i’m going into the degree with the intention of a career in something along the lines of therapy/clinical/health psychology,The healthcare sector is pretty notorious requiring specific degrees for specific professions, and they tend not to be transferrable.
The key one for therapy is BACP, although therapy isn't particularly regulated per se. The key one for psychology is BPS, and according to the BPS accredited course search engine, the MSci Pyshcology and Neuroscience course is accredited i.e. it's an appropriate course to go both into neuroscience and psychology. See:
https://portal.bps.org.uk/Accredited-Coursesbut is this worth the extra year of study, or would it be better to gain a masters qualification separately in this situation if it came to it?I am looking at some MSc Neuroscience courses, and a number of them seem to prefer something with biology over a degree in psychology. So it's a bit tricky. See the following for example:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/taught-degrees/neuroscience-mschttps://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/neuroscience-msc#entry-requirementshttps://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/08173/msc-neuroscience/entry-requirements/#course-profilehttps://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/coursefinder/courses/neuroscience-msc/Having said that, they didn't specified what they constitute as biological sciences, which does or doesn't include psychology, so it's worth checking with the individual uni just to be sure.
There would be some courses that accept an undergrad in psychology e.g.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/msc-neuroscienceWith integrated masters' you can sometimes drop out of the master's in the 4th year and end up with a BSc in both subjects. However, I can't see this information on Bristol's website so you would need to check with the uni to be sure.
Whilst you don't necessarily need a master's to do a PhD, it's often recommended especially if it's for psychology (a lot of competition) especially if you have anything less than a 1st class degree.
Do also note the added benefit of the fee being capped at £9250 for your master's year as opposed to varying costs that can be more than £10k per year at some unis.
if i do decide to go into a career in psychology i plan to do a masters anyway (something involving an applied placement) would having an integrated masters affect funding for this?As far as I know, under the ELQ policies of most unis having an integrated master's means you would have to fund for your second master's by yourself.
would the extra year be a lot better spent gaining graduate experience?It depends on how competitive it is to get a doctorate in clinical psychology - you don't need a degree let alone a doctorate to become a therapist.
Most doctorate programs would be looking for at least a year's experience anyway. However, some would also be looking for a master's on top of your undergrad.
I would recommend getting a second opinion from someone who did a doctorate in clinical psychology to be sure. (I don't study psychology and I don't have a degree in it.)