Psychology

Say you do psychology; and people get a bit twitchy, worrying that you're going to psychoanalyse them and reveal the hidden horrors of their sick, dirty, twisted minds. Sadly, it's not quite like that.

These days, you're less likely to dabble with Freud than with the everyday workings of the human mind, both normal and abnormal, calculating why people think as they do. You're likely to find that the emphasis will be on experimental psychology and a far more scientific approach than stroking your chin and saying "tell me about your mother".

Psychology is a relatively young scientific discipline, and is relatively flexible in its approach those who study it don't necessarily need science A-levels, and you don't necessarily need psychology A-level (although it helps, obviously). It is possible to find a university to take you if you have an arts background, although a mixture of both art and science is best, and most will require at least a good GCSE maths pass or equivalent.

Once you're in, you'll be studying subject areas such as personality types (introvert/extrovert, that sort of thing), defining and testing intelligence (and working out whether that's a valid thing to do in the first place), perception, memory, and developmental psychology - how babies and children work things out. Slightly more leftfield options could include mental illness and neuroscience, consumer psychology or paranormal psychology (investigating spoon-bending and all that malarkey).

Courses are usually modular with a wide-ranging, scene-setting first year (particularly useful if you didn't do psychology A-level) before settling down to some serious choice in the following years. Most courses are approved by the British Psychological Society; you'll have the possibility to take further training to become a professional psychologist if you complete an approved course. You'll be assessed through a mixture of exams and coursework.

The employment rates for graduates are high. You've gained some excellent experience in problem-solving, so if you don't opt to move on to further clinical (where there can be intense competition for places) or forensic psychology (Cracker territory, if your TV memory stretches that far hack), you can head for educational, health or occupational psychology, neuropsychology or counselling, and you could find work in advertising, marketing or social work, or perhaps the probation and prison services. It's likely that you'll have an interesting job; it's unlikely that you'll he rich.

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