BSc in Psychology (Sport Health and Exercise)

at Brunel University London

The combination of psychology and sport creates an interesting and diverse study program. You will learn about core psychology theories and methodologies. This knowledge will complement your understanding in specialist areas specific to sport such as health and wellbeing or the effect of hormones and drugs on the brain.
This course can be studied 3 years full-time or 4 years full-time with placement, starting in September.
Year 1
Compulsory

• PY1703 - Employability in Psychology
• To provide a grounding in employability skills and to increase understanding of career options for psychology graduates. This is done via the development of self-reflective skills; by building confidence in presenting and discussing academic and transferable skills; and by creating a CV, cover letter and being interview ready. This is achieved through the delivery of a variety of lectures and interactive seminar
• PY1607 - Foundations of Psychology III: Brain and Cognition
• This module provides a grounding in cognitive and biological psychology.
• PY1606 - Foundations of Psychology I: Learning and Social Psychology
• This module illustrates, from a historical perspective, how science works in learning and social psychology
• SP1600 - Introduction to the Psychology of Sport and Exercise
• This module aims to equip students with a preliminary understanding of key psychological concepts in relation to sport and exercise contexts; including how factors such as anxiety, motivation, and confidence impact sports performance. During laboratory-based sessions, students are encouraged to analyse, evaluate, create and apply knowledge to hypothetical and/or real-world scenarios.
• PY1700 - Research Methods
• This module introduces students to research, research methods and how to interpret the results
• PY1701 - Statistics
• This module aims to introduce the use of statistical tests in quantitative psychology experiments. Students learn general study skills to conduct high-quality analysis and presentation of quantitative data in psychological research.
  Year 2
  Compulsory
• PY2705 - Advanced Data Analysis
• This module aims to provide a theoretical and practical understanding of multivariate study design and data analysis, and to familiarise students with the use of statistical software for multivariate data analysis.
• PY2704 - Biological Psychology
• This module builds on foundations obtained in previous courses in the degree and further develop students' knowledge and critical understanding of biological psychology.
• PY2701 - Cognitive Psychology
• This module aims to introduce students to: the different modes of human cognition (perceiving, imagining, reasoning, remembering, and language), to the main techniques used to study cognition, to the main empirical results in cognitive psychology, and to the main theories of cognition including historically important theories.
• PY2602 - Developmental Psychology
• This module examines key questions in developmental psychology and evaluates methodological approaches to study human development. The module provides the core requirements for BPS accreditation with regard to developmental psychology.
• SP2720 - Developing Research Methods and Data Analysis Skills
• The aim of this study block is to develop students’ understanding of the nature of different research models as well as their quantitative and qualitative research skills. Students will have the opportunity to formulate research questions and determine appropriate methods that are related to their final-year project.
• SP2603 - Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing in the Life Course
• This module aims to develop students’ ability to examine and apply selected theories and concepts of physical activity for health and wellbeing in the life course. Students will also discover and understand the multidisciplinary nature of physical activity, health and wellbeing.
• SP2606 - The Psychology of Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity: Theory and Application
• This module supports students to synthesise and critically evaluate contemporary sport and exercise psychology research. Topics covered include individual differences, exercise and cognitive function, decision-making and attention. Students also have the opportunity to showcase their own research project, for which they collect data as part of a team.
• PY2606 - Qualitative Research Methods
• This module aims to introduce students to qualitative research methods, and to promote a critical understanding of the underpinnings of qualitative research. It aims to introduce students to qualitative data sources, methods for collecting qualitative data, and qualitative data analysis methods.
• PY2700 - Quantitative Research Methods
• This module aims to expand upon students' knowledge of the quantitative methods used by psychologists and the means by which quantitative data is analysed, to promote critical understanding of different approaches to the conduct of empirical research, and to provide an opportunity for creative work involving the use of experimental procedures, problem solving and teamwork.
  Year 3
  Compulsory
• SP3600 - Advanced Research Methods and Data Analysis: Final Year Project
• Students will carry out an individual, original piece of academic work within an area of personal interest in a particular topic within the context of sport, health and exercise sciences. Students can choose their own approach to the project, which is most suited to their skills, interests and subject focus.
• PY3703 - Advanced Issues in Individual Differences
• This module provides an introduction to theories and research in the field of personality and intelligence testing including synthesis of historical and contemporary perspectives.
• PY3702 - Advanced Issues in Social Psychology
• This module provides an introduction to theories and research in the fields of social psychology. Students will be provided with a historical and conceptual development of social psychology.
• SP3606 - Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology
• The aim of this module is to familiarise students with contemporary topics in applied sport and exercise psychology (e.g. imagery, anxiety and performance and exercise as a mental health intervention), as well as encouraging deep thinking about the links between research and applied practice. The content covers relevant concepts, theories and research to derive applied interventions.
• SP3604 - Issues in Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing
• The aim of this module is to select, critically analyse and apply interdisciplinary knowledge and methods to understanding physical activity, health and wellbeing. The module encourages students to engage in detailed critical analysis of current policy research and practice in the field of physical activity, health and wellbeing.
• SP3607 - The Psychology of Physical Activity for Health
• This module teaches you to identify research that is relevant for practitioners seeking to promote physical activity behaviour change, assess the viability of multiple theories/approaches that might be applicable to behaviour change in a target population and retrieve and utilise online information rapidly and systematically.
