About Our Department

The Department of Psychology is the largest in the Faculty of Humanities and draws students from several other faculties.

While most students studying psychology are registered for degrees in the Humanities, a sizeable number are registered in the Management and Education Faculties, in addition to the Faculties of Law and Health Science.

The primary purpose of a qualification in Psychology is to provide students with a broad-based and cohesive knowledge of the discipline which, itself, serves as a foundation for several other disciplines taught at the tertiary level.

Holding a degree in psychology equips the graduate with a range of analytical, interpretive and integrative skills that not only have a practical value for society as a whole but, moreover, are necessary and required competencies in a range of employment contexts.

Whilst the Department offers different degree programmes at the undergraduate level, it also offers a comprehensive broad-based Honours degree as well as two coursework degrees at the Master’s level. These latter coursework and mini-dissertation programmes lead to registration as either a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

In addition to the coursework post-graduate programmes, the Department also offers Masters’ and Doctoral degrees on the basis of the candidate producing a high-calibre research project.