Thinking of studying a psychology course? We unpack the degree requirements needed for both in-year and Clearing psychology courses at UK universities.
Updated: 22 Jan 2026
Psychology is the study of how and why people think and act in the way they do. During a psychology degree, you’ll explore a wide range of scientific methodology and theoretical ideas to gain insight into how factors such as biology, genetics and culture affect human thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
The minimum UCAS tariff points required to study psychology range from 96 points (CCC at A-level) to 136 points (AAB at A-level).
What A-levels do you need to be a psychologist?
For most universities, you’ll need to have studied at least one science or maths-based subject at A-level (this includes psychology, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, geography, economics, statistics and computing). Typically, general studies or critical thinking subjects are not accepted.
BTECs
You can be accepted onto most psychology degree courses with a BTEC qualification. You’ll need a DDM-DDD in a science-based subject for the top universities, though you could find a place elsewhere with as little as MMM.
GCSEs
You’ll also need to have good GCSE grades, with most universities requiring English, mathematics and science at grade C/4 or higher.
International Baccalaureate
Universities with slightly higher entry requirements will ask that you have a 6, 6, 6 at Higher Level. Some universities require a 6 in Higher Level maths, a science subject or both. A grade 5 in Standard Level English is often needed.
If your UCAS points total doesn’t meet the psychology degree entry requirements for your preferred course, then you could consider studying for a psychology degree integrated with a foundation year. Foundation years help prepare students without the necessary qualifications for degree-level learning in their chosen subject. Once you’ve completed the foundation year, you’ll go into year one of the degree programme.
Psychology degree entry requirements with an integrated foundation year range from 32 – 80 UCAS points. While courses with foundation years are much easier to get on to, they are more expensive. In most cases, the foundation year will be charged at the same rate as a year on the degree, adding to the overall cost of your education.
NEXT: How to become a psychologist
Our sister site, the Complete University Guide, publishes university league tables every year ranking UK unis nationally and in 70+ subject areas. Check out the latest rankings to see the best UK unis for psychology.
You can compare psychology courses easily using Whatuni. The first step is to use our Course Search tool to search for psychology courses, which will give you a list of all the ones available in the UK. To personalise your search, click ‘your grades’ and fill out your grades in the onscreen form.
You can then use the other filters to further personalise the results by the things that might be important to you. Once you’ve narrowed down the results, you can browse through them, clicking on the course name to see the full course information, including course outline, module choices, entry requirements, fee information and key course stats.
Here are some factors to consider when comparing psychology courses:
Not all psychology courses are created equal. Module choices can vary wildly between courses so make sure to check that the modules on offer interest you and fit in with the career path you want to take.
For example, City, University of London gives students the opportunity to specialise in one of four areas of psychology at the end of their second year. The University of Salford also gives you the opportunity to specialise to undertake a supervised research project of your own. Other universities may not offer so much flexibility, so it's worth checking.
One important factor to consider when comparing psychology courses is whether they are accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and provide you with Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) upon completion of the course. This is vital if you want to pursue a career as a registered clinical psychologist.
Some psychology degrees offer a professional placement year as part of their course, where you can gain experience working in a real-life clinical setting. This experience could help boost your chances of finding work after you’ve graduated.
You'll be able to see what psychology courses are available and compare them, using Whatuni’s Clearing tool when Clearing opens at the beginning of July. Some courses may even lower their entry requirements in Clearing.
Pre-register for Clearing in the meantime. You’ll receive regular advice leading up to Clearing, have access to Whatuni’s Clearing guide and be able to save and compare psychology courses once Clearing begins.
If you can’t find a psychology course that’s right for you in Clearing, don’t worry. There are alternative options available:
Apply for a joint honours courses: Joint honours courses give students the opportunity to study two subjects in equal measure. If you’ve got your heart set on a particular university, but can’t get a place on their psychology course, they might have a joint honours course with psychology included that you apply for instead. That way you can still study the subject you want, at the place you want to study it. The good news is that many joint honours courses are accredited by the BPS too.
Apply for Clearing courses in similar subjects: Courses in subjects such as youth studies, counselling, mental health and psychotherapy all cover some aspects of psychological theory and practice, so are worth looking at as alternatives. Many of these will not be BPS-accredited though, so think carefully about what you want to do post-graduation before making any decisions.
Study a psychology foundation degree: Not to be confused with a foundation year, a foundation degree is a standalone qualification (FdA or FdSc) equivalent to two-thirds of a bachelor’s (BA, BSc) degree. They usually take two years to complete and are more vocational in nature. The minimum UCAS points for psychology foundation degrees are usually a lot lower than a bachelor’s degree (48 points or EEE at A-level) and can be topped up into a full degree with further study at a later date.
Study a psychology HND/HNC: Higher National Diplomas (HNDs) and Higher National Certificates (HNCs) in psychology are similar to foundation degrees in that they are vocational-based courses worth one-third (HNC) or two-thirds (HND) of a full degree. They take less time to complete and have much lower entry requirements. They can also be topped up to a full degree with further study.
Note: Foundation, HNC and HND courses might not be BPS-accredited, so again, think carefully about what you want to do post-graduation before applying to these types of courses.
Take a gap year and resit your exams: If you have your heart set on a specific course, then consider taking a year out to study more and resit your exams either in autumn or next year. During your gap year you could even gain some relevant work experience to boost your UCAS application.
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