Edinburgh: Extraordinary futures await.
Undergraduate study - 2025 entry
Degree finder
Contact us

Subject area: Psychology

Why choose Psychology at the University of Edinburgh?

  • We consistently rank as one of the world's top 30 universities for psychology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024 and Complete University Guide 2022).

  • Our single honours Psychology degree and most of our joint degrees at Edinburgh are accredited by the British Psychological Society, allowing you to go on to further professional training.

  • You will have access to state-of-the-art facilities, including laboratories for:

    • cognitive neuroscience and developmental science
    • human movement
    • individual differences
    • general experimental psychology

  • Our programme focuses on developing skills in research methods and statistical analysis, including programming in R, to support our research-led teaching.

Study abroad

I chose to study Psychology not only because of the large variation of areas it covers but also because of the opportunities it offers post-degree. Psychology of Edinburgh complimented this choice. Not only that, but the data-analysis course provides a valuable opportunity to learn basic-level coding and transferrable skills.

India Sachdev MA Philosophy and Psychology student, Class of 2025
India Sachdev MA Philosophy and Psychology student, Class of 2025

Introducing Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, brain, and behaviour. It focuses on building and testing theories to explain how people interact with each other and the world around them.

Psychologists study:

  • how we perceive, think and learn about the world around us
  • the way biological and social factors influence how we behave
  • how interests and abilities differ from person to person
  • how we communicate verbally and non-verbally
  • how and why our mental abilities change across our lives

Psychology is an experimental and observational science. It uses evidence from research studies to develop and evaluate theories.

Our programme focuses on developing skills in research methods and statistical analysis using R programming. This supports our research-led teaching.

Chat to our student ambassadors

Chat with our students today about their experience in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences.

Hear about our vibrant student community in one of the world's most desirable places to live

Accreditation

The four-year BSc Psychology (C802) programme is accredited by the British Psychology Society, as are most of our psychology joint honours. Please contact us for further information regarding joint programmes.

This programme is accredited when you:

  • cover all of the core BPS areas:
    • Cognitive Psychology
    • Biological Psychology
    • Social Psychology
    • Developmental Psychology
    • Individual Differences
  • complete a dissertation in Year 4
  • achieve a 2.2 or above in your overall degree classification

Most students graduate with BPS accreditation. However, if you fail to meet the accreditation criteria, you will graduate with an alternative degree in Psychology.