what a level subjects to take to become a criminal or forensic psychologist?

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as my questions states above i was wondering what subjects would be good for a future career in criminal or forensic psychology. most universities dont need any specific a level subject apart from psychology to do a degree in psychology. the only subjects that probably alot of you would think of immediately in this career choice are sciences which im not too keen on. so if there are any other subjects that would go particularly well with this career choice or if there are any reasons why a science a level (even though i dont want to take them) would benifit for a partiular and important reason, please mention as it would help me alot

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DrawTheLine

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(Original post by m._.m)
as my questions states above i was wondering what subjects would be good for a future career in criminal or forensic psychology. most universities dont need any specific a level subject apart from psychology to do a degree in psychology. the only subjects that probably alot of you would think of immediately in this career choice are sciences which im not too keen on. so if there are any other subjects that would go particularly well with this career choice or if there are any reasons why a science a level (even though i dont want to take them) would benifit for a partiular and important reason, please mention as it would help me alot

You don't need psychology A-Level to do it at uni. But yes you need at least one science ideally, biology is preferable because it links really well to biological psychology and cognitive too. Even if you don't do a science you will be doing science at uni because it's part of psychology, so you can't avoid it.

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m._.m

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(Original post by DrawTheLine)
You don't need psychology A-Level to do it at uni. But yes you need at least one science ideally, biology is preferable because it links really well to biological psychology and cognitive too. Even if you don't do a science you will be doing science at uni because it's part of psychology, so you can't avoid it.

thanks for the comment but universities dont need a science a level for a degree in psychology. they only require one from either bio, or chem or physics or psychology or maths. and since im taking a psychology a level i was wondering if not taking a biology a level would affect too much while doing the psychology degree as i dont mind doing the science included in the degree but dont want to take it as an a level......

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DrawTheLine

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(Original post by m._.m)
thanks for the comment but universities dont need a science a level for a degree in psychology. they only require one from either bio, or chem or physics or psychology or maths. and since im taking a psychology a level i was wondering if not taking a biology a level would affect too much while doing the psychology degree as i dont mind doing the science included in the degree but dont want to take it as an a level......

I know that's why I said ideally you need one, not definitely. You don't have to take it however it really helps.

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itsokamix

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(Original post by m._.m)
thanks for the comment but universities dont need a science a level for a degree in psychology. they only require one from either bio, or chem or physics or psychology or maths. and since im taking a psychology a level i was wondering if not taking a biology a level would affect too much while doing the psychology degree as i dont mind doing the science included in the degree but dont want to take it as an a level......

You don't NEED biology a level but it will help a lot, most if not all BSc Psychology degrees will have biology related units, some of which strongly links to what is taught in a-level therefore you're likely to understand the subject more than those without it. That being said there's nothing wrong with not biology, plenty of people don't and find the content fine, but you may struggle a bit more with some of the biology based content at degree level than others.

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r_finchy00

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I would really recommend taking sociology alongside psych. I take both at the minute and I've found that they are really complementing. Sociology in itself would lead you perfectly on to a criminal degree of some kind so having psych as well would be brilliant. Sociology is a 'science' but obviously not like biology etc, I took this mainly because I didn't like the normal sciences and wasn't particularly good at them but I still needed to for my uni degree so this was another option, and I'm sooo happy I took it now ! For a third subject choose something you really love, I chose art and Its been fab. If you don't need it for uni but only need the grade then choose something you will enjoy for 2 years !
Good luck!

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chazwomaq

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(Original post by m._.m)
as my questions states above i was wondering what subjects would be good for a future career in criminal or forensic psychology. most universities dont need any specific a level subject apart from psychology to do a degree in psychology. the only subjects that probably alot of you would think of immediately in this career choice are sciences which im not too keen on. so if there are any other subjects that would go particularly well with this career choice or if there are any reasons why a science a level (even though i dont want to take them) would benifit for a partiular and important reason, please mention as it would help me alot

1. In terms of studying psychology, I'm sure you'll get good advice here. Many universities require at least 1 science (some include psychology A level). Maths and biology are the two most relevant A levels IMO.

