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Grades of Membership

Chartered Member

To become Chartered, members must meet a strict set of qualifying criteria. For further details, please see What is a Chartered Psychologist?

Graduate Membership and Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership

For Graduate Membership of the Society you must possess one of the following qualifications:

1. A pass in the Society's Qualifying Examination; or
2. A Society accredited Honours Degree in Psychology; or
3. A Society accredited Postgraduate Qualification in Psychology; or
4. A Society accredited Conversion Qualification; or
5. Such other qualifications in psychology as the Council may accept as not less than the foregoing.

A candidate for election must be proposed by at least two members of the Society who can endorse the candidate's application, and whose signatures are required on the form of application. The Society's Membership Team will automatically assess your qualifications to see whether they meet the requirements for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC).

A candidate applying for election to Membership of the Society should, at the same time, apply for any reduced rate of subscription for which he or she may be eligible. Please see the application form for further details..

Candidates for Graduate Membership who wish to progress to Society-accredited postgraduate training and qualify as Chartered Members must ensure that they have a qualification which also confers the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC).

Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership

The easiest way to achieve the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) is to take a Society-accredited honours degree. If your course is not accredited, or your degree is not in psychology, then you can gain GBC by:

• Taking a conversion course which effectively converts your degree to the equivalent of an honours degree with psychology as the main subject

Further details about the courses should be obtained direct from the universities.

Useful links

• Information for applicants with qualifications gained overseas
• Special case criteria for GBC for academic scholars
  
• Application form: Graduate Membership and GBC
  

Student Membership

Student membership costs just £21 per annum if you are not earning a taxable income (£55 if your income is taxed). It is open to those who are studying:

• psychology at Scottish Higher, A or AS-level;
• an undergraduate degree course that is at least 50% psychology in content; or
• a postgraduate conversion course for non-psychology graduates

The benefits of Student membership of the Society include:

• The Psychologist magazine every month, which contains details of available jobs.
• PsychTalk, the quarterly magazine with a careers focus from the Society’s Student Member Group.
• Discounts on books, journals and conference fees
• The chance to transfer into Graduate Membership of the Society for free (saving on the £20 application fee for Graduate Membership).
• The recognition of belonging to a professional body, the opportunity to get involved, and the Society’s support at the start of your career.
• Membership of the Society's Student Members Group.

Student Members are entitled to attend Scientific Meetings and Branch Meetings, but they may take no part in the government of the Society or its member networks. Applicants for Student Membership are required to sign an Income Statement to determine the level of subscription payable.

Students eligible to apply for Graduate Membership are debarred from being elected to Student Membership.

Student Members of the Society also automatically become members of the Student Members Group.

• Application form: Student Membership

Affiliateship

No formal qualification in psychology is required to become an Affiliate of the Society.

If you hold qualifications that make you eligible for Graduate Membership you may not become an Affiliate.

Affiliates are in general entitled to the privileges of members, including notice of and attendance at Scientific Meetings and Branch Meetings, but they may take no part in the government of the Society, its Branches, Sections, Divisions or Special Groups.

Subscription to The Psychologist is not automatically including with Affiliateship but can be purchased for an additional fee.

• Application form: Affiliateship

Associate Fellowship

Members may apply for election to Associate Fellowship of the Society. Members applying for Associate Fellowship must satisfy one of the following conditions since first becoming eligible for Graduate Membership:

1. have successfully completed an aggregate of at least two years' study or practice of psychology since meeting the postgraduate requirements to be a Chartered Psychologist; or
2. have been engaged in the application, discovery, development or dissemination of psychological knowledge or practice for an aggregate of at least seven years; or
3. have published psychological works or exercised specialised psychological knowledge of a standard not less than in 1 or 2 above.

Application form: Associate Fellowship

Fellowship

A Fellowship is the highest grade of Membership to which a Member can be elected. Therefore the criteria cannot be as closely prescribed as those for the other grades of Society Membership.

The Society's Trustees have produced a booklet detailing the criteria for the award.

Application/Nomination form and criteria information: Fellowship

Enquiries

If you have any queries about membership of the Society, please contact the Membership Team (e-mail: applications@bps.org.uk; telephone +44 (0)116 252 9911.