BCS Written Post-Related Psychology case studies
BCS Written Post-Related Psychology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The BCS Written Examination includes a post-related paper in Psychology for candidates who choose or are assigned that subject. It is a descriptive, essay-type paper: you write structured answers rather than shading bubbles, so examiners are judging your command of concepts, your ability to organise an argument, and the precision of your terminology. The syllabus runs from the foundations of the discipline through biological bases, learning, memory and cognition, motivation and emotion, intelligence and personality, developmental and social psychology, and abnormal psychology with its therapeutic approaches. It rewards candidates who can connect theory to applied settings, including public administration, education, health and community work. The BCS Written Post-Related Psychology case studies are 5 cases and about 3,483 words.
1The Trainee Who Cannot Stop Checking
A 27-year-old junior bank officer is referred by his branch manager. For 14 months he has checked the gas knobs at home exactly 12 times before leaving, and re-read each email draft 8-10 times before sending.
669 words, about 3 min2The Night Shift and the Missing Hour
A 34-year-old female nurse works rotating 12-hour shifts: 3 day shifts, then 3 night shifts, then 2 days off, repeating for 2 years. She reports falling asleep at the wheel twice on the drive home, sleeping 4-5 hours on day-sleep days, and 'waking up foggy' for the first 2 hours of every night shift.
706 words, about 4 min3The Boy Who Stopped Speaking at School
A 6-year-old boy has been at school for 5 months. He speaks fluently at home in Bengali and English, answers questions, and plays boisterously with his younger sister.
712 words, about 4 min4The Supervisor's Rating
A company uses a supervisor rating scale to decide promotions. Ratings are on a 1-5 scale, and 80% of employees receive a 4 or 5, so the scale barely discriminates.
691 words, about 3 min5The Man Who Cannot Feel the Good News
A 45-year-old man is brought by his wife. For 7 weeks he has slept 3 hours, stopped eating, and sat staring at the wall.
705 words, about 4 min