2. Why do you want to study psychology if you don't like science? It is a science itself. You will be using the scientific method, using statistics, doing experiments and so on

3. Even if you do a psychology degree you very probably will not become a criminal or forensic psychologist. There is massive oversupply of psychology graduates and very few jobs in this area. Choose a degree that will keep many doors open for you.

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m._.m

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(Original post by r_finchy00)
I would really recommend taking sociology alongside psych. I take both at the minute and I've found that they are really complementing. Sociology in itself would lead you perfectly on to a criminal degree of some kind so having psych as well would be brilliant. Sociology is a 'science' but obviously not like biology etc, I took this mainly because I didn't like the normal sciences and wasn't particularly good at them but I still needed to for my uni degree so this was another option, and I'm sooo happy I took it now ! For a third subject choose something you really love, I chose art and Its been fab. If you don't need it for uni but only need the grade then choose something you will enjoy for 2 years !
Good luck!

thanks for the advice! i was also thinking art as my third option because its one of my strongest subjects and i enjoy it alot. but im kind of worried because one of my teachers told me that an art a level is a waste of time and its not really respected by universities..

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(Original post by chazwomaq)
1. In terms of studying psychology, I'm sure you'll get good advice here. Many universities require at least 1 science (some include psychology A level). Maths and biology are the two most relevant A levels IMO.

2. Why do you want to study psychology if you don't like science? It is a science itself. You will be using the scientific method, using statistics, doing experiments and so on

3. Even if you do a psychology degree you very probably will not become a criminal or forensic psychologist. There is massive oversupply of psychology graduates and very few jobs in this area. Choose a degree that will keep many doors open for you.

1. i am thinking of doing a maths a level or core maths and psychology along with my other a levels.

2. when i said that i dont like science i meant biology chemistry and physics that i am doing at gcse. (sorry if that was not specific) however with psychology, (debates are still going on about whether it is a science or not) i enjoy it tremendously. i was worried that without a science (bio, chem or phy) a level, a psychology career was screwed and as im not really fond of those three sciences i dont really want to do them as a levels for whole 2 years as.

3. criminal psychology or forensic psychology are one of my few options as a career in either Psychology (there are options such as psychologist, therapist, councellors, etc) or other fields. one of my optional fields is actually foreign languages -french- which is like my backup career plan

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Traore

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Hi, I'm in Year 12 taking Psychology, Sociology and Biology.

I'm exactly the same as you - I want to be a forensic/criminal psychologist. I have no idea why I'm doing biology, I hate science HOWEVER the A-Level content for psychology does include quite a bit of biology, so in theory it does help.

Sociology links in quite well too, just to echo what the other person said!

Feel free to ask me any questions, I'm also intrigued by what other people say on this thread.

:-)

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(Original post by Traore)
Hi, I'm in Year 12 taking Psychology, Sociology and Biology.

I'm exactly the same as you - I want to be a forensic/criminal psychologist. I have no idea why I'm doing biology, I hate science HOWEVER the A-Level content for psychology does include quite a bit of biology, so in theory it does help.

Sociology links in quite well too, just to echo what the other person said!

Feel free to ask me any questions, I'm also intrigued by what other people say on this thread.

:-)

hi! thanks for the info cause i didnt know that psychology included alot of biology content

i was wondering what your other career options are and which a level would you have taken instead of biology? (just to help me see other ideas related or similar to this feild as well)

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Traore

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(Original post by m._.m)
hi! thanks for the info cause i didnt know that psychology included alot of biology content

i was wondering what your other career options are and which a level would you have taken instead of biology? (just to help me see other ideas related or similar to this feild as well)

To be honest I haven't looked at careers much. I just developed an interest in psychology through watching crime shows, particularly serial killers at first.

It depends on your strengths - I didn't enjoy many subjects at GCSE. I think if I were to change now, I'd pick English Literature because 1) I got an 8 last year 2) I actually enjoy writing.

Do you take psychology at GCSE?

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m._.m

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(Original post by Traore)
To be honest I haven't looked at careers much. I just developed an interest in psychology through watching crime shows, particularly serial killers at first.

