SACAP launches postgraduate psychology honours programme

The Bachelor of Social Science in Psychology Honours (BSocSciHons) currently has 18 students enrolled in Cape Town and 15 in Johannesburg despite the stringent entrance requirements.

The programme fills an important gap on the higher education landscape in the field of psychology. There is an enormous shortage of available postgraduate study options for students with an undergraduate degree in psychology, with relatively few places available in the public university programmes. Thus SACAP has opened up a second intake starting in June 2015.

Advanced levels of academic challenge

SACAP's honours offers advanced levels of academic challenge and builds intellectual independence and research capacity in the principles and methodologies of psychology at a postgraduate level of study. Honours students will be exposed to a variety of psychotherapeutic models of intervention; using the DSM-V classification system to understand psychopathology; and diversity issues, ethics and professional standards of practice.

Graduates of the BSocSciHons will have acquired an advanced skill set and will therefore be excellently placed to pursue a professional career in the social sciences, psychology and related fields. SACAP's honours programme also provides numerous articulation options for those who would like to study further and pursue a master's degree.

"With the growth of our student body over the last few years, it has been important for us to grow our offering - not just the range of different courses, but also enabling students that have completed their undergraduate degree with us or elsewhere to continue their studies with us at a postgraduate level," says Lance Katz, Chief Executive of SACAP. "The BSocSci Hons is an important addition to our growing suite of postgraduate offerings which also includes our Postgraduate Diploma in Coaching as well as our four-year BPsych professional degree."

SACAP's honours programme coordinator, Tapiwa Magodyo says, "The BSocSciHons has been specifically designed with SACAP's unique emphasis on deepening knowledge, critical and analytical insight and practical competencies in psychology and the social sciences. This combined with small, interactive classes and expert educators with experience in the field is what sets SACAP's programme apart."

The degree is registered with the Council of Higher Education and rated at NQF level 8 with the South African Qualifications Authority. The BSocSciHons is a one-year full-time programme offered on both Johannesburg and Cape Town campuses. Only twenty placements are available at each campus and acceptance is subject to a stringent selection process. Applicants are required to hold a minimum of an undergraduate degree with a psychology major (or cognate discipline) with a better than average pass (GPA of 65% and above).

Visit http://www.sacap.edu.za/courses/bachelor-social-science-honours-psychology-degree/ for further info.