What subject does Tim Canterbury hope to return to university to study?

Tim Canterbury hopes to return to university to study Psychology. His plan is one of the clearest signs that he knows his job at Wernham Hogg is not the life he wants, even though he lacks the confidence to make a decisive change.

Tim had dropped out of university after one year and, at about 30, was still living with his parents while working as a paper-sales clerk. In the episode “New Girl,” he tells Gareth Keenan that he intends to leave the office and study psychology. Gareth predictably confuses a psychologist with a psychiatrist, creating one of the scene’s characteristic misunderstandings.

Tim’s academic ambition also reflects his contrast with David Brent. Brent constantly talks as though he is insightful and successful, whereas Tim is genuinely observant but underestimates himself. He uses jokes and pranks against Gareth to cope with a job he finds meaningless.

By the end of the first series, Tim abandons the university plan after receiving a promotion to Senior Sales Clerk. His choice is not presented as a fulfilled ambition; it shows how insecurity and small improvements at work keep him from pursuing a larger change.