Curious about studying Psychology and Child Development (with Placement Year) - BSc (Hons)at University of Staffordshire? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Stoke-on-Trent Campus
Full Time
Sep 2026
4 Year
Want a career where you help to make a difference to children’s lives? Our Psychology and Child Development degree is an ideal springboard for working with young people in education, clinical psychology settings or the caring professions. Discover how psychology shapes who we are and what influences the way children behave and mature. From how pupils learn to read most effectively through to how neurodivergent children experience the world, you’ll explore the answers to key questions. With a focus on applying your knowledge to real life scenarios, and using an evidence-informed approach, you’ll become an expert in understanding children and their wellbeing. You can also choose to undertake a placement year, where you will gain invaluable experience for future employment. The breadth of the course means you keep your options open at the same time as developing a specialist area of interest. This will help guide your final year project, where you will delve into a research question. Module options also include completing a research assistantship, where you could work on live research with our academic experts. You’ll have access to our fantastic Science Centre facilities, including cognitive research cubicles, psychophysiology equipment and simulation machines. And in our children’s lab, discover the work we do with volunteer families on research projects. These resources are also taken out into the community. Topics have included exploring the impact of TV screen time on children’s behaviour, assessing creativity, and the role of psychology in preventing young children from suffering dog bites. On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BSc (Hons) Psychology and Child Development
In this core module you will be introduced to two key approaches within psychology: Developmental Psychology and Social Psychology. Over the course of the module, you will develop an understanding of the main issues and topics explored by both areas of psychology. You will learn about their contextual and historical influences, and gain experience using experiment and survey design tools within developmental and social psychology. This module will also give you the opportunity to gain insights on how these perspectives can be used to understand and evaluate real-life issues and questions.
Are you ready for an adventure through concepts, principles and classic theories that inform some of the core areas in modern psychology? In this core module you will be introduced to some of the key psychological perspectives and consider how they can be applied to everyday life. You will be introduced to biological psychology, cognitive psychology and individual difference as part of this introductory module.
How do psychologists come up with, and test, their ideas? This module introduces you to some of the quantitative (numbers-based) methods we use to conduct research. You will learn, through extensive practical experience, how to: decide on research questions and hypotheses; plan research studies; use software to collect and analyse data; and write up your findings in an academic report. You will also learn about some of the past and current debates surrounding psychological research, and engage in discussions about how to conduct research ethically and professionally.
This module will introduce you to the theory underpinning qualitative research approaches and the design of qualitative research projects. You will explore a range of qualitative research designs and methods of data collection and how these can be applied to addressing research questions, while acknowledging relevant ethical considerations.
The module will introduce you to aspects of development and change over the life-span. You will explore key developmental stages for example infancy and adolescence and will consider some of the issues that arise from current psychological research in this field. Teaching sessions will focus on cognitive and social development in childhood, adulthood and old age. You will be introduced to appropriate methodologies in psychology across the lifespan.
This module will consider how psychology is used in practice and how psychology can help people. Key major theoretical approaches within psychology will be identified, and their role in a variety of applied settings will be discussed. The module also aims to describe some main processes involved in using psychological interventions in a variety of settings and consider related methodological and ethical issues. You will be required to investigate the major areas of applied psychology, for example* clinical, forensic, criminological, educational, counselling, occupational, health psychology and sport and exercise psychology, as well as teaching, research and other postgraduate work within psychology (*topics may change annually to reflect the debates at the forefront of the discipline).
This module will be the start of your PDP and career planning process as you proceed through your degree and it will act as one of the main support mechanisms in Level 4. Personal development sessions will start by helping you assess your current skills, identify skills for further development and track your development throughout your academic journey. You will also learn academic skills such as referencing, reflection, avoiding academic misconduct and structuring your writing. Your skills analysis will then be used to enable you to plan future careers/life plan pathways that fit your skills set and interests.
Now that you are at level 5 we are going to tell you how challenging it is to really understand what influences the way a child develops! In this module you will learn about some key theories and methodologies that try and explain the multiple and bidirectional influences (e.g., family, school, media, culture) on a child?s development. You will learn that no research study is perfect, but that by using different approaches we can gain vital insight into how children and young people?s development can be supported. This module will also bring you the opportunity to design your own developmental psychology research.
The module takes a life-span perspective covering a range of typical and atypical developments from prenatal to ageing. You will learn about cognitive, emotional and socially typical and atypical development. Special attention will be given to the biological underpinnings of development including sensation and perception, learning and memory, and neurotypical and atypical development.
How do psychologists explore how people differ? How can we analyse and understand patterns of behaviour? This module will continue to advance students' knowledge of quantitative research methods in psychology as well as build knowledge and experience in applying these to topics within the area of the psychology of individual differences.
This module will continue your personal development planning (PDP) and career planning process and it will act as one of the main support mechanisms in Level 5. You will receive support from your tutor and the University careers team to put your action plan into place by engaging in a real-world experience such as a volunteering, or short course engagement tutor approved personal development opportunity. You will continue to work on your three identified life/career plans by pinpointing gaps in your knowledge/skills and preparing an action plan to achieve these. By the end of this module, you will be able to reflect on your 3 life plans and be able to assess your next steps.
This module will introduce you to the theoretical underpinnings of qualitative research approaches and provide you with experience of conducting and analysing qualitative research.
Placement year
The module will provide opportunities for you to extend and critically applyrelevant knowledge and theory gained in earlier childhood developmentmodules. Class sessions will consider the ways in which the researchenvironment can influence interactions with children, and you will explore andcritically evaluate some of the ethical issues/dilemmas, controversies anddifficulties raised when attempting to apply psychological models andparadigms of child development to real situations.This module aims to fully develop your in depth knowledge of the keyprinciples, ways of thinking, and controversies in the study of childdevelopment.
This module takes a life-span perspective covering a range of typical and atypical developments (e.g., physical, biological, cognitive, social, emotional, health and clinical) within the following periods of development : pre-natal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and older people. Each lecture will consider atypical variants to typical patterns, with exception of childhood onset disorders that will focus on the atypical. Furthermore, historical and conceptual issues relating to development will be addressed.
This module provides you with the opportunity to conduct, under supervision, independent psychological research in one of a broad range of areas.
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