School of Psychology

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School of Psychology

• Professional Training anda Career as an
  Educational Psychologist
• An Introductory talk by John Gameson - October
  2009
• Professional Director - DEdPsy Professional
  Training Programme
• and Senior Educational Psychologist, Blaenau
  Gwent County Borough Council
• Programme website at - http//www.cardiff.ac.uk/ps
  ych/dedpsy

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Main Questions

• What is an educational psychologist (EP)?
• Where do EPs work?
• What do EPs do?
• What are the entry requirements for the
  three-year DEdPsy programme?
• Where are EPs trained?
• What procedures govern applications for places?
• What are the funding arrangements?
• What are the career prospects and salary
  structure for EPs?
• What does the Cardiff DEdPsy Initial Training
  Programme provide?
• What are the main features of the Cardiff DEdPsy
  selection process?
• How can you find out more about the job?  

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What is an educational psychologist (EP)?

• An applied psychologist trained/specialising in
  educational issues - usually working with the 0
  to 19 age range and their families/schools etc.
• Strategic application of psychology to promote
  psychological/emotional well being and
  educational opportunity for all.
• Flexible change-focused, problem-solving and
  hypothesis-testing approaches in response to a
  wide variety of issues and concerns, including
  (but not only) special needs. Focus on
• collaborative work to empower/enable people and
• understanding, facilitating and managing change.

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Where do EPs Work?

• Local Authorities (LAs) 
• Social Services
• Health Authorities
• Further Education
• Higher Education
• Local Communities
• Private Practice

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What do EPs do? -1Systemic and Organisational
Work

• Helping with LA planning and policy formulation.
  (e.g., literacy, early years, behavioural support
  plans and special provision).
• Supporting schools in the development of their
  policies. (e.g., behaviour management, child
  protection and bullying).
• Collaborating with others in the development of
  multi-agency policies.(e.g., mental health, child
  protection and social inclusion).
• Training for teachers and others. (e.g., stress
  management, thinking skills and self esteem).
• Research and Development. (e.g., surveys,
  evaluation work and information packs for
  parents, teachers and others).
• Organisational development and group work to
  promote educational opportunity and psychological
  welfare for all children and young people.(e.g.,
  school improvement, positive behaviour management
  and personal development for all).

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What do EPs do? - 2 Indirect Work with
Parents, Teachers Others

• Consultative meetings in many different contexts
  with adults who have concerns about individuals
  or groups in their care, school, class etc.
  (children, adolescents or young adults).
• These approaches are intended to enable or
  empower the adults to
• retain ownership of their issues and concerns
  and
• understand and manage the issues and concerns
  more confidently and effectively.
• They might include
• consultation sessions, problem-solving meetings
  and/or solution-oriented work focusing on
  understanding and promoting change
• advice and guidance to individuals and groups
  and
• review meetings (statutory and non-statutory).

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What do EPs do? - 3 Direct Work with
Individual Children, Adolescents and Young Adults
(mostly aged 0 to 19)

• Counselling and therapy, including
  solution-oriented work, in response to a wide
  range of issues/problems. (e.g., learning,
  social, emotional and/or behavioural problems).
• Psychological and educational assessment.
• Writing reports and implementing/evaluating
  intervention strategies or special provision.
• Statutory assessments and formal psychological
  advice to the LA.
• Work related to child protection procedures and
  the Children Act.
• Specialist work related to a wide range of
  disabilities.(e.g., sensory impairments, physical
  disabilities, severe and complex learning
  difficulties, specific learning
  difficulties/dyslexia, speech and language
  problems and autistic spectrum disorders).

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What are the entry requirements for the
three-year DEdPsy Programme? - 1

• Currently, applicants must be eligible for the
  Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) of the
  British Psychological Society (BPS) and must
  provide written confirmation of this by a set
  deadline (e.g., before 31st December 2009 at
  Cardiff).
• To be eligible for GBR applicants must either
  have
• undertaken a qualification in psychology (usually
  a Bachelor (Honours) degree) which has been
  approved by the BPS as conferring the Graduate
  Basis for Registration or
• passed the Society's Qualifying Examination or
• undertaken an appropriate Society approved
  conversion course.
• Further details can be found on the BPS website.

