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FAQs: Course accreditation

I am applying for undergraduate university programmes. Do I still need to get the Graduate Basis for Registration if I want to become a psychologist?

Graduate Basis of Registration (GBR) remains an essential pre-requisite for entry on to postgraduate professional training programmes in the applied psychologies. To get GBR you will still need to complete an accredited undergraduate or conversion programme, or the Society’s Qualifying Examination.

The independent regulator will not be interested in approving undergraduate or conversion programmes, as these do not confer eligibility to practise psychology independently. The Society will continue to accredit those programmes.

I am applying for entry to, or studying on, an accredited Masters programme. Will I need to register with the independent regulator when I complete my studies?

Accredited Masters programmes typically cover the underpinning knowledge component of the requirements for practising psychology without supervision. Therefore, if you wish to practise independently as a health, forensic, occupational, or sport and exercise psychologist in the UK, or as an educational psychologist in Scotland, you will need to complete the remainder of the prescribed training route for the branch of applied psychology in question. Only then will you be eligible for Chartered Psychologist status and membership of the relevant Division of the Society, and able to register with the independent regulator.

Because Masters level qualifications are below the threshold for independent practise, our current understanding is that the independent regulator will not be interested in approving such programmes itself. The Society will continue to accredit those programmes.

I am applying for entry to, or studying on, an accredited Doctorate. Will I need to register with the independent regulator when I complete my studies?

If you wish to practise independently as a psychologist once you are qualified, you will need to register with the independent regulator in order to be able to use one of the titles whose use will be protected by statute. Our current understanding is that, at the point of opening of the statutory register, the independent regulator will automatically approve all programmes that the Society accredits as conferring eligibility for Chartered Psychologist status. This will apply to all Doctorate/Stage 2 programmes, as well as to the Society’s own qualifications.

The regulator will then commence a schedule of visits to approved programmes to review approval arrangements on a programme-by-programme basis. The regulator will publish a list of approved programmes on its website in due course.

Anyone completing an approved programme will be able to register with the independent regulator via the UK approved programmes route. Provided that the programme in question maintains its Society accreditation, they will also be eligible for Chartered Psychologist status and membership of the relevant Division of the Society.

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I am studying for one of the Society’s postgraduate qualifications. What impact will statutory regulation have on me?

Our current understanding is that, at the point of opening of the statutory register, the independent regulator will automatically approve the Society’s postgraduate qualifications. Therefore, when you complete the qualification for which you are registered, you will be eligible for Chartered Psychologist status and membership of the relevant Division of the Society, and able to register with the independent regulator.

Will the independent regulator want to visit all programmes currently accredited by the Society?

The regulator will approve qualifications that enable trainees to meet the requirements for safe, effective and autonomous practice in the applied psychologies. This means that they will be interested only in Doctorate/Stage 2 programmes and the Society’s own postgraduate qualifications, as the competences required for independent practise are set at Doctoral level/level 12. Therefore the regulator will not be involved in approving any undergraduate or Masters level programmes.

Directors of undergraduate and Masters level programmes should continue to engage with the Society’s accreditation process, as Society accredited programmes at these levels will remain essential pre-requisites for completion of the prescribed training routes in each of the applied psychologies. For instance, in order to be able to complete Stage 2 training in Health Psychology, which will lead to both eligibility for Chartered Health Psychologist status and eligibility to register with the independent regulator, trainees will need to be eligible for GBR and have completed an accredited Stage 1 Masters qualification (or the relevant Society qualification).

Directors of Doctorate/Stage 2 programmes can expect to be visited by the independent regulator in due course. The regulator will write to all programmes as soon as its plans for undertaking visits have been agreed. We expect that this will take place during the autumn of 2008. Maintaining Society accreditation will enable graduates to be eligible for Chartered Psychologist status and membership of the relevant Division of the Society, and to register with the independent regulator.

Does that mean I will have to plan for two separate quality assurance processes?

The independent regulator’s programme approvals processes and the Society’s own accreditation processes will operate independently from each other. However, the Society is committed to reducing the quality assurance burden on programme providers wherever possible. We will be working with the independent regulator to ensure that, where possible, approvals and accreditation visits can be scheduled to run concurrently. This should enable programme providers to produce one set of paperwork for both processes, although providers should note that the two processes and their respective outcomes remain independent.

My university offers a portfolio of accredited postgraduate programmes in psychology. Will the independent regulator wish to visit each programme separately?

In due course you will be able to suggest to the independent regulator that multiple programmes at your institution are visited at the same time. You would need to indicate the degree of overlap across the programmes in question in order to enable the regulator to decide whether a combined visit would be appropriate.

Similarly, the Society would be more than happy to consider any request for a combined visit for accreditation purposes. Programme Directors or Heads of Department/School are advised to contact Lucy Horder, Quality Assurance Manager, in the first instance.