Wider Psychological Workforce Registration

Whether you’re looking as an individual or as an employer, you can use our Wider Psychological Workforce Register.

About

The register lets you search for professionals who are working in psychological practitioner and applied psychology roles that are not regulated by law.

It shows those registered have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to practice in their role and shows commitment to their area of practice.

The requirements and standards an individual needs to demonstrate to be listed on the register have been developed in collaboration with NHS England and NHS Education for Scotland (for Scottish CAAP roles) – so you can be confident in your search with us.

View the range of courses for members and registrants on BPS Learn

Visit Member Connect, our online community for members and registrants

Ahead of NHS England’s introduction of mandatory registration for CWPs and EMHPs, the BPS and BABCP presented an online webinar on 13 March 2024. You can watch this webinar and find out more about the requirements and maintenance of registration.

We are the British Psychological Society (BPS). We are a registered charity which acts as the representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK, and is responsible for the promotion of excellence and ethical practice in the science, education, and application of the discipline.

Find out more about who we are and what we do.

We have been approved by NHS England to provide an individual registration scheme for psychological wellbeing practitioners, children’s wellbeing practitioners and education mental health practitioners, having met the requirements for NHS England recognition.

We also register applied psychology roles in the psychological professions across the four nations that are not regulated by law and fall outside of NHS England’s registration scheme, including Clinical Associate in Applied Psychology in Scotland and Clinical Associate in Psychology developed in England.

We are the accrediting body for the training courses for all of these roles. We work in partnership with education providers to ensure quality standards in education and training are met by all the programmes we accredit. You can find an accredited course through our accredited course search.

The British Psychological Society (BPS) Wider Psychological Workforce Register is an accredited register of the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). The PSA accredits registers so that the public can be confident when using the services provided by health and care practitioners on those registers.

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care promotes the health, safety and wellbeing of patients, service users and the public by raising standards of regulation and registration of people working in health and care. It is an independent body, accountable to the UK Parliament, with public protection at the heart of everything they do.

The PSA oversee regulators who register health and care professionals working in regulated professions and therefore regulate the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) who are responsible for regulating practitioner psychologists.

The PSA also independently assess and accredit other organisations who register practitioners whose roles are not regulated by law, working both within and outside the NHS. Those organisations that meet the PSA standards are awarded with a quality mark, demonstrating commitment to the health, wellbeing and safety of the public. The accredited registers scheme covers a number of psychological professions including: Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners, Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners, Education Mental Health Practitioners, Clinical Associates in Applied Psychology (in Scotland) and Clinical Associates in Psychology.

Voluntary registration with a register that is approved by the PSA is the approach that is taken with many health and care professional roles that are not subject to statutory regulation to ensure oversight of practitioners in those roles for the protection of the public.

The BPS was first accredited in August 2022 to hold a Wider Psychological Workforce register for individuals practising within the UK. We are assessed annually to ensure we continue to meet the PSA’s standards to be awarded the Quality Mark. This shows our commitment to protecting the public and upholding standards of good practice as a registering body.

The BPS is a registered charity which acts as the representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK, and is responsible for the promotion of excellence and ethical practice in the science, education and application of the discipline.

The society is an accrediting body, accrediting education and training programmes in psychology.

Accreditation is the means by which the society reaches a view on whether psychology courses are suitable to support students’ achievement of learning outcomes, and are supported by an appropriate resource base.

It ensures that they have studied the required curriculum (whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level) in sufficient breadth and depth, and is the means by which the society engages in dialogue with providers of psychology education and training, and provides a detailed external review of the provision in question.

The standards for accreditation reflect the requirements necessary for membership of the Society at particular levels and for entry on to the Wider Psychological Workforce Register.

The society holds a number of directories and registers that members can apply to join. Our directories enable members to advertise their services and our registers enable members to highlight their training and experience in particular areas and gain recognition of their knowledge skills and competence.

Find out more information about our directories and registers

The society is an accredited register holder for the Wider Psychological Workforce Register, which is the only society register currently accredited with the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

For employers, registration gives confidence that competency, high standards and safe practice are maintained through a code of practise and continuing professional development. It also shows that the individual is committed to developing themselves professionally. Some employers such as the NHS require registration as a condition of employment.

For patients and the public it helps them to feel confident that the psychological professional they see is competent, trustworthy and maintains high standards. It ensures that action is taken to protect them from risk by managing complaints and fitness to practise concerns as part of a government backed scheme to protect the public.

As the society is the accrediting body for the training programmes for each of the roles on the register and also offers individual registration for these roles conflicts of interest are carefully managed within each Committee and Board to ensure openness, transparency and appropriate management. The accreditation and registration processes and procedures are managed by distinct teams.

