Students in a psychology taster

BPS Approved Accreditation Report

The University of Buckingham’s School of Psychology is proud to be accredited by the British Psychological Society for our undergraduate courses.

Read the full November 2023 report, or see highlights of the report below.

Good Practice

From this accreditation visit, areas of good practice include:

  • The programme team is recognised for the quantity of practical work that is embedded across the curriculum, preparing students for undertaking their own research.
  • The programme team is praised for embedding innovative assessments within the programme, allowing students opportunities to demonstrate a variety of skills and knowledge.
  • The team is recognised for the programme’s structure, which ensures that it meets the core GBC curriculum standard, as well as the inclusion of conceptual and historical issues in psychology (CHiP) as a standalone module.
  • The programme team is praised for providing students with high-quality assessment feedback to support academic progression, including detailed formative feedback and being able to obtain tailored feedback.
  • The programme team is praised for providing students with additional support mechanisms such as a careers team, ASK team, wellbeing team, and personal tutors. Students expressed their appreciation for the additional support mechanisms, and emphasised how well departments collaborated.
  • The team is recognised for embedding research ethics across the whole programme in order

Commendations

Small-group style teaching

The programme team is commended for their distinct small group teaching style in the form of tutorials, in which students are taught in groups of seven or fewer every week, on every module. This high-quality contact time creates a high sense of community and builds relationships in a supportive environment between students and the programme team.

During the student meeting, it was evident how much they valued the small tutorials since this allows for group discussions that helps develops students’ knowledge, understanding and skills as they progress through the degree. The programme team is also commended for providing outstanding support to their cohorts.

During the discussion with the students, it became clear how accommodating, accessible and approachable all the staff are, which resulted in the fostering of a sense of community among staff and students, with the student experience at the centre of the provision. This is essential for student development since having a working connection with staff will help to establish a positive learning environment and engagement. (Programme standards: 1 & 5)

Employability and skills

The visiting team commends the School of Psychology for embedding employability and transferable skills throughout the curriculum for their students. Throughout the discussion with students, it became clear how much they valued the experience of developing applied skills and knowledge, as well as receiving a range of employability skills.

Several students emphasised how the Professional Development Portfolio (PDP) enabled them to reflect on their development, as well as build and document their skills in view of their career aspirations and planned future steps. During the student meeting, it was clear how much they valued the reflective approach that they take in completing their PDP, which aligns with embedded careers and employability content, meaning that students are able recognise the value of transferable skills in direct relation to their future.

The programme is also recognised for a wide range of optional modules across the provision, allowing students to further develop their autonomy and tailor their degree to their interests or career aspirations. Furthermore, it was evident that students valued the skills for psychologist modules, particularly guest lecturers who informed students about the range of career options in psychology.

Several students also commended the psychology mentoring programme, emphasising how much they enjoyed the opportunity to gain valuable experience of networking with a professional psychologist. The visiting team was impressed with the way in which the students were able to confidently articulate the skills they have developed throughout their programme and how these are valuable to them and from the perspective of an employer.

During the discussion with the programme team and senior management team, it was evident that a great deal of thought and work had gone into the programme to ensure that students have a variety of opportunities to complete tasks and activities which will assist students in developing a range of transferable, applied, and reflective skills, which will assist students in preparing for future training or jobs. The embedding of transferable and employability skills in the programme will allow the programme team to develop psychologists who are fit for purpose for the future and will aid in providing a learning experience that meets students’ needs in the future, particularly for students who progress to accredited postgraduate programmes. (Programme standard: 5.3)