Psychology is a diverse discipline and this is reflected in Cambridge’s Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (PBS) course, which covers developmental, biological, cognitive, and social psychological approaches to topics such as psychopathology, language, perception, gender, family relationships, brain mechanisms, personality and group interactions, amongst other topics. There also is the opportunity to look at these topics from the perspective of other disciplines, notably anthropology, linguistics, philosophy and sociology.
Full course details are provided on the Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Tripos webpage and the University’s Undergraduate Study webpage.
Suggested Reading
The following books are recommended reading from the Department of Psychology:
- Pinker, S (2011). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Viking)
- Kahneman, D (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux)
- Hrdy, S (2011). Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding (Harvard University Press)
- Damasio, A. (2010). Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain (Vintage Books)
- LeDoux, J (2003). Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are (Penguin)
Admissions
To find out about admissions, go to undergraduate applications.
Entry Requirements
Course-specific information, including the University’s minimum offer level, can be found by selecting your course from the University’s Course List then looking at the “Entry Requirements” tab. The University’s Entrance Requirements and International Entry Requirements webpages may contain guidance relevant to you too.
At Churchill, we want to admit undergraduates who will thrive during their time here, so – in their interests – we tend to set conditional offers in line with the typical attainment of Cambridge entrants, by course. On average, this allows us to make a relatively generous number of offers per place, but it also means that our requirements are usually a little more rigorous than the University’s minimum offer level.
You can learn more about the academic profiles of Churchill entrants and our approach to setting conditional offers on our undergraduate applications page.
Submitted Work
If you apply to Churchill, we’ll ask you to submit two examples of teacher-marked written work. These should be taken from your present or most recent studies, and should not be re-written or corrected for your Cambridge application. Ideally, each piece should be 1500 to 2000 words in length.
Admissions Assessment
Churchill does not use a written assessment in PBS.
Interview
The role of academic interviews in Churchill’s admissions process is explained on our interviews page. Our interviewers will be looking for evidence of enthusiasm for and a potential for aptitude in the subjects covered by the PBS Tripos.
Careers
Psychology has a wide range of applications including graduate study in professional Psychology, such as Clinical or Occupational Psychology, teaching, management consulting, banking, journalism, and the civil service.
There are a series of talks on careers available to graduates from the PBS Tripos that will assist students in thinking about their future careers.