  Optional
• PY3610 - Animal Behaviour
• This module aims to examine how evolutionary theory, and an adaptationist perspective, can be used to help understand the behaviour of animals, to review theoretical perspectives and research findings in behavioural ecology, and to demonstrate how advances in behavioural ecology have depended on a combination of theoretical developments, controlled experiments and field studies.
• PY3607 - Cross-Cultural Psychology
• This module aims to examine the ways that culture is defined and measured by cross-cultural psychologists, to explore the dominant theoretical paradigms in the field and contextualize cross-cultural psychology within other disciplines: sociology, anthropology, cultural psychology, evolutionary psychology, and to examine cultural variation in psychological phenomena such as cognition, emotion, motivation, the self-concept, relationships, and prosocial and antisocial behaviour.
• PY3614 - Disorders of Perception and Movement Control
• This module aims to critically evaluate theories relating to spatial perception, mechanisms underlying the control of movement and memory processes that are associated with them. The module draws upon experimental research and cognitive disorders that affect these processes (esp. stroke and Parkinson’s disease).
• PY3618 - Drugs, Hormones and the Brain
• This module aims to study the principles of neurotransmission, synaptic physiology and plasticity, to survey findings in psychopharmacology on the neurochemical basis of psychological disorders, pharmacological approaches to treatment, and mechanisms of action for recreational drugs or drugs of abuse, and to survey findings in behavioural endocrinology on relationships between hormones and behaviour.
• PY3617 - Evolutionary Psychology
• This module aims to teach about the developments in the history of biology and psychology that led to the development of evolutionary psychology, to survey evolutionary psychologists’ findings about how humans are adapted to solve adaptive problems in diverse domains such as cooperation, aggression, mating, parenting, and survival, and to provide students with the ability to critically evaluate the ways in which evolutionary psychology is different from and similar to other human sciences.
• PY3621 - Forensic Psychology
• This module provides a general introduction to theories and research in the field of forensic psychology. Students will explore the interaction between mental health disorders and crime.
• PY3615 - Human Sexual Diversity
• The overall goal of this module is for students to acquire a working knowledge of and appreciation for the scientific study of human sexuality. Students will learn to consider multiple explanatory perspectives on sexual and gendered diversity and will come to appreciate the difficulty and importance of discussing controversial sexual topics with sensitivity and respect. Topics of special interest in this course include varieties of sexual orientation, genderedness, intersexuality, transsexuality, paraphilias, and reproductive strategies.
• PY3623 - Mindfulness: Neuroscience and Clinical Applications
• The main aims of this module is to understand mindfulness experientially; examine the concept of mindfulness, its historic roots in Buddhist contemplative traditions, and its ‘translation’ into scientific, clinical, and secular settings; to provide a state-of-the-art understanding of the effects of mindfulness practice on neural dynamics, brain structure, psychophysiology, hormones, and (epi)genetics; provide a theoretical and evidence-based understanding of the mechanisms of mindfulness as an emotion regulation strategy; apply the understanding of the neurobiological and emotion regulation effects of mindfulness to explaining the mechanisms of its trans-diagnostic clinical efficacy; explore broader applications of mindfulness for enhancing cognitive performance, mental health and well-being.
• PY3612 - Personality and Close Relationships
• This module aims to provide a general introduction to the field of relationship science, to provide detailed coverage of interdependence theory (including, but not limited to, the exit-voice-loyalty-neglect typology and related research), to provide detailed coverage of attachment theory (including, but not limited to, attachment style typologies and related research), and to provide detailed coverage of interpersonal theory (including interpersonal circumplex models and related research).
• PY3601 - Practical Investigations of Mind and Brain
• This module aims to review the key techniques for studying the relationship between the brain and the mind, or in other words, between the physical world (i.e. neuronal brain events) and the phenomenal world (i.e. perceptual, subjective, experiences), and to provide a practical introduction to the implementation of psychophysical and neuroimaging approaches in psychology research.
• PY3616 - Psychoanalytic Psychology
• This module aims to introduce students to the basic principles of psychoanalytic theory and practice, to describe, explain and evaluate key psychoanalytic concepts, to describe, explain and illustrate the components of clinical psychoanalytic practice, and to stimulate a critical understanding of the importance of psychoanalysis for the human and social sciences.
• PY3613 - Psychology of Reading and its Impairments
• This module aims to critically evaluate theories relating to typical and atypical reading acquisition, normal and impaired reading processes in adults. The module draws upon cognitive, neuropsychological and neuroscientific experimental research and cognitive disorders that affect these reading processes (e.g., developmental dyslexia/poor comprehender, acquired dyslexia/alexia).
• PY3619 - Psychology of Religion
• This module examines the cognitive and cultural origins of religious belief. Students will examine cultural evolutionary theories of religion and their relationship to psychology. The module surveys the functions of religions in society and why different societies have different beliefs.
• PY3622 - Psychology of Social Media
• The module will examine various topics related to the psychology of social media. The widespread diffusion and usage of social media generated enormous scrutiny, and alarmistic messages often circulate in the media. Social media use and human-computer interaction have increased exponentially, impacting identity, behaviour, and emotion on both individual and group levels. Given the importance of the topic, the block will provide the students with the tools and the knowledge to critically evaluate the psychology of social media, and their impact on the society at large. In particular, the module will examine (i) how large scale “cultural” phenomena, such as the spread of online misinformation, or the increase in emotional and political polarisation, can be related to the diffusion of social media; (ii) how the usage of social media impacts on mental health; (iii) how the usage of social media shapes identity; (iv) how social media contexts impact group processes and behaviour; and (v) how engagement with social media is shaped by culture. This modular block will adopt psychological theories to explore the ways that humans use and engage with digital spaces and computers.

