“By creating we think, by living we learn” Patrick Geddes
We have attempted to answer many of your Frequently Asked Questions below
The course is run jointly by the Universities of Dundee and Stirling in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland. Successful applicants become employees of the NHS and are usually based in Departments of Clinical Psychology or Psychological Therapy Services.
The course is a one year course commencing in January.
Students are employed by one of the participating NHS trusts (9 in 2012), but attend teaching blocks in Dundee and Stirling.
The course begins with a 2 week induction block (one week in Dundee and one in Stirling), and thereafter the teaching blocks are the last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of each month, January to June and August to November, with a Tuesday added in March and April. These alternate between Dundee and Stirling.
Participating Health Boards for 2013 are likely to be drawn from Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Fife, Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Highland, Lanarkshire, Lothian, Orkney and Tayside.
Course fees will normally be paid by NHS Education for Scotland. Trainees’ fees and travel expenses will be covered and salaries paid at agreed national levels (Band 6, first spine point, currently £25,528).
Applicants should hold an Honours degree in Psychology (upper second class or above) conferring the Graduate Basis for Chartership with the British Psychological Society. Applicants must also be eligible for, and have appropriate personal qualities suited to, employment in the NHS. Recruitment will be jointly undertaken by representative senior academic and NHS staff.
At the time of applying for the course, you can indicate your preference for which NHS trust you would prefer to work, but this cannot necessarily be guaranteed.
We ask for an Honours degree in Psychology at 2:1 level or above. Any grade below this will not progress past the first stage of selection.
Unfortunately, you would not be eligible to apply for the January 2013 intake of the course. We require confirmation of an appropriate degree at the time of application and selection.
Yes. It is a formal and non-flexible condition of entry to the course and eligibility for employment as a primary care psychologist that you do have Graduate Basis for Chartership of the BPS. GBC is conferred upon a student who has obtained a first degree, the curriculum of which has been accredited by the BPS.
If you do not have the Graduate Basis for Chartership you would have to approach the BPS for a statement of equivalence. A Statement of Equivalence is given in those cases where another curriculum is judged by the BPS to have set similar academic standards and to have covered similar material. It is, however, a judgement that only the BPS can make and it would be unwise and improper for us to comment further on the likelihood of your degree meeting the requirements of the BPS.
Residency is not taken into consideration. However, you must be eligible for employment within the UK and have the Graduate Basis for Chartership with the British Psychological Society. The course to which you refer is only open to application from people who are eligible for employment within the UK. There is no sponsorship arrangement available.
We are not specifically targeting recent graduates, but inviting applications across the board - essentially the question to be answered is "would this person make a contribution to Applied Psychology?" Over the 8 years of since the inception of the course, our trainees have been in the age range from 21 to 50!
No. You should note that the MSc is not just a "stand alone" MSc; it is undertaken as part of one's employment as a trainee psychological therapist with the NHS within Scotland. Applicants to the course are also applying for a job with the NHS working within primary care and this could be almost anywhere in mainland Scotland. You should also note that the course is run jointly by the Universities of Stirling and Dundee and that it is delivered partly on-line to enable people to carry out their NHS roles. Trainees spend only 17 days per year at each of the universities.
We do not specify that previous experience is a criterion that is required before applying for the job/course. It is not necessary but it may help your application if there are a lot of equally suitable applicants. Of course having previous experience will not hinder your application and so if you can get experience with clinically relevant populations then that would be useful for you in the future. To make a judgement about what might be best, be guided by the MSc course and the material it teaches and the job it is preparing people to do.
This can be a little confusing. Because you are applying both for a course and employment, you need to provide references both for the NHS and the universities. Whilst completing your application, in the Supplementary Information section, you will be asked to download forms to supply one academic reference and one work experience reference. These forms must be submitted prior to 14 September. You can therefore either attach them to your application or send them under separate cover to the address details given. These are the forms for the NHS.
The next 2 sections of your application also ask for referee details (1) and (2). You should use the same referees as you have already used in the Supplementary Information, again indicating whether you are attaching these or sending under separate cover. These are for the universities.
The closing date for applications is 10 August. The applications are then screened academically and sent to the NHS Boards for shortlisting. We would hope to inform candidates in the week beginning 17 September whether or not they have been successful in reaching the interview stage..
Interviews will be held in the Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, from 1-3 October 2012.
We receive approximately 120/130 applications each year, and approximately 50/55 of these are selected for interview.
It really is difficult to give advice on interview preparation. Perhaps the best way to prepare is this - think about the job for which you are applying; what it involves, what challenges it presents, what activities you would be involved in, what characteristics, attributes and approaches to interacting with another human being would be important in a good therapist. If you do that and come up with a reasonably accurate list then you are now aware of what a selection panel are looking for.
The interview is the panel's chance to see if it can detect these qualities in the applicant. The panel will look for a person that can communicate well with people, will be able to do so sympathetically, will be able to inspire confidence in others etc. A panel will also look to see to what extent you understand what you are applying for. Some basic knowledge of the theory and practice of evidence-based psychological therapy in a primary care setting will be expected. Have a look at the NHS website!
Since the inception of the course in 2005, the majority of graduates have been employed by the NHS in Scotland as CAAPs. However, the job situation for CAAPs is currently more competitive, as it is for almost all workers at the moment. Some graduates have gone into the private sector as therapists and some have been employed in other NHS posts that are related but have different job titles. Some graduates have gone on to work in England under the IAPT programme. It is impossible to make predictions about vacancies for 2014, however the requirement for all NHS Boards to provide psychological therapies within 14 weeks from referral by 2014 will require some services to consider their skill mix.
We do not want people to regard this MSc as a stepping stone to the doctorate. The intention in providing this level of training is to add to the skill mix in Psychology in NHS Scotland. However, some of our graduates have later gone on to Clinical Doctorate training.
The course is not yet accredited by a professional body, although we hope that it will be in the future. We have not yet applied to the BABCP for accreditation although some of our graduates have since sought accreditation via the personal route. The course hopes to enter formal discussions with the BABCP during 2012. A formal request to the BPS to begin discussions about recognition of the course was submitted in late 2011. It is hoped that progress will be made with this in 2012.