Msc Clinical Psychology in University of Sussex/ Uni of Exeter or Royal Holloway?

I graduated in psychology from a university outside the UK. I want to be a clinical/counseling psychologist and I'm torn between Sussex, Exeter, and Royal Holloway, Clinical Psychology master's. Exeter has a better ranking and reputation, but I didn't like the courses. Sussex is in Brighton, the courses are relatively better.
On the other hand, I have an acceptance from Royal Holloway, but it has more expensive tuition fees than all of them, but I liked its courses very much.
Which one do you recommend? Does it make a difference whether it is Sussex, RHUL, or Exeter (since Exeter is in the Russel Group) after graduation?

Reply 1

sophsrandall

5

I can't speak to Exeter or RHUL but I did the clinical psychology MSc at Sussex and really enjoyed it. I loved the uni generally and the course itself was well connected with lots of involvement from service users and local clinical psychologists which I found interesting. I got accepted onto the DClinPsy this year with both my BSc and MSc from Sussex, so I wouldn't worry about it not being a Russell - it's a well regarded uni for psychology and most jobs/unis aren't too bothered about which uni you went to anyway.

The only consideration might be if you need a BPS accredited course, as I don't think the Sussex one is, but that won't matter for you if either you've already got BPS accreditation or you're not planning to go through the UK route after graduating.

Reply 2

rokathecat

OP

1

Thank you for your reply! Actually, I am planning to stay in the UK to do my professional doctoral degree or DClinPsy. After that, I could stay in the UK and work as a counselling/clinical psychologist. So I still do not know whether I should accept the offer of Exeter since it is a Russel Group University. As a foreign student, maybe being in a Russel Group University would be a plus for me. How about the courses in Sussex? I searched for them but did you enjoy? Also, I am going to apply for a counselling level 2 course that is HCPC accredited. Could you give me some pieces of advice about becoming a counselling/clinical psychologist?

Thank a lot.

Original post by sophsrandall

I can't speak to Exeter or RHUL but I did the clinical psychology MSc at Sussex and really enjoyed it. I loved the uni generally and the course itself was well connected with lots of involvement from service users and local clinical psychologists which I found interesting. I got accepted onto the DClinPsy this year with both my BSc and MSc from Sussex, so I wouldn't worry about it not being a Russell - it's a well regarded uni for psychology and most jobs/unis aren't too bothered about which uni you went to anyway.

The only consideration might be if you need a BPS accredited course, as I don't think the Sussex one is, but that won't matter for you if either you've already got BPS accreditation or you're not planning to go through the UK route after graduating.

Reply 3

sophsrandall

5

Original post by rokathecat

Thank you for your reply! Actually, I am planning to stay in the UK to do my professional doctoral degree or DClinPsy. After that, I could stay in the UK and work as a counselling/clinical psychologist. So I still do not know whether I should accept the offer of Exeter since it is a Russel Group University. As a foreign student, maybe being in a Russel Group University would be a plus for me. How about the courses in Sussex? I searched for them but did you enjoy? Also, I am going to apply for a counselling level 2 course that is HCPC accredited. Could you give me some pieces of advice about becoming a counselling/clinical psychologist?

Thank a lot.

Honestly my advice would be to not worry about the Russell grouping and just choose the course/location that suits you best. I haven't met anyone in practice or academia that places importance on it and, as I mentioned, Sussex is well regarded within psychology anyway as they're very research intensive with a fantastic faculty. For example, the stats prof (Andy Field) is UK renowned to the extent that if you're not taught by him at Sussex, you'll probably just use his textbook elsewhere. It would maybe be different if you were considering Oxford or Cambridge, but there's not a noted difference between unis like Exeter/Sussex. I can't comment on Exeter's psychology department so it's up to you to decide which you prefer the look of, just make sure you have/get BPS accreditation!

The counselling course may be useful for you if you're going for the counselling doctorate, but if you'd rather do clinical then your time would probably be better spent getting work experience. Most people that get accepted onto the DClin don't have any previous HCPC registrations/accreditations - all you need is a BPS accredited psychology degree at a minimum of a 2:1 and then work experience. My advice would be to start gaining experience as soon as you can and begin with support worker/care assistant type roles as they give you a really good base before you finish your degree and can look to assistant psychologist/research assistant jobs (these are also highly competitive).

Msc Clinical Psychology in University of Sussex/ Uni of Exeter or Royal Holloway?

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