BTEC with a psychology interest

Psychology is about 'people' - so any work experience of working or volunteering that involves direct contact with the public is valuable. Ask abut opportunities in local care-home, primary schools, hospitals etc, or just get any sort of customer service job like retail/hospitality etc.
Clinical Psychology involves years of study and its a very competitive field. There are hundreds of other roles that include Psych as an aspect of the job - everything from Marketing and Retail Management to the Prison Service or Child Welfare.

I'm 17 doing Level 3 btec health and social care and interested in being a clinical psychologist but I'm unsure where to start so I can gain knowledge and experience about psychology in general. I've been on linked in but I have not seen many opportunities for psychology.

I'm 17 doing Level 3 btec health and social care and interested in being a clinical psychologist but I'm unsure where to start so I can gain knowledge and experience about psychology in general. I've been on linked in but I have not seen many opportunities for psychology.

Newtothis07
AS already mentioned, Clinical Psychology is a competitive area and the best route to get you started is to visit the BPS website and start looking into university options. At The University of Buckingham we offer 2-year degrees, helping our students to quickly move on to work experience or further study related to their area of interest. Many of our students apply with BTEC Health and Social Care and we find that this course is a great preparation for the BPS accredited degree we offer Psychology Degrees | University of Buckingham
If you'd like to visit, we have an Open day on 28th June. Book a place Open Day June 2025 | The University of Buckingham so you can start to weigh up what you want from your university.
Hope to see you there
Annie

Hi there! 😊
I really recommend checking out the British Psychological Society (BPS) website, linked here. The BPS are the representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK and responsible for lots of important areas in the psychology world such as ethical practices, standards, research, knowledge, education, etc. They're also who you want your psychology degree to be accredited by if you choose to study one. Have a good explore of their page, and I recommend checking their 'Career options in psychology' page out - linked here - for more detailed info on career paths, such as becoming a clinical psychologist.
Your next steps after your BTEC would be studying a university degree, so I recommend having a look at universities which offer BPS accredited psychology degrees (like I mentioned above) and seeing what you would need to achieve to meet the entry requirements. UCAS is a great place to search so have a look on there, and start looking through the course pages for different universities and see if the course content interests you.
Visiting some open days can be a great way to find out more information about the subject, chat to staff and students and ask any questions so definitely check this out, I know they really helped me and they're usually good fun, particularly in the Summer season ☀️ Our next one is on the 14th June, and there will be plenty coming up at other universities so look out for these on their websites!
I'm going to link a feed from about a month ago too which discusses clinical psychology and work experience, I've replied on there as well with some suggestions 😁 see >> this link.
Hopefully this gives you a good starting point. Enjoy! ☺️
Becky
University of Salford Student Rep

Thank you ! I didn’t know about the BPS I’ll be looking into it more and definitely checking out this university !!