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Applied Educational and Child Psychology Doctorate (App Ed and Child Psy D)

Start date
Contact the School directly
Duration
3 years full-time
Course Type
Postgraduate, Combined research and taught
Fees
Please view www.aep.org.uk/training/

The Applied Educational and Child Psychology Doctorate (App Ed and Child Psy D) is a research degree and professional training that confers eligibility to apply for registration as practitioner psychologist (educational) with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

The Applied Educational and Child Psychology Doctorate (App Ed and Child Psy D) programme is approved by the HCPC and accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).

Why study this programme?

The programme provides:

  • a unique research-based approach to practice
  • module-based learning in core domains underpinned by contemporary developments in educational psychology
  • a distinctive focus upon anti-oppressive practice and supporting diversity, and on supervision.
  • a highly praised tutorial system
  • close, supportive working relationships with local Educational Psychology Services 

You will undertake supervised professional practice placements in each year.

To complete the programme, you will need to meet the requirements of all three stands: academic, research and supervised professional practice.

On completion, you will demonstrate the Standards of Proficiency required of practitioner educational psychologists by the HCPC, and the learning outcomes specified by the BPS.

Inclusivity Statement

The Educational Psychology tutor team are committed to creating a caring, and inclusive environment in which everyone feels they belong, fit, and may thrive. We welcome, value, and embrace diversity in our trainees and tutor team, such as differences in cultural backgrounds, race, ethnicity, disability, age, class, religion or belief, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

We aim to embed this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in our teaching and learning practices, our tutorials, our curriculum, guest speakers, placements, research, and other events. We actively engage with the impact of structural oppression through our curriculum and understand that this involves a continuous approach to learning for us all. We are therefore committed to examining our practices to ensure that our course prepares trainees for the diverse communities with whom educational psychologists work. We support the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Scheme.

Open evening

The date of the next online Open Evening for our programme is Thursday 10th October 2024 from 6 - 7.30 pm. Please register online for this event. 

You may view the powerpoint slides from our last Open Evening event on 5 October 2023. 

Accreditation

This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society

 

Modules

Programme Structure

The App Ed Ch Psy D is a three-year programme, with 540 credits; 180 credits can be gained in each year.   

Accreditation/APL

Accreditation of certificated prior learning (APL) applies solely in the case of the three Year 1 research modules (20 credits each). For these modules, subject to you producing evidence of an appropriate match in level and content between your previous studies and the Birmingham research module(s) for which you are seeking exemption, APL and credit transfer may be approved. APL is not offered for other modules or components of the programme.

Unless indicated otherwise the modules listed for this programme are for students starting in 2022.

Year 1

There are seven modules in Year 1:

  • Assessment and Intervention
  • Psychology in Professional Practice
  • Working with Organisational and Communities
  • Complex Individual Needs
  • Philosophy of Social Science Research
  • Research Design, Practice and Ethics
  • Fundamentals in Qualitative Research Methods

In Year 1 there are two supervised placements in Local Authority Psychological Services.

Year 2

In Year 2 you will extend your learning and skills through advanced supplementary workshops, that include focus on:

  • The needs of more vulnerable learners
  • Facilitating change in community and other settings
  • Family-based work
  • Therapeutic intervention
  • Collaboration with other professional groups and agencies. 

You will also undertake a 130-day bursary-funded placement in an Educational Psychology Service and begin developing your two-volume research submission.

Year 3

In Year 3 extension and consolidation workshops continue.

You will undertake a further 130-day bursary-funded placement, typically continuing in the same Educational Psychology Service.

The two-volume research thesis is submitted in Year 3.


Please note: the information provided above may be subject to modification in response to a range of influences, including developments in the profession of educational psychology, in the context in which educational psychologists work and within the University.

Fees

Fees for the programme are paid for by the Department for Education. Please view the AEP website for details of the funding

How To Apply

Our Standard Requirements

Entry requirements are set by the Association of Educational Psychologists and full details may be found on their website. Please note that as we do not offer self-funded places can you check the residency criteria to ensure that you meet the eligibility requirements for funding.

International Requirements


The educational psychology team is part of the Department of Disability, Inclusion and Special Educational Needs (DISN) within the School of Education where we are fortunate to work with colleagues with a range of specialisms. Many of our colleagues provide specialist input to the course through teaching and supporting the work that trainees complete for their thesis.

