Drama and Psychology

You'll focus on the core areas of study for Drama and Psychology, enabling you to take on a variety of practical roles within Drama while also completing the components needed to gain BPS accreditation in Psychology.

Making is at the heart of your Drama studies: you’ll work as part of a theatre company with other students from the Drama degree to develop skills in playwriting, musical theatre, production and media, performance-making and applied theatre.

In your study of Psychology, you'll explore the five main psychological perspectives: biological, cognitive, developmental, individual differences and social. You'll learn how to use research methods to ask psychological questions, engage with the historical and conceptual underpinnings of the subject, and explore contemporary concepts and their application.

Year one
Build the foundations and develop the core knowledge and skills you’ll need in both strands of your course. You’ll explore the main areas of psychological science, with an introduction to research and data analysis skills. During your Drama modules, you’ll work with other students as part of a theatre ensemble, with opportunities to perform, direct and produce.

Year two
In your second year you’ll take on further depth and challenges. In your Psychology modules, you’ll take a closer look at biological, cognitive, developmental and social psychology, and advance your understanding of research design and analysis. In Drama, you’ll explore topics such as performance-making, applied theatre, playwriting, acting and directing, musical theatre and theatre production, with opportunities to work with students, specialist staff and visiting professionals and artists.

You can choose to take a professional placement year between your second and third years.

Year three
In your final year, real-world application of your skills becomes the focus of your study. In Drama, you’ll have the flexibility to choose optional modules in areas that are of particular interest to you, with an emphasis on collaboration, industry input, and creating work for a variety of audiences, including the general public. You’ll explore how Psychology is applied for the wider good but also used in business and enterprise for profit. Your consultancy project enables you to take what you’ve learned and apply it in a collaboration with an external organisation.

Assessment varies across the two subjects and includes essays, debates, research reports and projects, presentations and performance, playwriting and script analysis, and exams.

You'll be taught through a range of activities including lectures, workshops, group seminars and one-to-one tutorials, practical classes, rehearsals, work placements and theatre visits.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

Our Psychology students have access to corporate-sponsored internship and placement opportunities. These offer experience in areas such as marketing, multimedia and product design, filming and editing, business management, HR, customer services, research and analysis, project management and events.

For your Drama studies, you’ll benefit from visits from industry professionals. Previous visitors have covered a range of specialisms including: playwriting, directing, acting, television production, theatre in education, and children’s theatre. We also have partnerships with local venues, local schools and local community groups.

You'll also get the chance to take part in Dramafest – a festival of performance that's devised and run entirely by students. This event typifies our way of teaching, which is to enable you to experience a wealth of roles and approaches so that you can find your passions and choose to specialise in them if you wish. You'll create the material for Dramafest, then perform and produce it. You'll help to design and construct the sets, and have the opportunity to take on roles in stage management, publicity, and health and safety. You'll gain transferable skills such as project management, collaboration and teamwork, that you can use in a range of careers. You'll discover your strengths and define your own role within a project; an invaluable skill in the workplace.

This combined course will equip you with a huge variety of scientific, creative, collaborative, presentational and communication skills that are useful in many professional and vocational areas.

You’ll be well placed to take on roles in counselling, arts therapy and education, management and human resources (HR). You may choose to work with theatre and media companies. You could continue your education at Master’s and PhD level, or you may wish to complete a PGCE and begin a career in teaching.

The BPS accreditation of your Psychology studies means you can work towards becoming a professional psychologist.

At the end of the academic year, we award prizes to recognise achievements in academic success and reward effort and excellence. Prizes specific to Psychology are:

• The British Psychological Society Graduate Award
• Oxford University Press Prize for best dissertation.

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

Drama and Psychology is taught at our Newton Park campus. You'll have access to a wide range of excellent facilities including:

• Commons building
• Library
• Virtual Learning Environment.

Facilities used by Drama include:

• University Theatre
• University Theatre studios
• Ashton Drama studio
• Commons lecture and seminar rooms
• Michael Tippett Centre: auditorium / practice rooms
• Library
• TV Studios

Teaching resources for Psychology include EBSCO (online access to over 400 Psychology-related journals), statistical computer software for analysing quantitative data and NVivo for qualitative data analysis. We also have a biopsychology lab where we make use of "biopac" equipment (computerised biological measures such as EEG) for practicals and project work as well as other shared and dedicated laboratory spaces for research.

This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.

On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.