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What are the entry requirements for the
three-year DEdPsy Programme? - 2

• Applicants must also be able to demonstrate that
  they have gained relevant experience of working
  with children (0-19 age range) within
  educational, childcare or community settings.
• The programme team is not in a position to
  comment on the suitability of particular
  experiences.
• The programme team is most interested in the use
  applicants have made of their experiences to
  prepare themselves for training as applied
  psychologists of the highest quality in education
  contexts.

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What are the entry requirements for the
three-year DEdPsy Programme? - 3

• Applicants who undertook their psychology degrees
  at a university in the UK or Republic of Ireland,
  and who are unsure whether they are eligible for
  GBR, should contact their respective course
  directors who should be able to confirm whether
  they have GBR or not. A full list of
  undergraduate accredited courses is available
  from the British Psychological Society (BPS).
  Applicants will be required to provide written
  confirmation of eligibility for GBR.

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What are the entry requirements for the
three-year DEdPsy Programme? - 4

• Applicants who studied overseas will be required
  to demonstrate that they are eligible for GBR and
  should apply to the BPS for Graduate Membership.
  Eligibility for GBR will be considered
  automatically when applying for Membership and
  decisions on both will be communicated at the
  same time. Please note that applicants are
  responsible for confirming GBR and applications
  for Graduate Membership can take several months
  to process.

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Where Are EPs Trained?
There are currently 13 BPS accredited programmes
in England and Wales

• Birmingham
• Bristol
• Cardiff
• East London
• Exeter
• Institute of Education, London
• Manchester

• Newcastle
• Nottingham
• Sheffield
• Southampton
• Tavistock Clinic, London
• University College, London

From September 2009 all programmes will be
monitored, evaluated and regulated by the Health
Professions Council (HPC), in conjunction with
the BPSs Division of Educational and Child
Psychology (DECP) Training Committee.
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What procedures govern applications for places? -
1

• The Childrens Workforce Development Council
  (CWDC) manages a Clearing House System - but only
  for training programmes in England.
• Cardiff University has a separate application
  process for places on the Cardiff DEdPsy.
• Further details are published on our DEdPsy web
  pages at http//www.cardiff.ac.uk/psych/dedpsy

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What procedures govern applications for places? -
2

• For information about the 2010 programmes in
  England see the CWDC website http//www.cwdcounci
  l.org.uk/educationalpsychology/

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What are the funding arrangements? - 1

• Currently, each funded trainee on the Cardiff
  DEdPsy programme receives from the WLGA/WAG
• a training grant/bursary (14,000) for all three
  years of the programme and
• fee elements of 11,000 in Year 1 and 5000 in
  each of Years 2 and 3.
• No additional funds are provided for travel
  expenses etc. but many educational psychology
  services (EPSs) now pay the costs of travel for
  journeys that trainees make on EPS business
  during placement.

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What are the funding arrangements? - 2

• From September 2008, all new trainees on the
  Cardiff DEdPsy programme have had to pay a fee
  supplement in all three years.
• This is required to make up the difference
  between the currently static central funding and
  the University fees, which increase each year.
• The Year 1 fee supplement for trainees starting
  in September 2010 will be 2,000 and there will
  also be fee supplements of 1,000 in each of
  Years 2 and 3.

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What are the funding arrangements? - 3

• Trainees on the Cardiff DEdPsy programme must
  successfully complete all programme requirements
  each year in order to progress to the next year.
• Funding in a subsequent year depends on
  successful completion of the previous year.

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What are the funding arrangements? - 4

• Currently, on the Cardiff DEdPsy programme, no
  places are offered to self-funding candidates or
  to those who have sources of funding other than
  the central funding provided by the WLGA/WAG.
• We will continue to consult numerous stakeholders
  before deciding if we will be able to offer a
  very limited number of places to self funders
  in future.
• Self funders would have to pay the full fees
  (including fee supplements) and may be required
  to pay an additional fee supplement to cover the
  cost of fieldwork supervision.

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What are the funding arrangements? - 5

• For information about the funding arrangements
  for training programmes in England, please visit
  the CWDC website at
• http//www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/educationalpsycholog
  y/

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What are the funding arrangements? - 6

• It is expected that the 3 years of training will
  be continuous. Any breaks in training will have
  to be justified and will normally only be allowed
  in case of
• maternity/paternity leave
• certificated sickness and
• some other unavoidable emergency.

