Associate membership (AMBPsS)
Designed to support the work of practitioners in psychological wellbeing, children’s wellbeing, and education mental health
Why should I become an Associate member?
Get the recognition your skills and experience deserve
As an Associate member you'll be able to use the AMBPsS designation, a mark of your status and commitment that's respected around the world. You can also refer to yourself as an 'Associate Member of the British Psychological Society'.
Meet mandatory NHS England registration requirements
You can also join our Wider Psychological Workforce register* for Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs), Children's Wellbeing Practitioners (CWPs), and Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs).
Be part of something bigger
With your Associate membership comes access to our member networks – where you can meet, collaborate and share ideas and best practice with other members psychologists involved in your specialism. You'll automatically become a member of your local branch, and we have over 150 more of these exclusive communities of friendly psychology practitioners and academics for you to explore, so you're bound to find somewhere that's perfect for you.
As well as the member networks, we have online communities - thousands of people, all passionate about psychology, coming together to discuss the latest ideas, support each other and make connections. It's a great way to become part of the conversation, and build your network.
See our full list of member benefits
A world of resources to help you in your career
Psychology moves fast. And we know it's often difficult - and expensive - to stay at the cutting edge, so to support Associate members we give you:
- Free print, online and app access to our official magazine, The Psychologist, where you'll find the latest thought leadership, news, reviews and more.
- Free access to BPS academic journals (plus 32 related Wiley titles) via PsychHub.
- Free access to EBSCO online resources, including the full Psychology & Behavioural Sciences collection.
- Free access to our MyCPD online system, a really useful tool that lets you easily plan, record and reflect on your professional development.
- Discounts on tickets to conferences, events and webinars.
- Up to 40% off CPD courses and webinars produced and led by experts in their specialism (online and in-person).
- 25% off Routledge publications.
- 30% off Sage titles.
- 20% off Oxford University Press titles.
- Subsidised Article Publication Charge for our 11 journals, and a 15% discount for BMJ Mental Health - get published for less.
Reduce your business costs too
You'll also get:
- Discounts on professional indemnity insurance. Get the best deal for protecting yourself and your professional services.
- 30% off hiring our meeting rooms at both our Leicester and London offices.
- Income tax relief on all membership subscription fees, saving you money.
- Discounted service regarding DBS checks*.
- Discounts on your shopping with Wider Wallet.
*Additional fees and criteria apply
How do I become an Associate member?
There are two routes for becoming an Associate member.
Route A - Accredited wellbeing practitioner programmes
For those who've successfully completed a BPS-accredited programme of study for a role as a wellbeing practitioner in the wider psychological workforce.
Route B - HEE quality assured programmes
This path is for you if you've completed a children's wellbeing practitioner or education mental health practitioner training programme before January 2023, which is quality-assured by Health Education England.
See the section on EMHP and CWP Accreditation for further information about this.
When completing your application, you'll need to submit copies of academic transcripts for the qualifications you are submitting for assessment - we recommend having these ready before you begin as it speeds up the process considerably!
If you are currently training as a psychological wellbeing practitioner, a children's wellbeing practitioner, or an education mental health practitioner, then you may qualify for our student membership. As a student your first year of BPS membership is free.
Fees
Application fee
There's a one-off, non-refundable application fee of £35 for processing, which needs to be paid when you apply.
If you are an existing student member there is no application fee.
Membership fee
If your application is successful, you will then need to pay the membership subscription fee to complete it.
The cost for Associate membership is £51.
If you choose to also join the Wider Psychological Workforce register there is an additional fee of £54.
You can pay this by a Direct Debit (UK bank accounts only) or with an online card payment.
You can start your application now using our online application form.
As part of your application, you'll need to upload a copy of your academic transcript, so have this ready.
If you're also joining our Wider Psychological Workforce register at the same time as applying for Associate membership, then please also complete the clinical skills supervisor confirmation:
- CWP Clinical Skills Supervisor Confirmation form
- EMHP Clinical Skills Supervisor Confirmation form
- PWP Clinical Skills Supervisor Confirmation form
Once we've received your application it will take less than four weeks to process.
What documents do I need to provide?
You'll need to provide copies (we don’t require originals) of your psychology qualifications.
Transcripts (the list of subjects and grades) are required for all undergraduate, conversion and non-UK qualifications.
For any documents not in English translations are required.
Contact us
If you have any queries please contact the membership team.
How do I obtain Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) confirmation?
We can only provide confirmation that you have the GBC if you’re a current Graduate member of the society.
If you're not a member, to obtain confirmation of GBC from the society you'll need to apply for Graduate membership so we can assess your qualification(s) and determine eligibility.
Contact us
If you have any queries, please contact the Membership Team.
I’m a current student member of the BPS and want to upgrade to Associate or Graduate membership, do I need to pay an application fee?
No, if you are a current student member of the BPS who is upgrading to either associate membership or graduate membership.
We're pleased to say there's no application fee to upgrade.
Can I claim income tax relief on my fees?
The Inland Revenue has agreed to allow tax relief on all membership subscription fees, including division, section, special group and journal payments.
Below is an extract from the Inland Revenue to the Marketing and Promotions Officer dated 4 March 2004:
'Approval under Section 18 Finance Act 1958 (now Section 344 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003) was granted to the society in 1959.
This means that members may claim tax relief for their annual membership subscriptions (core subscription).
It has been decided that this approval should be extended to include any additional annual subscription for membership of a division, section or special group.
The extension also includes any additional subscription paid by members for any of the society's publications.'
To claim, you should either list these payments in your annual tax return or write to your tax office with details of the total amounts paid, what they were and your membership number.
Your tax code will be adjusted accordingly.
For more information on how to claim, email our Subscriptions team or phone +44(0)195 221 4066.
How can I check if my course is accredited when applying for Associate membership?
If you're unsure whether your programme of study will give you eligibility for Associate membership, you need to check whether your course was accredited for your intake year.
To do this please use the Find an accredited course search function.