Masters in Clinical Psychology

Hi there! I got accepted into a master's degree in clinical psychology, however, the university seems to not have any accreditation by the BPS. This will be my first time entering the UK and I have a CPA-accredited undergraduate degree in psychology, so my question is, will this be an issue when applying to work part-time within the sphere of mental health specifically in the UK? I saw that people take conversion courses but I am not sure if that is something that would be beneficial as I am already enrolled in a master's degree.

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by jees.ica

Hi there! I got accepted into a master's degree in clinical psychology, however, the university seems to not have any accreditation by the BPS. This will be my first time entering the UK and I have a CPA-accredited undergraduate degree in psychology, so my question is, will this be an issue when applying to work part-time within the sphere of mental health specifically in the UK? I saw that people take conversion courses but I am not sure if that is something that would be beneficial as I am already enrolled in a master's degree.

Your phrase "work part-time within the sphere of mental health" is too vague to be able to answer this question any degree of accuracy.

I could create a web site advertising my services as a therapist or counsellor, with no training or experience in the field, and as long as I could persuade a few clients to listen to my advice I could legitimately say that I "work part-time within the sphere of mental health".

However, I suspect that's not what you had in mind. Does that fact that your Master's will be in Clinical Psychology suggest that that's the field in which you like to work?

To practice as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK, you must (by law) be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). To be so registered you must hold a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. To be accepted on to a doctoral program you must have been awarded Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the BPS (this is normally referred to as GBC). You can gain GBC in one of three ways:
1. Take a BPS-accredited undergraduate degree.
2. Take a BPS-accredited Master's conversion course.
3. Apply for membership of the BPS using your existing non-UK degree, which the BPS will then review to see whether the degree covers the content they want covered to the standard they require.

If you want to work in mental health but not as a practicing Psychologist, then you can ignore all of the above. :smile:

Reply 2

jees.ica

OP

2

Hey! Thanks for the in-depth answer, really helped out a lot! Would you also happen to know if research assistant jobs and psychology assistant jobs could be within the scope of job opportunities for someone after applying for GBC membership and getting accepted? Any info would help.

Reply 3

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by jees.ica

Hey! Thanks for the in-depth answer, really helped out a lot! Would you also happen to know if research assistant jobs and psychology assistant jobs could be within the scope of job opportunities for someone after applying for GBC membership and getting accepted? Any info would help.

For the roles of Research Assistant and Assistant Psychologist, the educational requirements would be down to individual employers to define. So your best bet would be to check https://www.jobs.nhs.uk (although it's down for maintenance currently) and more general job site to see what roles are available, and what their expectations are in terms of education and experience.

Having said that, I believe that attaining GBC would likely meet the educational requirements for such roles.

Masters in Clinical Psychology

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