Gaining psychology experience before applying to university not only enhances your application but it can also help you gain a deeper insight into the subject before you choose to dedicate three or more years to studying it.
It is infamously difficult to get direct psychology experience before your degree, as fields are often protected until you have the right qualifications. That said, there are still a number of ways to get some valuable experience, and although they may not all be directly related to the subject, they can still help you gain vital skills for a psychology degree and career.
Direct Psychology Work Experience
1. Shadowing
This involves observing a professional psychologist or other psychology professional in order to gain a better understanding of their role.
While this is a more passive form of gaining experience, it can be a really great first step and give you a better understanding of what a particular role is really like. This type of experience is rarely advertised, but being proactive and approaching individuals or organisations you’re interested in can help you secure a hidden opportunity.
If you’re interested in more clinical aspects of psychology, the NHS does offer some work shadowing opportunities. Browse the NHS foundation trusts in your area for opportunities local to you.
2. Virtual experiences & events
There’s been a great global shift towards virtual experiences and events since the COVID-19 pandemic, which is actually quite useful in making psychology experience a bit more accessible. This can include:
- Online webinars. For example, hosted by the Royal Court of Psychiatrists or live-streamed by the Experimental Psychology Department at the University of Oxford.
- Filmed psychology talks. For video recommendations relevant to your personal interests, take our free Oxford Scholastica University Preparation Report.
3. Independent qualifications
Another way to gain psychology experience and increase your psychological understanding is to take part in super-curricular courses.
For example, our residential Psychology summer school and online Psychology & Neuroscience course is designed to help you go beyond your classroom learning and turbocharge your understanding of the subject. You also receive a Certificate of Achievement and personalised Letter of Recommendation upon completion, which can be incredibly helpful when looking for future jobs, courses, internships etc.
If you’re looking for more a course that will contribute to a formal qualification, you can also check out part-time courses run by local colleges or online. For example, the Online Learning College runs a number of courses in psychology and counselling at levels 3 and 4.
4. Internships
An internship is a period of work experience which lasts for a fixed term and you can gain direct psychology experience by interning with an organisation involved in psychological research.
For example, the Department of Experimental Psychology at UCL runs hands-on research internships for year 12 students, including the in2scienceUK programme and the Nuffield Research Placement.
If you’d prefer an online internship, our academic research internships in psychology offer the chance to work with an expert mentor to co-author a paper for publication.
5. Volunteering
Volunteering can be a great way to gain a bit of psychology experience every week over a longer period of time. It is important, however, to consider the time commitment required as some opportunities may be difficult to juggle with your academic studies.
You could consider volunteering for a mental health charity, such as Mind or Rethink. These opportunities may be age-restricted due to the confidential nature of the work, but you could also try volunteering in charity shops or even fundraising for the charity independently.
Indirect Psychology Work Experience
There are also several ways you can build your CV with more general work experience, which will also help you develop soft skills like communication as well as an awareness of the world of work. These will look great on your application to study a psychology degree, too.
6. Extracurricular activities
You may be able to get some psychology experience via extracurriculars, such as by being a mentor to younger students or by completing training to be an in-house anti-bullying ambassador.
Any other extracurricular activities you undertake can be useful in developing relevant skills. For example, learning to play an instrument can express your creative skills and show persistence. Similarly, completing a programme like the Duke of Edinburgh award or the National Citizen Service can develop your planning, leadership and teamwork skills.
7. Part-time paid work
This is probably one of the most difficult ways of getting psychology-specific experience before university because most paid jobs will require greater time commitments, which can be really difficult to balance with your academic studies.
It is unlikely that you will be able to find paid work in psychology at this time because of the protected nature of the fields. Nonetheless, any part-time work is useful in developing relevant skills.
Securing psychology experience before applying for university is not an easy feat, but it’s definitely not impossible. The most important thing is to be proactive in looking for experience. There’s no harm in enquiring with organisations to see whether they can offer any experience and it might reveal some hidden opportunities that you may not have otherwise found.
Universities know how difficult it is to get direct psychology experience at this level, so don’t worry too much about it if you’re really struggling. Getting any kind of work experience, even if it seems unrelated, can really help your application stand out.
For more information on applying to study psychology at university, download our free Ultimate Guide to Studying Psychology.
By Sophie Parker
Our Head of Content, Sophie, is responsible for our blog and our resources. She graduated from University College London, where she read English.
