In a nutshell
Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (PBS) is the Cambridge undergraduate course for psychology — there is no separate "Psychology" course at Cambridge. The course is empirical and quantitative: cognitive, developmental, social and biological psychology with statistical methods from Year 1.
Official course summary
What University of Cambridge publishes for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences.
- UCAS code
- C800
- Degree
- BA (Hons)
- Duration
- 3 years
- Typical A-Level offer
- A*AA
- Recommended subjects
- Mathematics or a science
- Admissions test
- No admissions assessment for 2027 entry — confirmed against the official Cambridge admissions-test table. Most colleges set a short at-interview reasoning task as part of the College admission assessment, no advance registration.
- Interview
- Expect numerical reasoning and experimental-design questions alongside discussion of recent reading. Cambridge PBS is more quantitative than most UK psychology degrees — be ready to interpret a graph or design a small study.
Always verify these details on the official University of Cambridge course page before applying — entry requirements and assessment formats can change between cycles.
Insider tips
Things Psychological and Behavioural Sciences applicants commonly miss.
- 01
PBS is the canonical name. Cambridge no longer offers a standalone Psychology degree — links and bookmarks for "Cambridge Psychology" should resolve to PBS.
- 02
A-Level Psychology is welcomed but not required. A-Level Mathematics or a science substantially helps with the statistics teaching in Year 1.
- 03
Read research-method texts (e.g. Goldacre's Bad Science) alongside the popular psychology canon — it primes the kind of critical thinking interviewers expect.
