of the major subspecialties of psychology, including cognitive, social, clinical, developmental  and biological psychology. This lays the groundwork for your degree. You’ll:

  • gain hands-on experience in research methods and statistics using R (data analysis, coding and visualisation)
  • build key academic skills in essay writing, critical thinking, debate, and data interpretation and presentation
  • begin to study the principles of neuroscience, including brain structure and function.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include a mix of lectures, practical workshops and seminars.

  

  40%: Lecture
  40%: Seminar
  20%: Practical

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include a mix of exams and coursework.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

• Year 2 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Discovering Statistics
  • Principles of Neuronal Function

  Spring teaching

  • Brain and Behaviour
  • Neural Circuits
  • Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
  • Social Psychology

  Your degree

  In Year 2, you’ll deepen and refine your skills and understanding across the different subspecialties of psychology. You’ll study topics such as learning and memory, child development, brain function and dysfunction, social identity and influence, and foundations of mental health. You’ll continue to develop advanced research skills: applying R programming to quantitative analysis, as well as learning qualitative methods essential to psychological research. Alongside this, you’ll expand your neuroscience expertise by studying areas such as sensory processing, neural plasticity, and neurodevelopment. This year consolidates the depth of knowledge and skills you’ll need for your final year of specialisation and independent research.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include a mix of lectures, practical workshops and seminars.

  

  35%: Lecture
  35%: Seminar
  30%: Practical

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include a mix of exams and coursework.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

• Experience Year

  Study abroad (optional)

  Apply to study abroad – you’ll develop an international perspective and gain an edge when it comes to your career. Find out where your course could take you

  If your application to study abroad is successful, you’ll have to meet the academic requirements at Sussex and also at the partner university. Find out more about studying abroad as a Sussex student

  Placement (optional)

  To help you gain experience and increase your employability, you can apply for an optional placement as part of your course. You’ll be responsible for applying for and securing your placement. Our dedicated careers team can provide you with information and advice. If you’re successful in obtaining a placement, this will form part of your course.

  Find out more about placements and internships

  Recent students have gone on placements at institutions including:

  • Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
  • The Office for National Statistics.

  Please note that if you’re receiving – or applying for – USA federal Direct Loan funds, you can’t transfer to the version of your course with an optional study abroad period in any country or optional placement in the USA if the number of credits for the placement/internship exceeds 25% of the total credits for your course. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid

• Year 3 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn and spring teaching

  • Research Dissertation

  Autumn teaching

  • Structure and Function of the Brain

  Spring teaching

  • Drugs, Brain and Behaviour

  Options

  Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Autumn teaching

  • Attention: Distraction, Daydreaming and Diversity
  • Biological Psychology of Mental Health
  • Child Language: Development, Disorders and Individual Differences
  • Children's Peer Relationships
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Educational Psychology
  • Forensic Psychology
  • Health Psychology
  • How to Win: The Psychology of Sport and Performance
  • Intelligence in Animals and Machines
  • Nature and Nurture of Mental Health
  • Prejudice, Discrimination and Intergroup Relations
  • Psychology of Appetite
  • Psychology of Collective Action
  • Psychology of Sleep
  • Science of Memory
  • Self Regulation: The Science of Achieving Your Goals
  • Selves and Identities
  • Social Connection and Disconnection

  Spring teaching

  • Ageing and Dementia
  • Autism Across the Lifespan
  • Clinical Psychology in Practice
  • Conscious and Unconscious Mental Processes
  • Contemporary Topics in Child Development and Wellbeing
  • Family Psychology
  • Manipulating Minds
  • Organisational Psychology
  • Positive Psychology
  • Psychology and Culture
  • Psychology of Exercise and Wellbeing

  Your degree

  Your final year focuses on specialisation and independent study. Alongside advanced neuroscience modules, you’ll choose from a wide range of specialist psychology options, taught by international experts in their fields.

  The highlight of your final year is your research project: a year-long independent study designed and carried out under supervision of one of our faculty. This project enables you to apply your theoretical and methodological expertise. Your project culminates in a dissertation that demonstrates your ability to conduct and communicate high-quality psychological and neuroscientific research.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include a mix of lectures, practical workshops and seminars.

  

  70%: Lecture
  10%: Seminar
  20%: Practical

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include a mix of exams and coursework.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.