NCI Course Details

Working with our dedicated and experienced psychology faculty you will gain a solid grounding in all the core areas of psychology including cognitive psychology, personality and individual differences, lifespan development, social psychology, research methods and biological psychology, as well as specialised topics such as workplace psychology and, cyber-psychology. 

You will cover all the major theoretical perspectives, like the theories of Freud, Jung and Pavlov, and will be encouraged to apply these theories to the world around you through an interesting range of projects and assignments. Studying psychology will take you through some of the darker and the dazzling aspects of the human condition. This degree will give you an excellent broad knowledge in psychology and the ability to later specialise in the areas you most enjoy.

As a graduate of this course you will:

• Understand the principles of psychology and gain a broad understanding of human behaviour.
• Learn how to critically analyse problems and how to conduct scientific research.
• Apply your knowledge of psychology to the workplace, the community and society.

If you have an interest in human behaviour and wish to open up a range of careers, then this course will be tremendously rewarding and valuable.

Year 1

• Applied Introduction and History of Psychology
• Introduction to Research Methods
• Social Psychology
• Lifespan Development
• Cognitive Psychology
• Introduction to Statistics

Year 2

• Personality and Intelligence
• Biological Bases of Behaviour
• Applied Statistics
• Coaching Psychology
• Psychology of Learning and Behaviour Analysis
• Applied Research Methods
• Psychology Labs

Year 3

• Final Project
• Health Psychology
• Abnormal Psychology
• Plus four electives

For information on electives, please download the BA (Honours) in Psychology brochure.

For information on the modules taught on this course view our module descriptors.

This undergraduate course is a three-year honours degree. The course is run over six semesters with continuous assessment held throughout the course and examinations at the end of each semester.

Students complete research projects in their final year of study. These research projects will be considered for submission to the Psychology Society of Ireland Annual Student Congress. In 2020, an NCI psychology student was awarded the prize for ‘Best Research Project’ in the undergraduate category at this prestigious and highly competitive national event.

In each year of the degree, any student with an overall average of 70+ will win a Dean's Award.

On completion, you will receive a QQI BA (Honours) Degree in Psychology at level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications.

The degree is accredited by the Psychological Society of Ireland and therefore allows graduates to complete further graduate training within psychology in areas including:

• Clinical psychology
• Organisational psychology
• Forensic psychology
• Counselling psychology

Completion of the degree will also facilitate graduates in entering many other professions including human resources, recruitment, management, consultancy and marketing.

Upon successful completion of the BA (Honours) in Psychology, graduates who have acquired the appropriate entry requirements can progress to postgraduate programmes at level 9 on the National Framework of Qualifications such as the MA in HRM at National College of Ireland, as well as clinical, educational, occupational and counselling psychology at other venues.

The course will appeal to students who have a curiosity about the human mind and who wish to work in a variety of related fields. The course is for school leavers, mature students and graduates of QQI level 5/6 programmes who wish to embark on a course of full-time study.

Minimum entry requirements are a grade H5 and above in two higher level subjects together with a minimum of O6/H7 in four other subjects. A minimum of grade O6/H7 must be obtained in English. A grade O6/H7 must be obtained in Mathematics.

For applicants whose first language is not English, please note the English language entry requirements.

Mature applicants, applicants with a disability or those applying through the DARE or HEAR access schemes can find out more information on the application process.

Please note that exams can be scheduled during the morning, afternoon or evening Monday to Saturday.

NCI strongly advises that all students should have access to a suitable laptop for their course. A student Laptop Loan Scheme may be available for certain eligible students.

The College recommends the following laptop requirements for students joining this course:

Processor:

Intel 7th (or higher) generation processors (Core i-3, i-5, i-7,i-9-7x)
or AMD Ryzen 3rd generation processors, running at 2.0GHz and above (Intel Atom/Celeron or AMD Athlon/Sempron Processors may cost less, but may not meet your requirements)

Random Access Memory (RAM):
8 GB minimum

Solid State Drive (SSD) Capacity:
256 GB minimum

Wireless Card:
802.11 a/b/g/n compliant with Bluetooth Capability (incompatibilities have been noted with the Qualcomm Atheros Wireless Adapters and software device drivers)

Graphics Card:
Direct X9 or later

Supported Operating Systems:
Windows 10 Home/Pro

The points for this course in 2022 were 400.
The CAO course code is NC010.

Students must obtain a minimum of 3 distinctions and a full award and meet the CAO points requirements to apply for this Level 8 course. 

Visit our QQI Applicants page for further information.

Did you know you can apply for a Sports Scholarship at NCI?

Watch this video to hear from our current sports scholars Stephen Achukwu (basketball) and Adam Leonard (football):

The fee for this course is €6,250 per annum payable by the student (fees revised annually). Students on this course may qualify for the Student Grant Scheme.

The fee for this course for international students is €10,000 per year.

Find out more about studying here as an international student.