These subjects enable you to study the social and psychological processes that impact children’s lives today. You’ll engage with a broad range of topics relevant to 21st century childhood and youth and investigate behaviour and the biological, social and individual factors that affect human psychology. This can lead to a wide range of careers including teaching, social work, counselling and law where you’ll make a real difference to the lives of young people.

The fields of Childhood and Youth Studies and Psychology complement each other naturally. They support a combined approach to understanding the development of children and young people from biological and psychological perspectives, whilst encouraging an understanding of these elements within areas that affect the lives of children and young people most, such as their education, their interaction with peers and adults, and their wellbeing. This course allows you to study Psychology as part of a joint honours degree (50% Psychology, 50% Childhood Studies and Youth).

The Psychology part of the degree covers the investigation of behaviour from infancy to old age, and deals with the biological, social and individual factors that affect human psychology taught by psychology academics with renowned expertise in their fields. For the Childhood and Youth part of the course, you’ll follow innovative topics led by experienced education staff to develop your understanding of the history of childhood, children’s rights, the nature of childhood and the role of adults working with children in a national, European and international context. You’ll engage in academic study in the fields of psychology, sociology, social policy, education, health and welfare relating to children’s lives.

Why choose Bangor for this course?

• 100% Student Satisfaction (Childhood & Youth Studies - NSS 2020).
• 96% Student Satisfaction (Psychology - NSS 2020).
• Work placements to develop your understanding of children’s needs and development.
• Professional and academic expertise across a diverse range of areas such as children’s rights, family law, bilingualism, education, social care, mental health, literacy, additional learning needs and inclusion.

On this course you will study 50% Childhood and Youth Studies and 50% Psychology.

The choices of modules in each discipline complement each other, giving students the option to support specific areas of study by examining children’s development from biological and psychological perspectives and reinforcing these by placing within social and educational contexts. Students study a choice of modules that reflects a balance from each discipline. Combined study of these modules will allow students to develop a pathway into fields related to child-centred psychology, care provision for young people and education.

Study is supported by numerous opportunities to conduct research into fields that are guided by the course areas. This allows freedom for students to develop their interests in specific fields of psychology and to apply to, and combine with, issues that affect children and young people within their own spaces.

You’ll learn through a mixture of lectures, seminars, use of digital resources and practical workshops. Lectures and seminars make creative use of a variety of different digital resources and media in order to help you plan, record and to support your progress. An integral element of the programme is the range of guest speakers and educational visits that enrich and reinforce your learning.

Many of our modules are offered both through the medium of Welsh and English. Students can choose to have a Welsh speaking personal Tutor and complete assignments through the medium of Welsh. The assessments vary from module to module and range from essays, presentations and film making to MCQ tests and exams.

Your Research

Research is an important aspect of this course. As part of your Research Methods modules, you’ll be taking part in practical sessions where you’ll learn how to design studies, run your own experiments, gather and analyse data and report your findings. These skills will give you a firm foundation ready for year 3 when you’ll conduct your own research.

Modules for the current academic year

Module listings are for guide purposes only and are subject to change. Find out what our students are currently studying on the Childhood and Youth Studies and Psychology Modules page.

Course content is for guidance purposes only and may be subject to change.

• Workshops on issues as diverse as children’s literacy, children and technology and children’s rights supported by specialists in the fields.
• Use of digital media and resources to teach, to support research, to help record progress and to share work.
• Involvement with meetings and conferences on a range of issues relating to the course, including children’s voices and the role of childhood and youth within decision-making processes.
• Regular guest presentations by specialists in the field in areas related to the different Childhood and Youth pathways.
• Educational visits to the local area, to places of national significance and, in some cases, to international locations.
• Opportunities to work alongside employers and service providers in fields relating to childhood and youth, including education, care services and agencies that support provision for young people.
• Regular contact and support with institutions which are important to the field, including schools, social care organisations, children’s rights organisations. Maintenance of contact with these institutions to help develop ideas and pathways linked to individuals’ career aspirations.
• The psychology department at Bangor is one of the oldest and largest in the UK with an excellent reputation for teaching and research and a wide range of specialist research laboratories including MRI, ERP, TMS & eye tracking.

The multi-disciplinary approach of the Childhood and Youth and Psychology degree offers a broad range of career choices in education and allied professions in the public and private sector, including health, social care, youth and community work. Alternately, some students continue their studies on a Masters programme or apply for a place on a PGCE Primary course.

The combined Childhood and Youth and Psychology course appeals to a very broad range of future employment opportunities within fields related to supporting and working with children and young people. The ability of graduates from these combined disciplines to understand children’s development and to locate and apply this knowledge within the context of roles and institutions that support children and young people, is highly sought after by employers in the field, and is essential in supporting careers in education, child-centred psychology and care services for young people.

Our degree in Childhood and Youth Studies allows you to engage with issues relevant to 21st century childhood and youth. Our rich learning environment is a unique trait of the course, and gives you the opportunity to study childhood and youth from multiple perspectives.