Bachelor of Arts in Psychology | Department of Social Science

Programme Information

The Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology (BA-PSY) Programme adopts the unique ‘Liberal + Professional’ education model to equip students with comprehensive foundational knowledge and skills in psychology. ‘Liberal’ means that the Programme adopts a broad-based and cross-disciplinary approach to connect knowledge domains, facilitate thinking, and solve problems. ‘Professional’ means that while the Programme is broad-based and cross-disciplinary, it also has professional orientation elements which aim at equipping students with the competencies to enter into relevant professions in the future.

A distinctive feature of the Programme is that, in addition to covering and integrating all major areas in psychology and their cognate disciplines, it provides three specialisations, Education and Clinical, Business and Technology, and Neuroscience and Health. These specialisations not only develop students’ interests and capacities in psychological applications, but also enhance their employability and readiness for further professional training.

Programme Objectives (POs)

Upon successful completion of the BA-PSY programme, students should be able to:

PO1	Develop students’ skills in critical and creative thinking for life-long learning;
PO2	Cultivate students’ communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills;
PO3	Instil in students a strong sense of social responsibility and high commitment as a local and global citizen;
PO4	Provide students with a comprehensive foundation of theoretical and practical knowledge for scientific study and professional practice in psychology;
PO5	Develop students’ research skills in psychology through intellectual and practical training; and
PO6	Enhance students’ problem-solving ability in addressing personal, social and societal issues from the perspective of psychology.

Curriculum Design

The four‐year curriculum design is as follows:

YEAR ONE	YEAR TWO
CHN1000 Freshman Chinese CHN1002 Chinese Literature Appreciation ENG1001 University English (I) ENG1002 University English (II) AMS1303 Probability and Statistics GEN1000 Perspectives on General Education MGT1002 Principles of Management PSY1001 Introduction to Psychology PSY2001 Research Methods in Psychology PSY2002 Developmental Psychology	ENG2001 English for Academic Purposes CHN2001 Applied Putonghua GE Elective x 2 COM1000 Contemporary Information Technologies BUS2001 Principles of Marketing PSY2003 Statistics in Psychology PSY2004 Biological Psychology PSY2005 Social Psychology PSY2006 Cognitive Psychology
YEAR THREE	YEAR FOUR
GE Elective x 2 ENG2002 English for Professional Communication PSY2007 Abnormal Psychology PSY2008 Learning and Behaviour PSY2009 Personality Psychology Psychology Elective x 4 Free Elective	GE Elective x 2 PSY 4001Contemporary Issues in Psychology (Prerequisite: PSY1001 or equivalent) Psychology Elective x 3 Psychology Elective^ Psychology Elective^ Free Elective x 2

^Eligible students may take either Psychology Thesis or Psychology Practicum in lieu of 2 Psychology Electives.

LIST OF PSYCHOLOGY ELECTIVES

Educational and Clinical Specialisation:

PSY3001 Educational Psychology
PSY3002 Clinical and Counselling Psychology
PSY3003 Child and Adolescent Counselling (Prerequisite: PSY2002)
PSY3004 Psychological Testing and Assessment

Business and Technology Specialisation:

PSY3005 Work and Organisational Psychology
PSY3006 Consumer Psychology
PSY3007 Cyberpsychology
PSY3008 Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction

Neuroscience and Health Specialisation:

PSY3009 Neuropsychology (Prerequisite: PSY2004)
PSY3010 Sport Psychology
PSY3011 Positive Psychology
PSY3012 Psychology of Love and Sex

Admission Requirements

Year 1 Entry

Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination

Level 3 or above in Chinese Language and English Language, Level 2 or above in Mathematics (Compulsory Part), Attained in Citizenship and Social Development and Level 2 or above in one other subject in the HKDSE Examination.

Remarks:

For HKDSE taken in 2023 or before, only Category A Elective subjects are taken into consideration of meeting the General Entrance Requirements. Mathematics Extended Part Module 1 / Module 2 is not counted as an elective subject in 2023 or before.
For HKDSE takers starting from 2024 and onwards, Category A Elective subjects (Mathematics Extended Part exclusive), Category B (Applied Learning Subjects) and Category C (Other Language Subjects) can be counted as elective subjects. The minimum requirements are:

Category A subjects: Level 2

Category B subjects5: Attained

Category C subjects: Grade E

No more than one subject from Category B or Category C will be counted in the Best Five Subject HKDSE score calculation.
Category B: Applied Learning Chinese (for non-Chinese speaking students) is excluded in score calculation.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme

24 points (including 3 subjects at Higher Level and 3 at Standard Level, 12 points or above to be obtained from subjects at Higher Level), i.e. completion of IB Diploma.

SAT Qualification

A minimum of 1650 on SAT Reasoning Test (Prior to March 2016) or 1190 on Redesigned SAT (From March 2016). Secondary school examination results are suggested to be considered apart from the SAT score.

Year 3 Entry

Completion of an Associate Degree or Higher Diploma in a related discipline from a recognised institution in Hong Kong or overseas, with a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5 or above on a 4.0 scale, or equivalent, and a satisfactory level of performance on the assessment required by the programme (e.g. interview).

Non-Local Entry

Applicants with non-local qualifications are considered on a case-by-case basis according to the criteria for admission as set out by HSUHK.

Degree Award Requirement

The graduation requirements for the BA-PSY programme is as follows:

Obtained a Grade D or above on at least 120 credits (40 modules; 39 modules if Psychology Thesis or Psychology Practicum was taken), including all core and elective modules according to the curriculum structure of the Programme;
Obtained a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0;
Fulfilled the language competency exit requirement;
Passed the Information Technology Proficiency Test; and
Fulfilled the requirements of iGPS Unit (at least 12 units) and College Assembly (at least 5 times), within the course of the Programme.

Employment Pathways

Graduates of the BA-PSY programme may pursue (research and taught) postgraduate studies locally or overseas in disciplines such as Psychology, Social Work, Management and Education.

Job positions that BA-PSY graduates are competent to take up include but not are not limited to the following:

Consumer Behaviour Analyst
User Experience Analyst
Management Trainee
Human Resource Personnel
Behavioural Therapist
Psychological Counsellor
Psychological Assistant
Play Specialist
Programme Worker
Welfare Worker
Teaching Assistant
Research Assistant
Administrative Officer
Executive Officer

Professional Recognition

Graduates with Second Class Honours Division I are eligible to apply for becoming a Graduate Member of the Hong Kong Psychological Society.

Graduates with Second Class Honours Division II, having also completed Psychology Thesis, are eligible to apply for becoming a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society.

Further Studies

BA-PSY graduates can also pursue postgraduate programmes in Psychology and other related disciplines locally or overseas.

Qualification related information

The BA-PSY Programme is at QF level 5.

The QR Registration Number: 21/000421/L5

Registration Validity Period: 01/09/2021 To 31/08/2026

Primary Area of Study and Training: A14 Social Sciences

Sub-area (Primary Area of Study and Training): A1402 Social and Behavioral Sciences