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What are the funding arrangements? - 7

• Trainees who withdraw from the programme will no
  longer be eligible for the training grant/bursary
  and may be required to reimburse all payments
  made.
• Trainees who withdraw from the programme, or fail
  to progress, will not be eligible for any further
  funding under the scheme.
• Trainees who are required to repeat a year of the
  programme will not be eligible for any additional
  funding for the repeated year.
• At present the Cardiff programme does not offer
  any award for trainees who may not successfully
  complete the full programme. This includes
  successful completion of the thesis.

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What are the funding arrangements? - 8

• Upon successful completion of the training
  programme, funded trainees may be required, as
  is currently the case, to complete two years of
  employment as an educational psychologist within
  a Local Authority in England or Wales.
• Failure to undertake this may result in the
  recovery of all or a part of the training
  grant/bursary.
• In this event, each case would be considered on
  an individual basis.

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What are the funding arrangements? - 9

• There are currently no conditions attached to the
  WLGA/WAG central funding for trainees on the
  Cardiff programme
• However, at any time in the future, this
  situation could change, resulting in Cardiff
  trainees
• having all their fieldwork placements in Wales
  and
• being obliged to apply for vacant EP posts in
  Wales, and possibly work in Wales, for two years
  after they qualify.

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What are the funding arrangements? - 10

• Arrangements are different in Scotland where two
  universities deliver training University of
  Strathclyde and University of Dundee.
• Arrangements are also different in Northern
  Ireland where Queens University Belfast delivers
  training.
• Please see the CWDCs website and/or check with
  the relevant universities in Scotland and
  Northern Ireland for further information.

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What are the career prospects and salary
structure for EPs?

• Educational Psychology Services in England and
  Wales are currently experiencing recruitment
  problems (especially Welsh speakers and people
  from ethnic and other minority groups).
• A large number of EPs are approaching retirement
  age.
• During the first two years of three-year training
  there were no newly qualified EPs entering the
  profession from BPS accredited training
  programmes.
• Typical job advertisements (please see handout).

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Salary Range for Educational PsychologistsScale
A from September 2008
Plus London Allowances
Minimum salary at age 35 - fully qualified
Extensions to the main scale to accommodate
discretionary scale points and Structured
Professional Assessments
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Salary Range (continued)

• From September 2008 the scale for senior and
  principal educational psychologists ranges from
  42,129 to 57,370 plus five extension points
  from 58,447 and 62,942 to accommodate
  discretionary scale points and Structured
  Professional Assessment.
• Salary scales for senior and principal EPs
  consist of not more than four consecutive points.
• Normal minimum point for principal EP 45,395
  (September 2008).
• Salary scale for assistant EPs ranges from
  26,534 to 29,778 (September 2008).

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What does the Cardiff DEdPsy Initial Training
Programme provide? - 1

• Information about all training programmes in
  England can be found in the Childrens Workforce
  Development Councils (CWDCs) Clearing House
  Handbook. The following information provides some
  examples of what will be provided by the Cardiff
  Programme.

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What does the Cardiff DEdPsy Initial Training
Programme provide? - 2

• The Cardiff Programme is based on the BPS Core
  Curriculum and the DECPTC Accreditation Criteria
  for EP Professional Training Programmes. 
• The programme is designed to provide a
  wide-ranging overview of issues and practices in
  educational psychology. There is a balance struck
  between developing professional skills and
  competencies and developing an understanding of
  the theories and process issues, which inform
  good practice. 

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What does the Cardiff DEdPsy Initial Training
Programme provide? - 3

• The programme consists of
• university-based sessions (blocked weeks)
• investigative visits and practical fieldwork
  placements in Local Authority settings and
  Educational Psychology Services (blocked weeks)
• reading and directed study (blocked weeks)
• research projects, both collaborative and
  individual and
• private study time.

