Psychological & Behavioural Sciences (PBS)

One of the world’s top three courses in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, the Cambridge Tripos combines rigorous academic study of the human mind, brain and behaviour with real-world problem solving and exciting interdisciplinary exchange. It also comes with professional accreditation on graduation.

Overview

Ucas code

C800

Campus code

X

Typical offers made per year

4

Typical Undergraduate cohort

6

Minimum offer level

A Levels: A*A*A, with A* in Mathematics or Biology

IB: 42 points, with 776 at Higher Level.

Other qualifications: check what other international qualifications are accepted at Cambridge

STEP (SIXTH TERM EXAMINATION PAPER)

COURSE DURATION

BA (Hons) 3 years, full-time

Essential subjects

A-level/IB Higher Level Mathematics or Biology

Desirable subjects

Mathematics and science subjects such as Biology, Chemistry or Physics are useful preparation for this course. Psychology is not a requirement.

ADMISSIONS ASSESSMENT

Admissions Assessment: None

Submitted Work: None

Why Choose St John's for Psychological & Behavioural Sciences (PBS)?

Image of human brain by Professor Usha Goswami's team

St John’s stands out for our Fellows in PBS, world-leading and award-winning academics whose research ranges from child development to the impact of digitalisation on the mind, brain and mental health.

Our College has a long and distinguished tradition in the discipline, as Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett FRS, the first Professor of Experimental Psychology at Cambridge, was a Fellow here.

Undergraduates and postgraduates in PBS regularly get together with our Fellows through the year, for socials, lectures, workshops and an end-of-year garden party.

PBS students join the Larmor Society, one of the College's largest academic societies, which brings together the College's Psychology and Natural Science students. It offers talks, dinners and events for student scientists.

Our Fellowship includes academics in disciplines closely related to PBS such as Social Anthropology, Philosophy and Sociology, providing further enrichment and supporting the wider disciplinary options available with the Tripos.

Watch this video to find out more about studying Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (PBS) at St John's.

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Our academics

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Dr Helena Gellersen

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Usha Goswami

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor Jane Heal

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Dr Andrea Luppi

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Dr Amy Orben

Fellow

Director of Studies

Sub-Director of Studies

Professor David Stuart

Fellow

Course structure and information

Psychological and Behavioural Sciences covers cognitive, social, developmental and biological psychology. You can explore wider dimensions of the human mind and behaviour by including disciplines like anthropology, philosophy, and sociology.

Find out more about the course structure and what to expect when studying at St John's College.

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Supporting your studies

Academic skills support

All St John's students have access to academic skills support throughout their studies. Academic skills workshops are offered throughout the academic year, and focus on a variety of topics including general study tips, essay-writing skills and revision strategies.

Some subjects hold compulsory academic skills workshops during the Michaelmas term. If you require individual support you can contact one of our Academic Skills Advisers, who each have a range of specialities, including essay writing tips, numeracy, presentation skills, prioritisation and revision skills. We have specialists in Arts and Humanities and in STEM, and in particular in Engineering.

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Summer Bursaries

Our generous Summer Bursary scheme enables St John's undergraduates to pursue their academic or educational interests or career-development opportunities for a period of up to eight weeks during the Long Vacation.

Any activity which would clearly add value to your career and personal development can be considered, and students have used their Summer Bursaries to fund a wide range of activities including research projects, summer courses at other institutions, intermediate and advanced language courses, unpaid work experience and volunteering work in the UK and overseas.

Exchange Programmes

St John's is proud to collaborate with a number of great institutions to provide exciting cultural and academic exchanges. Our current exchange partners include Caltech Scholars exchange, Collegio Ghislieri di Pavia University Exchange, Heidelberg University Exchange, Nagoya University Exchange Scheme and NUS Research Exchange Programme.

Discover student life

meet our students

It’s really cool that St John’s has such a large Fellowship, you can be supervised by someone who is a big name in their field

Jessica, Psychological and Behavioural Studies (PBS), undergraduate

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It’s really cool that St John’s has such a large Fellowship, you can be supervised by someone who is a big name in their field

Jessica, Psychological and Behavioural Studies (PBS), undergraduate

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If you’re an all-rounder, Psychological and Behavioural Studies is a good choice as there's a huge breadth of subjects to choose from. PBS at Cambridge is a mix of both worlds, science and humanities.

I chose the subject for its flexibility, I particularly liked the option to choose extra papers. I love the collegiate experience at Cambridge and the academic and pastoral support at St John’s.

My College Director of Studies is really friendly and she’s helped us with our dissertations and gives excellent advice for future career plans. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone at St John’s who is with us every step of the way.

Applying

We treat Psychology as a subject with a scientific foundation that requires application of social science skills. We select the brightest and most committed students, so work really hard to ensure that the strongest possible examination results and predictions is very important.

You should be able to demonstrate that you have been extending your academic interests and exploring aspects of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences through wider analytical reading, completing MOOCs, competing in Olympiads or Challenges, museum and gallery visits.

Such 'super-curricular' exploration can often differentiate strong applicants, showing your commitment to independent study and making a big difference to your knowledge and understanding.

If you are invited to interview, you will have two interviews at St John's, and these will be with the Director of Studies and one or two other Fellows in PBS. Each interview will last approximately 20 minutes.

Interview questions might explore what sparked your interest in Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, which aspects particularly interest you and why, and/or things that you mention in your personal statement.

Before your interview begins, we will ask you to view a set text or image for 15 minutes, and during the interview we will ask questions about it. We will also explore your science skills and critical thinking by introducing a wider concept and discussing how might approach it. Our priority is to explore how you would use those skills to address a broader range of questions than you will have come across in pure sciences. 

As an example, we might ask you to imagine designing a healthy eating campaign for teenagers – how would you frame the main message, and how might different ways of framing the message affect the outcome? This could lead to a discussion about how individuals might be motivated by different approaches; there are lots of interesting potential answers, and we’d expect to hear your thoughts about psychological factors. We might identify that there are two alternative campaign approaches, one emphasising the benefits of healthy eating and the other the bad outcomes from a poor diet, and ask you about designing an experiment to test the most effective approach. Lots of questions can flow from this, for example the measures you might adopt for the experiment or how you will organise participants.

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Life after St John's

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Our societies

Larmor Society

Our society promotes Natural Science. We bring together natural scientists and psychologists of all year groups at St John’s and we are a close and supportive community.

Our social events include the chance to dine in other Colleges, an annual dinner and a garden party.

We organise talks by prominent speakers and support our members throughout their studies.

Every natural scientist and psychologist at St John’s is a member, though all are welcome to attend our academic events.

Find out more Visit society's website

Discover all societies

Notable alumni

Mike Brearley

1960

Cricketer, Psychoanalyst

Nobel Laureate

Royal Medal winner

Academy Award winner

Pulitzer Prize winner

Olympic Medal winner

Poet Laureate

Brearley captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches in 1977-81. He had given up a lectureship in Philosophy at Newcastle to become captain of Middlesex, leading them to four county championships over a decade. In the 1981 Ashes, his leadership skills came to the fore: with England 1-0 down after two Tests, he was brought in and spurred his team to three wins. On retiring from cricket, he trained as a psychoanalyst. He has written The Art of Captaincy, On Form and Turning Over the Pebbles: A Life in Cricket and in the Mind.

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