What is a degree in Psychology like?

Is there alot of biology and maths involved?

How hard is it to achieve a 2:1 or 1st?
How many hours per week do you spend on doing work for Psychology out of uni?

Any other information regarding Psychology degree in general is welcome

Is there alot of biology and maths involved?
How hard is it to achieve a 2:1 or 1st?
How many hours per week do you spend on doing work for Psychology out of uni?
Do you have time to do other things if you are wanting to achieve a 1st?

Any other information regarding Psychology degree in general is welcome

I had about 6-8 hours of lectures plus weekly essays. As the above person said, most people who don't get a 2.1 either haven't tried/had some emotional problems during their study. Getting a first isn't about doing nothing but degree work, you have got to have learnt great study and analytical skills and put sufficient time in. At my uni this would be at least like 5-8 hours work a day (which isn't that much in reality, lets say starting work at 9am and finishing at 3-6pm) leaving lots of room to do other things outside that.

There is a lot of biology involved, although it does vary from module to module. If you have come from a social science background at A level, it can be a bit of a shock. You'll cover neurones, hormones and neurotransmitters in depth. You may also covers topics like the structure and functional of the eye and how light interacts with it.
Psychology is also quite statistics heavy. This is often the area that students hate the most. However it is not too hard as it generally involves sticking numbers into equations or using statistics software.


Most psychology degrees do not have a great number of contact hours. Maybe 8 hours of lectures a week? There will also be a number of practicals, seminars, tutorials and computer workshops spread through a semester. So how many hours you put into it will depend on your motivation and what you want to get from the degree.
As for how hard it is: Like all degrees, the majority of students will achieve a 2:1 or above. Most of those who fail to get a 2:1 do so because they do not put the amount of work in (for whatever reason).




If you want some insight into psychology at university level, I think Steven Pinker's books How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate or The Language Instinct offer a good introduction.

Have you ever come across any students that want to study Medicine after Psychology?

Ohh ok thanks!

In terms of difficulty what would you rate psychology out of 10 - 10 being extremely difficult. I just want an idea of how difficult it is thats all

Have you ever come across any students that want to study Medicine after Psychology?

There is a lot of biology and statistics - although most unis teach the stats with the help of a computer programme (SPSS being the most common, I think), and as a result of that it's more about learning to use that rather than actually understanding the statistic tests, so you don't have to be any good at maths.

I got a 2.1 and had to work hard, although I'm fairly confident I could have got a first if I hadn't been so lazy at various points during the three years.

So would you recommend working hard and trying to achieve the best I can in my first year... because I heard first year doesn't even matter? am I wrong?

It wont count towards your final classification, but it ultimately ends up on your transcript and forms the foundation for years two and three.