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What does the Cardiff DEdPsy Initial Training
Programme provide? - 4

• Arrangements across the three years are likely to
  be as follows (approximate percentages).
• Year 1 - University - including research (60)
  Fieldwork - including investigative
  visits (40)
• Year 2 - University - including research (46)
  Fieldwork (54)
• Year 3 - University (21)
  Fieldwork - including
  research (79)

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What does the Cardiff DEdPsy Initial Training
Programme provide? - 5

• The following themes underpin University-based
  sessions.
• Research Methods in Educational Psychology.
• Processes and Methods of Assessment.
• The Psychology of Learning Managing Change.
• The Psychology of Behaviour Managing Change.
• Understanding and Working with Organisations,
  Systems and Groups Managing Change.
• The Role of the Educational Psychologist.

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What does the Cardiff DEdPsy Initial Training
Programme provide? - 6

• Trainees on the Cardiff programme
• receive a centrally funded training grant/bursary
  and fee elements during all three years
• have placements in local authority psychology
  services in Wales and some English counties
  during all three years of their programme and do
  not need to find employment during years 2 and 3
  and
• have three separate fieldwork placements in
  different local authorities across the full term
  of the programme.

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What does the Cardiff DEdPsy Initial Training
Programme provide? - 7

• The tutors have been developing COMOIRA - the
  Constructionist Model of Informed, Reasoned
  Action. This is an innovative model for applying
  psychology, where psychological theory and
  research lie at the centre of a flexible process
  that can inform all the different tasks in which
  EPs can become involved. The model is described
  in the 2003 and 2005 editions of the journal,
  Educational and Child Psychology, 20(4), 96-115
  and 22(4), 41-55. It will be used by the
  trainees on their fieldwork placements and in
  group investigations, but is more than simply a
  fieldwork tool. The programme team is keen to use
  COMOIRA in all aspects of work on the programme
  and it has proved useful in professional
  supervision sessions and group consultations this
  year. COMOIRA is in a process of dynamic
  development and will continue to influence all
  aspects of the programme.

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What are the main features of the Cardiff DEdPsy
selection process? - 1

• Two stage selection process
• Stage 1 (22nd and 23rd February 2010) -
  Individual interviews (about 20 minutes) and a
  writing task for all suitable applicants (62 in
  2009).
• Stage 2 (Monday 8th March 2010) - A range of
  selection activities (all day) for a short list
  of approximately 24 applicants.

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What are the main features of the Cardiff DEdPsy
selection process? - 2

• The programme team is looking to recruit trainees
  who
• have made good use of their relevant experiences
  of working with children and young people in
  education, child care or community settings to
  prepare themselves for professional training as
  an educational psychologist of the highest
  quality
• have a good understanding of the needs of
  children and/or young people, especially in
  educational contexts
• have a good understanding of schools, local
  authority education systems and/or childrens
  services, and the broader systems to which they
  relate
• are able to apply psychology appropriately in
  their work with children, young people and
  adults continued

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What are the main features of the Cardiff DEdPsy
selection process? - 3

• The programme team is looking to recruit trainees
  who
• have a good understanding of the key issues and
  debates in education
• have a good understanding of the role and
  function of educational psychologists
• have maintained a keen interest in psychology
  itself (since the programme will not involve the
  re-teaching of undergraduate psychology)
• have a good understanding of the key issues and
  developments in the profession of educational
  psychology
• have excellent interpersonal skills and manage
  their interactions with others sensitively
  continued

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What are the main features of the Cardiff DEdPsy
selection process? - 4

• The programme team is looking to recruit trainees
  who
• have excellent self-management skills and can
  demonstrate these skills in stressful and complex
  situations, e.g., the selection process
• can reflect on their own experiences in order to
  identify salient aspects of learning
• are able to communicate effectively to a high
  standard - orally and in writing
• would participate enthusiastically in all aspects
  of the programme and be open to new learning and
  experiences and
• would also be willing to undertake placements in
  any area of Wales or in parts of England.

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How can you find out more?

• For information and links to other sites, visit
  our website http//www.cardiff.ac.uk/psych/dedpsy
• Contact an Educational Psychology Service (EPS)
  and ask to shadow/interview an EP.
• Read the journal Educational Psychology in
  Practice which all members of the Association of
  Educational Psychologists (AEP) receive quarterly
  and which may also be available in University
  libraries.
• Read the journal Educational and Child
  Psychology which members of the Division of
  Educational and Child Psychology (DECP) receive
  quarterly and which may also be available in
  University libraries.