For its effective delivery, the programme has acquired a secure partnership between the University and the Local Authority (LA) Psychological Services. As well as contributing to curriculum planning, delivery and staffing of the programme, local services also contribute to the first year of the programme through the supervision of placement activity (which accounts for approximately 70 days, spread across two placements, each undertaken in a different local authority) in a range of public sector and voluntary agency settings.

In Years 2 and 3 of the programme, students have a different role within educational psychology services when they take up bursary funded placements as trainee educational psychologists.

All members of the tutor team are experienced educational psychologists who have worked in a number of different local authorities and are actively involved in developments within their employing LAs. The tutor team is able to provide trainees with a broad range of learning opportunities in terms of academic teaching, research activity, professional guidance and tutorial support.

Assessment Methods

The academic and research requirements are assessed through a number of assignments completed during Year 1 of the programme, and a thesis compiled during Years 2 and 3 of study. The thesis comprises two volumes: Volume 1 is a report of a substantive original empirical study, while Volume 2 contains four practitioner research reports of work undertaken during the second and third years of training within the supervised professional practice context(s).

Overview of the Assessment Framework

In order to gain eligibility for the academic award and professional qualification of Doctorate in Applied Educational and Child Psychology, you will need:

  • to achieve a pass mark for all seven of the Year 1 modules (so achieving 180 credits);
  • to achieve a pass mark for your thesis, and pass your viva voca examination (so achieving the remaining 360 Level ‘D’ credits during Years 2 and 3);
  • to pass all the supervised professional practice requirements of the programme, in the judgment of the placement supervisor, and the supervising University tutor, and
  • to conform to the requirements of the University’s ‘Fitness to Practice’ Code and Regulations throughout all components of the programme.

In cases in which a student is unable to complete the programme of study, a number of exit awards are available, to enable the student to translate the credits accrued into a recognised academic award. It should be noted that all such ‘exit’ awards are solely academic awards; none represents a recognised level of professional qualification in educational psychology.

Assessment Methods

The academic and research requirements are assessed through a number of assignments completed during Year 1 of the programme, and a thesis compiled during Years 2 and 3 of study. The thesis comprises two volumes: Volume 1 is a report of a substantive original empirical study, while Volume 2 contains four practitioner research reports of work undertaken during the second and third years of training within the supervised professional practice context(s).

Overall Formative Assessment

At the start of the first year in training, trainee Educational Psychologists will be asked to take a lead in appraising their own transferable entry skills and training needs, and to work in partnership with their personal tutor to map out objectives for each stage of the first year in training, and plan steps that need to be taken in order to achieve these objectives. Thereafter, at regular intervals, review of progress toward meeting these development objectives forms the basis for discussion within tutorials.

Overview of the Assessment Framework

In order to gain eligibility for the academic award and professional qualification of Doctorate in Applied Educational and Child Psychology, you will need:

  • to achieve a pass mark for all seven of the Year 1 modules (so achieving 180 credits);
  • to achieve a pass mark for their thesis, and pass their viva voca examination (so achieving the remaining 360 Level ‘D’ credits during Years 2 and 3);
  • to pass all the supervised professional practice requirements of the programme, in the judgment of the placement supervisor, and the supervising University tutor, and
  • to conform to the requirements of the University’s ‘Fitness to Practice’ Code and Regulations throughout all components of the programme.

In cases in which a student is unable to complete the programme of study, a number of exit awards are available, to enable the student to translate the credits accrued into a recognised academic award. It should be noted that all such ‘exit’ awards are solely academic awards; none represents a recognised level of professional qualification in educational psychology.

The Applied Educational and Child Psychology Doctorate sets out to ensure that by the end of the training, graduates are able to demonstrate the standards of the proficiency required by the Health Care and Professionals Council (HCPC), to enable graduates to apply to join the register maintained by the HCPC. Registration is a necessary condition for practice as an educational psychologist within the UK.

In parallel, the programme conforms fully to the British Psychological Society’s programme accreditation criteria, and addresses the learning outcomes specified for educational psychologists by the Society. Graduation from the programme therefore enables past trainees to apply to the Society for chartered membership as educational psychologists.

To date all graduates of the App Ed and Child Psy D programme have secured posts as local authority educational psychologists upon completion of their postgraduate professional training.