It depends on your strengths - I didn't enjoy many subjects at GCSE. I think if I were to change now, I'd pick English Literature because 1) I got an 8 last year 2) I actually enjoy writing.

Do you take psychology at GCSE?

No I don't take psychology at GCSE though I really wished I did. I do love reading about it on the internet and reading fiction and non fiction books about it and watching documentaries along with TV shows such as mindhunter on Netflix. I kind of got interested in it through doing this and realised that I have a really strong interest in it.

Actually English lit is one of my options to take from for a levels but I'm not that great at it, like I cannot get above a grade 6 since forever and it's kinda stressing me out lol.

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(Original post by m._.m)
3. criminal psychology or forensic psychology are one of my few options as a career in either Psychology (there are options such as psychologist, therapist, councellors, etc) or other fields. one of my optional fields is actually foreign languages -french- which is like my backup career plan

OK. Just be aware that if you pursue a psychology degree there is a very high chance you will not have a career as a psychologist. You might do many other things, but the vast majority of psychology grads do not become psychologists.

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DrawTheLine

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(Original post by m._.m)
i didnt know that psychology included alot of biology content

It sounds like you should do more research into psychology degrees and careers, considering you didn't know this. It's such a big part of psychology, so please do more in-depth research about what is included in psychology A-Level and degrees before you make your choices.

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You could skip A levels and start studying the Forensic Psychology degree with the OU. :P I wish I did! But universities will be looking predominantly for the psychology A level.

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(Original post by m._.m)
No I don't take psychology at GCSE though I really wished I did. I do love reading about it on the internet and reading fiction and non fiction books about it and watching documentaries along with TV shows such as mindhunter on Netflix. I kind of got interested in it through doing this and realised that I have a really strong interest in it.

Actually English lit is one of my options to take from for a levels but I'm not that great at it, like I cannot get above a grade 6 since forever and it's kinda stressing me out lol.

Ok. You probably have a lot of preconceived ideas about the subject, make sure you look at the content that is covered to see if it matches up with what you're interested in (I'm sure it will).

I was getting awful English Lit grades in my mocks but came out with an 8 from my GCSEs. It'll be fine I think.

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National Careers Service

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(Original post by m._.m)
as my questions states above i was wondering what subjects would be good for a future career in criminal or forensic psychology. most universities dont need any specific a level subject apart from psychology to do a degree in psychology. the only subjects that probably alot of you would think of immediately in this career choice are sciences which im not too keen on. so if there are any other subjects that would go particularly well with this career choice or if there are any reasons why a science a level (even though i dont want to take them) would benifit for a partiular and important reason, please mention as it would help me alot

Hi there,

You might find our job profile for a Forensic Psychologist helpful to support you with your research:

https://nationalcareersservice.direc...c-psychologist

It has most things you need in one place. In terms of A-level subjects you could look at universities you're interested in applying with and their entry requirements before making any definite decisions.

Psychology degrees cover a lot of modules, psychology and sociology are the stand out A-levels that would be helpful. Biology would help with biological psychology and Maths would be helpful for the research methods modules as this requires you to work with statistical data. As with most degrees there can be a lot of writing involved and therefore English Language can be a helpful A-level to consider.

Hope this helps.

Sophie - National Careers Service

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Amanzhol

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"what a level subjects to take to become a criminal :ninja:

...or forensic psychologist?"

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elliewarman123

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not sure if it’s too late to answer you question but i’m in yr 12 and currently looking at unis to do a psychology degree.

- most bps accredited psychology uni degrees contain A LOT of biology (at a level there’s a whole module on bio psychology).
-secondly, psychology is considered a science now or a social science so i think having biology is ideal.
-i do psychology, biology and history and so far it isn’t too bad!
-just some other career ideas: a psychology degree is actually very transferrable to any workplace (e.g. marketing and advertising or anything in healthcare or criminal justice system)
-tbh a forensic psychologist is what i want to do but realistically it’s such a small niche so i would make sure to have backups (for me it’s clinical psychologist which is equally hard!).
hope this helps

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