Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Human Development
Mental health need in the region is vast and the trained workforce is tiny, while employers across every sector increasingly need people who understand human behaviour, development and wellbeing with rigour. Psychology is often taught here as a purely theoretical arts subject, detached from the ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Applied psychology practitioner track
- mental health and psychosocial support worker
- human development and child specialist
- behavioural and people analyst
- counselling and guidance track
- organisational and workplace psychology track
- research and evaluation specialist
- community wellbeing practitioner
Employer types
- Health services and mental health programmes
- schools and education institutions
- development and humanitarian organisations
- organisations and their people functions
- community and social service organisations
- research institutes
- government health and social agencies
- counselling and wellbeing services
- and the graduate's own venture
- incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets meaningful graduate employment in a field of acute national need and supports further professional training. Progression routes include applied and clinical masters and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Human Development. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BPHD 110 | Introduction to Psychology Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BPHD 111 | Human Development Across the Lifespan Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BPHD 112 | Statistics for Psychology Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BPHD 113 | Academic and Scientific Writing Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BPHD 130 | Biological Psychology Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BPHD 131 | Cognitive Psychology Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BPHD 132 | Social Psychology Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BPHD 133 | Research Methods in Psychology Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BPHD 210 | Developmental Psychology Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BPHD 211 | Abnormal and Mental Health Psychology Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BPHD 212 | Applied and Counselling Foundations Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BPHD 213 | Psychological Assessment and Measurement Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BPHD 230 | Community and Global Mental Health Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BPHD 231 | Data, Technology and the Mind Performance | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 401 | /402 Capability Portfolio, Governance and Day One Block Both | 6 | 2-2-2 |
| BPHD 310 | Ethics, Professional Practice and Safeguarding Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BPHD 311 | Supervised Applied Practice Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BPHD 312 | Psychology Capstone: An Applied Research or Practice Project Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BPHD 330 | Human Development and Wellbeing in Context Performance | 8 | 2-2-8 |
Total credit units: 132
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Human Development
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
132
22 CU of 132 CU completed by the end of this step (17%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual Judgement CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and Persuasion CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning · Ethical and Contextual Judgement · Communication and Persuasion · Disciplinary Mastery. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Apply the scientific study of behaviour and development to a real question.
- PLO 2Design, run and analyse psychological research ethically.
- PLO 3Apply developmental understanding across the lifespan.
- PLO 4Apply evidence based applied and psychosocial approaches under supervision.
- PLO 5Assess and measure behaviour, development and wellbeing appropriately.
- PLO 6Apply data and analysis to human and behavioural questions.
- PLO 7Apply intelligent tools to psychological work responsibly and safely.
- PLO 8Communicate psychological understanding ethically to different audiences.
- PLO 9Work ethically within the limits of the role and refer appropriately.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Mental health need in the region is vast and the trained workforce is tiny, while employers across every sector increasingly need people who understand human behaviour, development and wellbeing with rigour. Psychology is often taught here as a purely theoretical arts subject, detached from the applied, evidence based practice that makes it employable. This programme keeps the scientific and developmental core of psychology and builds on it the applied, ethical and data literate competence that health services, schools, organisations and communities actually need, with supervised applied practice and real research from Year 1.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including Mathematics and English. Applicants complete a structured reasoning and writing task scored against Capabilities C3 and C4. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
Education Futures
Other open programmes in this School
Bachelor of Science in Learning Engineering and Educational Artificial Intelligence
Education technology is the fastest growing category of educational spending in Africa and the least evidenced. Systems are procured on demonstration rather than on learning gain, and almost nobody inside ministries, schools or companies is...
View programme BEd (Hons)Bachelor of Education in Digital Pedagogy and STEM Teaching
Uganda's shortage of qualified science and mathematics teachers is the upstream cause of the shortage of engineers, clinicians and technologists this University exists to produce. Teacher education in the region is also frequently criticise...
View programme BSc (Hons)Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Human Performance Science
Uganda has one of the lowest ratios of mental health professionals to population in the world, at the same time as workplaces, schools and universities are being asked to manage psychological wellbeing with almost no trained capacity. This ...
View programme MEdMaster of Education in Learning Design and Educational Artificial Intelligence
Serving teachers, lecturers, trainers and education leaders are being asked to redesign teaching and assessment for a world with intelligent systems, largely without support. This intensive programme gives them the learning science, design ...
View programme MScMaster of Science in Workforce Development and Skills Systems
Every government and large employer in the region is now running skills programmes, and most of them cannot say what those programmes achieved. With thirty nine per cent of skills globally expected to change by 2030 and eighty five per cent...
View programme DoctorateDoctor of Education in Educational Transformation
An applied doctorate for education leaders and system reformers who need to conduct rigorous research on a problem inside their own institution or system rather than pursue a purely academic career. As with the Doctor of Business Administra...
View programme MEdMaster of Education in Education Leadership
Education institutions in the region are led overwhelmingly by people promoted for teaching excellence and never trained to lead, and the quality of an institution rarely rises above the quality of its leadership. This Master of Education in Education Leadership is a taught, project heavy ...
View programme BSc (Hons)Bachelor of Science in Education Technology
Education across the region is being reshaped by technology faster than institutions can absorb it, and the missing profession is the one that sits between the teacher, the learner and the system: the education technologist who can design learning, build and evaluate the tools, and make technology ...
View programme BSc (Hons)Bachelor of Science in Skills and Workforce Systems
Uganda has one of the youngest populations on earth and one of the widest gaps between what young people can do and what employers need, and closing it is a systems problem: skills analysis, training design, workforce data, and the machinery that connects learning to work. Almost nobody is trained ...
View programme