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Clinical Psychology Doctorate (ClinPsyD)

Start date
September
Duration
3 years full-time
Course Type
Postgraduate, Doctoral research

Our Clinical Psychology Doctorate (ClinPsyD) leads to a professional qualification in Clinical Psychology and eligibility to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council. It is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and confers Chartered status with the BPS.

This programme comprises a combination of academic teaching, research and research training, and professional training during clinical placements.

The programme will enable you to deliver psychology-based treatments by drawing upon a range of models, tailoring interventions to client needs within a range of service contexts.

Our staff have expertise across a range of specialisms, skills and models. Like all similar courses, we give special consideration to cognitive-behavioural approaches but we also equip trainees with knowledge and skills in systemic practice and in psychodynamic and behavioural approaches. In year two, you will be able to choose which of these approaches you wish to specialise in. We will also prepare you for the wider organisational demands of the NHS by providing opportunities for you to understand, appraise and develop your own leadership behaviours.

In the Centre for Applied Psychology, we are committed to involving experts by experience in all the different aspects relevant to our teaching and research. The Experts by Experience Steering Committee (EBESC) is a group that meets regularly to discuss, organise and support the work of experts by experience linked to the Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme. We comprise members from various backgrounds, including local experts by experience who contribute to the course and staff from the Centre for Applied Psychology.

We contribute to our different courses in various ways:

  • Contributing to teaching, including training workshops
  • Reviewing, supporting, designing and contributing to research projects
  • Contributing to the course at a strategic level through feeding into course management committees
  • Involvement in the course admissions process

This programme comprises a combination of academic teaching, research and research training, and professional training during clinical placements. You complete five placements in a range of health settings in the West Midlands.

You will spend approximately 50% of your time in clinical practice, with the remainder divided between teaching, research and academic workshops. Workshops are delivered by experienced local clinicians and experts in the relevant clinical area. Time is scheduled for private study, academic assignments and research. Although there are some longer teaching blocks, a typical week consists of one day teaching, one day study and three days placement throughout the year. The programme is examined by continuous assessment, with students completing a series of assignments and projects over the three years.

Research, which is conducted in the second and third years of the programme, is written up for examination in the form of two papers for publication. The programme is organised on a collaborative basis with local NHS psychologists, and many local clinicians are involved in teaching.

The programme has a long and distinguished history, producing over 500 qualified Clinical Psychologists since 1967. It leads to a professional qualification in Clinical Psychology and eligibility to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council. It is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and confers Chartered status with the BPS.

Our location in the West Midlands, which has a large and diverse population, means you will have access to a broad range of clinical placements and research opportunities. The course is also well integrated with clinical psychology services in the local area.

Birmingham is one of the major centres for clinical psychology training in the UK and most graduates take up posts in NHS departments. At present UK/EU trainees are hosted by a local NHS Trust and paid a salary. University fees are paid by the NHS.

This programme is subject to a Code of Professional Conduct and Fitness to Practise regulations, to which trainees are required to sign up. 

Related links

The course has close links with local clinicians who provide teaching and reflective practice and they work really hard to fit the placements to our learning needs, interests and ambitions. We have five placements across the course working with adults, children, people with intellectual disabilities and older adults, plus a placement in a specialism of our choice, meaning we get to experience a wide range of clinical settings. Our research projects were very flexible in that you could choose pre-arranged projects or general topic areas, and the department established links with appropriate supervisors for the area you wanted to study.

Tom Watson, Clinical Psychology Doctorate alumnus

Modules

Year 1

  • Research in Clincal Psychology
  • Reflection Practice in Clinical Psychology

Year 2

You will continue to attend workshops relating to the academic underpinnings of clinical practice, work under supervision on a clinical psychology placement(s) in the NHS and undertake self-directed learning. You are required to complete one clinical practice report which in due course is bound into the thesis. You also pursue your research project.

Year 3

You must attend a minimum number from a wide choice of workshops relating to clinical psychology. You continue to work under supervision on a clinical psychology placement(s) in the NHS, undertake self-directed learning and complete work on your research thesis. You are required to complete two clinical practice reports which are bound into the clinical volume of the thesis.

Fees

At present UK trainees are hosted by a local NHS Trust and paid a salary. University fees are paid by the NHS. This model may change in the future but candidates should not be deterred from applying and should check the Clearing House for updates at: https://www.clearing-house.org.uk/

The International self-funded fee for 2024/25 is £30,420.

How To Apply

UK applications for 2024 entry (via the Clearing House and directly) are now closed. Interviews will take place between 20 - 26 May 2024 inclusive.

For those assessed as being ‘home for fees’, applications to the ClinPsyD for NHS funded places should be made through the Clearing House in Clinical Psychology.   Home applications close at 13:00 on 22 November 2023.

International/Overseas self-funding applicants

International applications for 2024 entry are now closed (26 January 2024). We are unable to accept late applications.

If you have any queries, please contact clinpsyd-admissions@contacts.bham.ac.uk  for further information.

The application process for overseas applicants has three stages:

  1. The application form is screened when received through the University Application Portal.
  2. Candidates meeting the admission requirements are invited to complete an online ‘written exercise’ between 26 February to 8 March 2024.
  3. Successful candidates will be invited to interview with us (via Zoom) week commencing 6 May 2024.

