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Psychology Degree Distance Learning

Corey Said:

Psychology Degree - Is accreditation essential?

We Answered:

Hi Hayley,

The importance of accreditation depends on whether you wish to use your psychology degree to create a career as a psychologist or whether you just wish to use the knowledge in another line of work.

If you hope to become a psychologist then accreditation is essential. Psychologists are professionals who are governed by the BPS (like medical doctors are governed by the GMC) so any psychology qualifications you have must be accredited by them. However, it is not quite as simple as just having a BA or BSc psychology degree from an accredited course. You also need GBR or Graduate Basis for Registration with the BPS to be eligible to work as an assistant psychologist or to gain entry into postgraduate study. To be eligible for GBR you need the following:

A BA or BSc (honours) psychology degree which is accredited by the BPS.
An honours degree classification of 2.2 (lower second class) or higher. Students who graduate with a 3rd class honours degree are no longer eligible for GBR.

Once you have GBR you can begin applying for postgraduate study, which would usually be an MSc in Forensic Psychology if you wish to work with criminals. Places on postgrad courses can be competitive and so usually they require you to have at least a 2.1 (upper second class) honours degree plus some relevant work or research experience. You'll notice that the classification for entry to postgrad courses is higher than that for GBR so you really need to graduate with a 2.1 or better. The only level of psychologist you can work as without a postgrad qualification is assistant psychologist and again you need a 2.1. or higher plus relevant experience to get into these jobs. Unfortunately jobs and qualifications in psychology are all competitive! :-)

The Open University have a BSc (honours) psychology degree that is accredited by the BPS and gains you GBR if you graduate with a 2.2 or higher. I believe this is the only long distance undergraduate psychology degree in the UK that has professional accreditation. The postgraduate MSc that you need to become a forensic psychologist also needs to be BPS accredited. The O.U now has a Forensic Psychology MSc but it is NOT yet accredited. You will probably have to attend a 'brick' University for this although some Uni's run accredited courses part time and may also do distance learing MSc's.

Although no accreditation is needed for going into another type of career it's probably best to do a degree that gives you GBR if you graduate with a 2.2. or better. At least then the option is always there for you to train as a psychologist if the opportunity arises.

Hope this gives you all the info you need! Good luck :-)

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