Group of smiling students looking at a laptop

Student members

Explore the many benefits of student membership, including the opportunity to transfer to graduate membership and continue your career development as a member of the BPS.

Why should I become a student member?

Student membership is open to everyone studying on a BPS-accredited undergraduate degree, conversion course or WPW course. As a student member, you'll get:

Access to dozens of events each year, including career events where you can learn from professionals
Subscription to our online magazine, The Psychologist plus access to the student-run Psych-Talk
Access to our online community to connect and share ideas with other psychology students
Automatic enrolment to your local branch - meet other psychologists and expand your network
The chance to become a student ambassador and help support your fellow students
Great savings and discounts on a huge range of textbooks, events and more

Start your application now

Membership runs on a 12-month cycle and you'll be asked to renew every 12 months from the date you first joined (if you pay by Direct Debit, your membership will automatically renew every 12 months).

What are the benefits of being a student member?
The BPS is recognised around the world as one of the leading authorities of psychology. As a member of the society you'll be entitled to a wide range of benefits designed to help you in your studies and your career.
Learn about the benefits available
Join our online student community
Do you ever wish you had a huge network of peers at different stages of their psychology studies to learn from and share your experience with? Then come and be part of our online student community.
Join the community
Could you be a BPS Volunteer Student Ambassador?
If you are studying on one of our accredited undergraduate or conversion courses, are passionate about psychology, supporting your fellow students and want to learn new skills, we would love for you to join us.
Become an ambassador

The Student Committee

The Student Committee represents student members of the society in matters pertaining to education, discipline and policy.

We promote communication between student members through the annual student conference and through international links with psychology students and associations world-wide via the European Federation of Psychology Student's Association (EFPSA).

We also organise a range of events throughout the year, such as seminars and networking opportunities, and are responsible for the publication of the PsychTalk magazine.

Meet the committee

I am Angel Au, a second-year MSci psychology student at University College London and your Chair-Elect.

Apart from working and volunteering at mental health charities, I enjoy singing, songwriting, writing, illustrating and playing video games.

My name is Chris Grimwood and I sit on the Student Committee as the Lead Student Ambassador.

This role is the link between all our regional Ambassadors and the committee.

I ensure that the committee are aware of the good work being done by our ambassadors!

Interesting facts - I currently serve in the Royal Air Force, and last year I reached the final audition for the Open University's University Challenge team!

What is Psych-Talk?

Psych-Talk is a quarterly publication for psychology students showcasing student-written material on a variety of topics spanning from general interest essays to placement reviews.

Find out more about Psych-Talk

The aim of the publication is to provide a platform for open discussion of topics relevant to students interested in psychology wh

Download the latest issue

Can I write for Psych-Talk?

Psych-Talk is made up of articles written by undergraduate student members.

The Psych-Talk page gives information on word counts, deadlines, etc, but we've also provided the following hints and tips to think about if you're considering submitting something for publication.

Steps for writing for Psych-Talk:

Pick a topic you're interested in - we love getting articles about general topics, but the best ones seem to have a passionate flair to them
go through our past publications - if you're unsure about what to write, going through what we've chosen to publish before might help you get a better understanding of what to submit
Start simple, then funnel - Alice Thomson, the winner of The Psychologist's Student Competition suggested using a technique where she wrote down every idea related to the topic in it's simplest form, then grouping them together into common themes that would form paragraphs. This helps organise your article better
Communicate with other BPS student members - the BPS student community includes several discussion threads started by members on topics that can help inspire you into writing for us
Don't be afraid of being controversial - we are open to articles that specifically look at controversial topics as a publication that hopes to provide a platform to varying perspectives
However, be as objective as you can - this is still a scientific publication representative of the BPS student community. A high level of objectivity when writing is a prerequisite for most of our articles

Could you be a Volunteer Student Ambassador?

If you are studying on one of our accredited undergraduate or conversion courses, are passionate about psychology, supporting your fellow students and want to learn new skills, we would love for you to join us.

Do you want to represent the BPS at your university?

We would love you to join us to support your fellow psychology students.

Find out more about being a student ambassador

Online volunteering and professional training recommendations

We have noticed increased interest in gaining experience and undertaking volunteering roles online. See our list of recommended organisations as follows.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact the Membership team.

