Educational and Child Psychology (Taught)

This course does not participate in the generic Postgraduate Open Evenings and it has its own Open Event.

Application deadline of 4pm, 21 March 2024. All applications will be considered after the deadline. Interviews will take place in May 2024.

This course provides full-time professional training leading towards registration with the Health and Caring Professions Council (HCPC) as an Educational Psychologist (this is a protected title). During the programme trainees will participate in University-based teaching and learning, modular assessments, research culminating in a doctoral thesis and professional practice placements in Local Authorities and other settings relevant to educational psychologist work.

This course will equip you to work as an Educational Psychologist in Local Authority children's services, Educational Psychology teams, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), voluntary agencies or independently. We are driven by our determination to work towards social justice for vulnerable young people and their families and for children with special educational needs and to advocate for their rightful place in society.

The Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology programme at UEL aims:

To ensure trainees:
develop the Standards of Proficiency required to work as safe and effective educational psychologists
understand the implications of the HCPC's standards of conduct, performance and ethics
develop autonomous practice and reflective thinking
develop appropriate research skills as a basis for evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence
respect the rights and needs of service users through a commitment to equal opportunities and the principles of beneficence, autonomy and social justice.
become competent and creative educational psychologists able to work effectively in educational and community settings

In reflecting the ethos of the University of East London the programme is committed to:

• applying psychology to make a positive difference to children and young people and their families

• using a broad range of assessment instruments with due consideration to their relevance to the client, their needs and likely interventions

• applying and keeping up to date with research evidence in child development and educational psychology

• listening to the child's perspective and involving children and young people in decision-making

• valuing the role of parents and carers in the education of children with additional needs

• promoting the inclusion of children and young people with special educational needs into mainstream schools

• exercising duty of care with regard to safeguarding children

• reflecting our multi-cultural and diverse society

• promoting equal opportunities which recognise differences of race, disability, gender, sexuality, age, religious, cultural and socio-economic status

• carrying out research that promotes participation and is of benefit to communities

We are looking for practitioners who are seeking to extend their use of psychology with children, young people and families. You will need the Graduate Basis for Certification with the BPS and relevant experience. Full details of the application requirements and processes are available from The Association of Educational Psychologists.

In recent years, around half of our students have been teachers or Assistant Educational Psychologists, while other professions represented have included Teaching Assistants, mental health and clinical practitioners, youth workers and social workers. Many have postgraduate qualifications as well as a depth of relevant paid experience.

The course meets both the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) standards and the Division of Educational and Child Psychology - British Psychological Society (DECP) criteria for three-year training.

Educational Psychology Theory & Practice 1; Professional Practice Placement in Educational and Child Psychology 1; Educational Psychology Theory & Practice 2; Professional Practice Placement in Educational and Child Psychology 2; Educational Psychology Theory & Practice 3; Professional Practice Placement in Educational and Child Psychology 3.

Students are assessed in three main areas: professional skills, academic ability and research skills. These skills are integrated throughout the programme and are evident in all pieces of assessed work. We use a range of assessment methods, including, essays, reports and presentations (individual and group), all of which meet a range of different learning styles and best meet the learning outcomes.

To obtain the degree of Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology all aspects of the assessment procedure in all three years must be passed.