Cardiff vs Exeter for Psychology!

I have offers from Cardiff uni and uni of Exeter for BSc Psychology! I can’t decide which one to go to! Help!!!

Hi,
So although I cannot give you any details about the Psychology Courses at Cardiff or Exeter, there are some advice I can give which may help you in making this decision.

Given the courses are BPS Accredited (you can confirm the status of the University on the BPS website.) They are required to cover some core areas, Developmental, Social, Neuro/Biological, Cognitive and Research Methods Psychology. However it is important to know that the specific content, what they teach and how they teach it, will vary from University to University depending on the research at the university. As research feeds into what they teach during these modules.

Additionally, this leads onto course specific specialisms, as these will be the modules you personally select during each year of your degree. These can be explored most likely through University materials provided on Open Days or On their websites. And often these are fed by the research specialism of the Uni (however bare in mind, these may change due to changes in staff). However, adoring the modules you take, is likely to improve your out-coming grade as you will work harder during something you enjoy!

Other than that, explore the other areas which are important to you, such as Placements, Careers, Development areas, as well as Societies, Campus's/City etc! However it may be work considering the above from a course specific side!

I hope this helps,

Tom
Third Year Psychology and Student Ambassador.

Hi!
Thank you for all the information! It really helps a lot! Also, what can you tell me about Psychology at Uni of Reading?

Hi!
What would you like to know... I am really awful as I can talk about the course for hours.... so what specifically would you be interested in knowing about!


Tom
Third Year Psychology and Student Ambassador.

Hi!
What is the mode of teaching? Lectures with a huge audience or small group discussions? What sort of projects/ research does one take up? Any other details that you find interesting?

Exeter, it's not even close.

Hi,
So....
In terms of teaching we have a variety of Lectures (large passive group learning), Seminars (small active group learning), Web group sessions (active group discussions), Statistics and Skills Workshops (where you work through content from the lectures), as well as completing group research projects on a variety of projects from Perception to Motivation, through to nutrition and music (tons really!!).
Lectures here at Reading do vary depending on the Year of Study, Course and Module. However typically the larger modules do have larger audiences (up to 400), with seminars alongside some of the modules (which are up to 30). These are most common in First and Second Year with third year modules moving towards seminar teaching groups.
This is for the standard psychology course at Reading (BSC Psych (+ Placement) as well as many of our joint offers - Neuro/etc). However for our Msci programme things do vary (check out our website for the full list of Psych courses we do - http://www.reading.ac.uk/ready-to-study/study/subject-area/psychology-ug.aspx )

In terms of projects and research we have three major research groups
- Psychopathology & Affective Neuroscience
- Language, Development & Ageing
- Perception, Cognition & Nutrition
These do feed down to Group projects, and more information on these can be found via the link below.
https://www.reading.ac.uk/Psychology/Research/our-research.aspx

Other interesting things about Reading -
- We have a few NHS Clinics on site which you can complete projects or placements with including - Centre for Autism, Anxiety and Depression in Young People Clinical, The Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics as well as others!
- We have a large clinical foundation, which are demonstrated through our third year modules, see some examples at http://www.reading.ac.uk/modules/

I hope this provides some more insight into this subject, please let me know if this leads to any additional questions.

Tom
Third Year Psychology and Student Ambassador.

It's renown, check it's rankings and student feedback.

Exeter is ranked 32 and Cardiff 40 for Psychology. The ranking difference isn’t much. I’d like to make my decision mainly on the programme differences. Are you a student at Exeter?

Exeter is ranked 32 and Cardiff 40 for Psychology. The ranking difference isn’t much. I’d like to make my decision mainly on the programme differences. Are you a student at Exeter?

What ranking is this?!

I visited both Cardiff and Exeter unis for psychology and I preferred Cardiff by far. It seemed a lot friendlier and a better environment, but that's just me personally.

Yes I’ve heard everyone say Cardiff is a better city! Will you be joining Cardiff uni for Psychology this year?

QS world ranking 2018

I would not suggest using the international rankings to rank courses within the same country; domestic rankings are available and do a much better job at differentiating.