Universities are encouraged to widen access to a broad range of applicants, including mature students taking Access qualifications. Admissions tutors can find it difficult to compare and choose between Access and A-level applications, and Access applicants for popular courses may be disadvantaged relative to students with good A-levels. In this…

In this study we report the findings that we obtained when we repeated a study conducted approximately 10 years ago. In the initial study we found that mature students did as well as traditional-entry ones in first-year essays and examinations. However, they did less well initially when writing laboratory reports. In this replication study these…

Having just completed a BSc (Hons) Psychology degree, this author feels well placed to offer a student's perspective on John Radford's provocative article, "Psychology in its place". Although Radford discussed a number of relevant areas regarding psychology in higher education, Cartmell aims to discuss one main issue that many psychology…

John Radford's stimulating article on psychology within higher education includes a paragraph on the context of psychology taught as a degree subject. He suggests that while statistics has an established presence on programmes and the discipline is increasingly informed by genetics, "approaches to human behaviour such as anthropology,…

In his article "Psychology in its Place," Radford (2008) argues that psychology as a discipline, subject, and profession needs to be debated to ensure one is not disadvantaging students, society, and the professions themselves in focusing on elements, systems, or content that are outdated or irrelevant now or in the future. In this article, the…

Early in his paper, Radford discusses the origins of Western universities and argues that they were designed to provide a "very practical preparation for life and particularly for the professions, specifically law, medicine and theology." Radford then mentions how a core part of such education was grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic.…

In this article, the author comments on John Radford's article "Psychology in its Place," which is a provocative and thoughtful piece on the state of psychology as a discipline in higher education. In his article, Radford introduces evidence that psychology graduates are attractive to employers for their numeracy and literacy skills and…

Radford argues that psychology needs to be of greater value to psychology students, regardless of whether they intend to enter professional practice. He also suggests that psychology should be part of everybody's education, on the basis that human behaviour lies at the heart of the most serious problems facing humanity. This author agrees very…

This paper argues for community psychology to be included within the discipline boundaries of psychology. In doing this, it will enable psychology to begin to address some of the large scale social issues affecting people's well-being. It will be necessary, however, to incorporate aspects of other disciplines, make explicit the political…

The employability of psychology graduates is not only related to the content of the degree, what one might call the "hard" measures, but is also underscored by the intellectual and personal development afforded by studying psychology, the "soft" measures. Employers need to know that psychology graduates have something to…

In this article, the authors share their views on the article by Dr. Radford, which raises a number of key issues that have a great impact on the future of postgraduate training and funding as well as on postgraduate students' future careers. The first issue relates to higher education in which the teaching at undergraduate level is evermore being…

In this commentary, the author raises two critical aspects not adequately addressed in John Radford's (2008) wide ranging article on the teaching of psychology in higher education. The first aspect is the relevance of boundaries. The second aspect is the political context(s). These two issues, though artificially dissociated for current purposes,…

In "Psychology in its place" (2008), John Radford considers "what is or should be the "place" of Psychology in education, more particularly Higher Education". In this article, the author looks at the possible inclusion of coaching psychology within undergraduate psychology programmes. Coaching psychology as an applied…

In "Psychology in its place" (2008) John Radford explores and attempts to initiate a debate on what is or should be the place and role of psychology in Higher Education, primarily as a main subject for a first degree. In this paper, the author raises the stakes, and argues that Higher Education should provide a certain form of practical psychology…

In response to the issues raised by Radford a clearer understanding of the psychology degree as part of the liberal education tradition is advocated in line with Newman (1982) and Graham (2005). Such a focus incorporates developments in employability and graduate competencies and reinforces rather than undermines concern with scholarship. Links…