Clinical and Community Psychology is all about learning from, and initiating positive change with, vulnerable and marginalised people and groups. The focus is not just on the individuals themselves, but on how factors in society have an impact on lives.

If you want to be out there in the real world, learning and researching and making a difference, this is the course for you.

You’ll practise what you are learning through partnerships or voluntary schemes within local community groups or the NHS.

You’ll widen your experience and learn new skills, such as evidence-based evaluations, report writing and making recommendations for practice.

In at least one of your modules you have the opportunity to undertake a professional piece of evidence-based research for a community partner – a service that the organisation would perhaps not otherwise have been able to afford.

This three-year, full-time degree course will give you a foundation in the theory of clinical and community psychology as well as hands-on experience. If you’re interested in working in the field of mental health, or in initiating sustainable change in vulnerable and marginalised communities, this is for you.

Unusually for an undergraduate psychology degree, you’ll be introduced to psychopathology and approaches to people in mental distress in your first year. You’ll study mental health problems such as anxiety, schizophrenia, eating disorders and bipolar disorder. There are also options to study the psychology of drug addiction and crime.

We’ll introduce you to community psychology with a critical edge that is political in the broadest sense. You’ll look at how issues such as poverty, opportunity, education, employment and housing impact on a person’s ability to negotiate the world.

From the moment you join us you’ll have opportunities to put theory into practice through placements within the local community, working within voluntary projects or the NHS.

You’ll also learn how to gather, analyse and write up evidence-based practice research, a vital skill in many fields of work.

We offer dual delivery which combines traditional on-campus face-to-face teaching and online teaching simultaneously, allowing you to interact as if you were there in person. You can move smoothly between online and on campus teaching subject to your individual timetable (and health requirements). Students can interact and collaborate in person and online in any of these live-streamed sessions.

Live-streamed sessions will also be recorded, so you can login when you want, playback and watch from the comfort of your home and whilst on the go. Lab, rehearsal and practical on campus sessions are scheduled in blocks with online options.

When not attending timetabled lectures you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and Moodle.

Students are supported with any academic or subject related queries by an Academic Advisor, module leaders, former and current UEL students.

If you need a bit of extra help with certain skills such as academic writing, maths or IT, our Skillzone and English for Academic Purposes we offer workshops, drop-in sessions and one-to-one appointments to help our students achieve their potential. You can receive advice and guidance on all aspects of the IT systems provided by the university from our IT Service Desks located on all three campuses.
Our Student Support hubs in Docklands and Stratford feature centralised helpdesks to cater for your every need. UEL provides also support and advice for disabled students and those with specific learning difficulties (SPDs).

Your overall workload consists of class and online tutor led sessions, individual learning, practical activities. The size of classes can vary depending on the nature of the course, module and activity. This can range from large groups in a lecture theatre setting, to smaller groups taking part in seminars and collaborative work. You will receive your personalised timetable at the beginning of the academic year dependent on your course.

Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.

To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally attracts on average 20 - 25 students a year. Lecture sizes are normally 15 plus students.

In the classroom you will be taught in smaller groups of students. However, this can vary by academic year.

We’ve designed this degree to give you a competitive edge when it comes to gaining a place on a postgraduate course. If you decide to go straight into work, the experience you’ll have gained from placements in clinical and community settings will maximise your job prospects too.

Your degree could be your first step towards becoming a clinical psychologist. It may also lead directly to other graduate employment opportunities within the NHS, public sector or charitable and voluntary sector organisations.

The placements and extracurricular opportunities open to you on this course mean you are more likely to have a chance of taking that next step towards your goal, whatever that may be.

And having a degree recognised by the British Psychology Society means an opening to careers in a wide range of other areas, such as sport and leisure, education, human resources, consumer research and advertising, and the media.