Online volunteering organisations

The BPS also advertises job vacancies for psychology graduates, including roles, such as 'Assistant Psychologist' and 'Research Assistant'.

View a full list of opportunities available Jobs in Psychology.

Student mental health

Student Minds - resources and support from the UK's primary student mental health charity
Mind - How to cope with student life - how you can look after your mental health as a student, including practical suggestions for what you can do and where you can go for support
Mind - Student mental health during coronavirus - information for both new and returning university students, studying full-time or part-time during the coronavirus
Young Minds - Find help - crisis support, mental health information, and advice on where (and when) to get help
Students Against Depression - advice, information and guidance to those affected by low mood, depression and suicidal thinking
Samaritans - Information for students - you can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to talk about anything that is upsetting you. Call 116 123 (free from any phone), email them or visit a Samaritans branch. The Samaritans Welsh Language Line is available on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).
Student Space - Wellbeing resources and advice - access free, confidential support services by phoning 0808 189 5260, texting the word STUDENT to 85258, emailing them, or contacting via web chat support. The service is available from 4pm–11pm.

Students experiencing racism

Racism and mental health - Young Minds - information on how to get help if you've experienced racism
Black Minds Matter UK - connecting Black individuals and families with free mental health services by professional Black therapists.
Stop Hate UK - support for victims and witnesses of hate crimes and discrimination
Covid-19 Anti-Racism Group - information and resources to address the increase in racism and hate crime towards British East Asians and international students arising from the Covid-19 pandemic

Students with disabilities

Disability Rights UK - advice and support for disabled people who are studying or wish to study at any level on full-time or part-time education or training courses
UCAS - Advice and support for new and prospective students with disabilities - information for disabled students (including students with learning differences and mental health conditions)
Diversity and Ability - Resources - a collection of free reviews, guides, and applications designed to assist and support students at all levels

Careers and professional development

You're studying hard, but how do you make sure you secure your dream job?

Coming across well in a job interview is an important step towards your landing your perfect job, and there are lots of psychological tips to make sure you come out on top.

As well as exclusive keynote speakers and panel discussions the event also featured several Q&A sessions with representatives from various BPS member groups.

Part 1

Welcome and introduction - Hazel McLaughlin, BPS President
My route into Clinical Psychology and Beyond - Dr Gemima Fitzgerald
The psychology of performance excellence - Dr Mustafa Sarkar CPsychol

Part 2

Panel discussion - including practitioner psychologists, BPS student member and representative of the student committee and BPS staff from membership and education & training
Cognition and neuroscience: a day in the life - Dr Chris Street

Part 3

Being a Forensic Psychologist: from the street to the laboratory - Professor Coral Dando
Speaker panel - a Q&A session with our expert keynote speakers

The recording provides information about clinical psychology training programmes and sharing the experiences of BAME colleagues during training and as qualified clinical psychologists.

Participants heard from a number of professionals who work within a variety of settings such as the NHS, private settings and the third sector.

Speakers included:

Dr Suzanne Roos, Consultant Psychologist & Professional Lead for Psychological Therapies, NHS Orkney
Dr Siân Clifford CPsychol., Chartered Counselling Psychologist
Dr Fani Papayianni, Counselling Psychologist
Ben Amponsah, BSc, PGDipl, GMBPsS, MBACP (Accred)

The event featured four speakers with psychology backgrounds who now work with children, each of whom presented a 'Day in the life of' segment describing what a typical day looks like in their role, and this was followed by a panel discussion.

These videos providing advice on a variety of topics and answer some key questions, such as:

The value of professional development
Why is CPD important?
What are the benefits of engaging in CPD?
Advice to peers to encourage CPD engagement
How do you approach CPD?

External careers resources

PsychWeb

PsychWeb is a UK network supporting aspiring Clinical Psychologists from underrepresented backgrounds to progress onto DClinPsy.

Find out more about PsychWeb

The Black Mind Initiative

The Black Mind Initiative is a non-profit organisation which aims to educate, encourage, equip and engage with young Black individuals to increase representation within the mental health field.

Find out more about The Black Mind Initiative