English language requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 5.5 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 63% (min 55% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min R18, L17, S20, W17)  

2022/23 entry
UK
£9,250 full-time
£1,385 placement year
International
£18,410 full-time
£1,385 placement year
Fees quoted are per year and may be subject to an annual increase. Home undergraduate student fees are regulated and are currently capped at £9,250 per year; any changes will be subject to changes in government policy. International fees will increase annually, by no more than 5% or RPI (Retail Price Index), whichever is the greater.
Fees for EU applicants – For entry in 2022/23 academic year, eligible EU applicants will have the same tuition fees as UK students to continue our support during this transition period. These fees will be applied for the duration of the course.

With a 2:2 grade or higher you’ll be eligible to apply for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS). This is a prerequisite for many BPS accredited postgraduate training courses. It is also required for entry to all accredited Stage 2 Doctoral programmes as part of the route to becoming a Chartered Psychologist. So this course could be your next step on the way to becoming a psychologist, be it in sport and exercise or in other fields.
You’ll also have the skills and expertise for a wide range of other careers. For instance you may wish to become a university lecturer, a consultant in elite sport or maybe lead a national sport psychology service for an organisation such as the English Institute of Sport. Perhaps you would prefer to work for the local authority, driving sport development policies or helping to deliver corporate healthcare solutions for organisations such as Nuffield Health. With a Psychology (Sport, Health and Exercise) BSc your options are many and varied.