Health Professions Council take advice of psychology experts

The British Psychological Society has today welcomed the announcement by the Health Professions Council (HPC) to set high entry level qualifications for psychologists to be admitted to the forthcoming statutory register of Practitioner Psychologists.

The Society had strongly advised that the entry level needed to be the same as the Society’s current Doctorate level which can be obtained via various routes.

Sue Gardner, President of the British Psychological Society said: "We are delighted that the HPC listened to our advice about education entry levels. We are the existing voluntary regulator and have been since the late 1980s. We represent the consensus of the profession in knowing what level of education and training is required before a psychologist is deemed safe to practice independently and this level has been agreed with the largest public sector employers - the health and education services."

"However, we are disappointed that our advice to protect the title ‘psychologist’ was not taken on board, as this would have been comprehensive and less confusing for the public."

The HPC’s decision is that from 1 July 2009 when they take over as the regulator they will use the same entry level threshold as the Society which we have benchmarked at Doctorate level.

This recognises promises made by the Government to the Society that standards would not drop as a result of the transition from voluntary to statutory regulation.

For more information about the entry levels please see the statutory regulation area of the Society website www.bps.org.uk/statreg

Date: 12th June 2009
Ref: PR1627