Our Standard Requirements

You must have at least a 2:1 degree or recognised equivalent at undergraduate level and you will need to provide a certificate or transcript showing your degree level at the time of applying. We welcome applicants with higher degrees which should ideally be in a clinically relevant area. Unfortunately, we do not accept applicants with a 2:2 at undergraduate level, even if they have a Master's or PhD. Whilst people who have taken conversion courses are not at a disadvantage in our process, we do require their original degree to be 2:1 or above.

We also require evidence of competence in research methods as evidenced by a score/rating of at least 60% on the undergraduate research dissertation – noted on the undergraduate transcript. Applicants who do not yet have an undergraduate transcript, or who have completed a conversion course without a detailed transcript, would need to provide formal evidence of research competence from the awarding University. This could take the form of an academic referee commenting specifically upon these competences, including explicit reference to the applicant's scores on research and statistics modules.

Candidates must have Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) of the British Psychological Society. For guidance on the kinds of experience considered to be relevant when applying for the Clinical Psychology Doctorate, please visit the Clearing House for Postgraduate Courses in Clinical Psychology’s website.

Selection Procedure

We operate our selection procedures in line with NHS Values Based Recruitment.

Our selection process is as follows:

  1. NHS funded applications are initially made via the Clearing House for Postgraduate Courses in Clinical Psychology’s website (for international applications please see below).
  2. Applications are screened to ensure that candidates meet our minimum academic entry criteria (as described above).
  3. Applicants who meet our minimum academic criteria are short-listed according to information presented on the application form. This includes elements such as academic/research competence and relevant experience. Seventy five short-listed candidates are invited to attend the University of Birmingham for half a day (morning or afternoon), which includes a series of interviews and a written exercise designed to assess competence in research. Experts by experience and local clinicians are involved in the interview process. After the final interview date, offers are made to the most suitable candidates subject to satisfactory DBS disclosure and Health and Immunisation checks. Please note: the offer process at the University of Birmingham has several steps, and the final formal offer will be made by the University of Birmingham Admissions Team.

Equal opportunities

We are very conscious of being situated in an area of rich ethnic and cultural diversity, and the course particularly welcomes applications from people from ethnic minority groups.  We take measures to ensure that no applicant is discriminated against on the grounds of age, social class, disability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religion. 

We are actively addressing issues of race and diversity in the curriculum and in all aspects of the course. We do not currently use equal opportunities data during the selection process and we do not currently subscribe to the "Disability Confident Scheme" (also known as "double tick"). However, we are actively considering how best to include contextual admissions values in our selection procedures, and although we don’t yet have a formal position on this, we will update this webpage with any developments.

Please note that if you have given your consent, we may use equal opportunities data collected by the Clearing House during selection to inform future selection strategies.

Work experience

Applicants must demonstrate that they have been engaged in work experience that allows them to understand the profession of clinical psychology, and to demonstrate skills that can be enhanced through training, that are relevant to the role. We require applicants to have completed at least one year's full-time clinically relevant experience (which can include placement experience from a clinically relevant Master's degree) at the time of applying. This experience could come from a variety of roles, including Assistant Psychology and research posts, and graduate roles within IAPT services. However, this is not an exhaustive list of potential relevant experience. Applicants need to demonstrate that they have been applying psychological principles in a clinical setting, preferably under the supervision of a psychologist, or have been engaged in research that is relevant to a clinical population (eg as a research assistant or as part of a 3-year PhD). The experience could be spread across more than one year but must equate to one year full-time as a minimum requirement. Candidates are required to describe this experience clearly on the application form. Candidates who have previously pursued relevant professional careers will be considered on an individual basis; however, all applicants must meet our minimum academic requirements and requirements for GBC (see above for details).

Please ensure when detailing Clinical Experience gained, that you are clear how many hours you worked per calendar week if this role is part time. In addition, it is helpful to detail the tasks / role carried out and the profession of the person supervising or overseeing that work. This information could be within your supporting information or an uploaded CV.

Please note that for applications for the ClinPsyD, a research proposal and names of proposed research supervisors are not required as research projects are developed during the first year of training in collaboration with staff and local clinicians.

International students

We welcome applications from international self-funding candidates. Such applicants must meet the same entry criteria as those applying for NHS funded places (see above) and also have overseas fees status. This is assessed by the University Admissions team. Applications for overseas candidates are made directly to the University of Birmingham and not through the Clearing House

Standard English language requirements apply

For candidates whose first language is not English or whose first degree was not taught in English the minimum requirements are IELTS 7.0 with no less than 6.5 in any band. 

International Requirements



International Students


  • IELTS 7.0 with no less than 6.5 in any band
  • TOEFL: 95 overall with no less than 22 in any band
  • Pearson Test of English (PTE) including online: PTE Academic 76 with no less than 67 in all four skills
  • Cambridge English (exams taken from 2015): Advanced or Proficiency – minimum overall score of 185, with no less than 176 in any component

The programme is examined by continuous assessment, with students completing a series of assignments and projects over the three years.
Birmingham is one of the major centres for clinical psychology training in the UK and most graduates take up posts in NHS departments.