Find out more about our governance.

The Health and Care professions Council (HCPC) is the UK regulator for psychologists and protects nine titles of psychologist: Clinical Psychologist, Counselling Psychologist, Educational Psychologist, Forensic Psychologist, Health Psychologist, Occupational Psychologist, Sport and Exercise Psychologist, Registered Psychologist and Practitioner Psychologist.

Become registered

The wider psychological workforce is a diverse, growing and highly valued profession. That’s why our register is just the first step towards a number of new developments that recognise those working in important roles as part of the psychological professions.

Being accredited shows our commitment to high standards and public protection, which means you’re in safe hands.

What is registration and who is it for?

The Wider Psychological Workforce Register is an individual registration scheme, accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), for those working in psychological practitioner and applied psychology roles that are currently not regulated by law.

Individual registration provides a recognised framework that demonstrates registered psychological practitioners have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to practice.

Registration is voluntary, however some employers may require you to be registered in your role as a condition of your employment.

On successful application, your name, role and employing organisation will be published on our register. This shows that you meet our standards for registration and demonstrates to that you are committed to maintaining high-quality standards in clinical practice, supervision and continuing professional development.

What roles do we register?

There are a number of roles on the Wider Psychological Workforce Register. These include:

Wellbeing Practitioner roles:

Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP)
Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP)
Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP)

Associate Psychology roles:

Clinical Associate in Applied Psychology (CAAP) Scotland
Clinical Associate in Psychology (CAP)

How we support you

There are a number of ways that the BPS support you:

Accreditation standards – we’re the accrediting body for the training programmes which lead to the roles that we’re registering.
New associate membership which has been designed for the wellbeing practitioner roles we’re registering. We also have a new full membership grade which qualified CAPs and CAAPs that have completed a BPS accredited training are eligible for. Find out more about BPS membership.
Developing a range of continuing professional development opportunities.
Promoting these roles through our careers resources and information.

BPS member benefits

As a member, you can access a range of benefits, including continuing professional development opportunities on BPS Learn. plus access to all our courses and webinars at exclusive member rates.

Our ambition is to offer a comprehensive framework of support and recognition for the wider psychological professions, working in partnership with our members to achieve this.

We want to ensure that those working in these roles are part of a community where they have access to insight across psychology and psychologically informed developments to expand their own learning and practice as a psychological professional.

Eligibility to join the register

To join the register, you’ll need:

To be a graduate member or associate member of the BPS
To meet the eligibility requirements for your specific role including having completed the accredited training
To complete the application form including supervisor confirmation and academic transcript
To pay your application and registration fees

If you would like more information about becoming registered or to find out the status of your application, please contact [email protected].

Registration requirements

The requirements to register as a PWP are as follows:

Training requirements

Successful completion of a BPS-accredited PWP training programme. If qualifying by the apprenticeship route, in addition PWPs must have passed the apprenticeship end-point assessment with the apprenticeship certificate required as evidence.
The only exception from the requirements outlined above are the completion of the forerunner trainings or the Health Education England commissioned 2021 ‘PWP Assessment of Competence Scheme’ as outlined in the NHS Talking Therapies (IAPT) Manual.

Practice requirements

Be in current employment in PWP specified system of care

In order to meet requirements for individual registration, PWPs will operate within a clearly identified stepped-care pathway such as an NHS Talking Therapies (IAPT) service returning data to NHS Digital in England. This means that the service within which they work will allow seamless stepping-up and stepping-down of treatment.

Registrants will be delivering evidence-based interventions across the adult age span, working with common mental health problems and long term physical health problems with a psychological component. They must be receiving case and clinical supervision for their work. They will also use routine outcome measures.

Confirmation of current employment in the specified system of care will be evidenced through the provision of a supervisor confirmation.

Six months experience of working within the specified system of care

The experience must ensure the right pathways of referral on/stepping up in a stepped-care pathway and good clinical governance. The six months can include time spent working as a trainee.

Meet the minimum clinical practice requirements

In order to ensure that all PWPs practice to the high standard we expect and maintain versatile competence, a minimum of two hours clinical practice per week is required to meet registration criteria.

This clinical practice must include both assessment and treatment at Step 2 and delivery must be via live interventions e.g. telephone, video or face to face. Computerised CBT can be undertaken but cannot be included in these two hours.

Adult IAPT services commissioned to work with ages 16+

PWPs working in services that are commissioned to provide adult IAPT for patients aged 16-18 are eligible to register and must be working within the specified system of care outlined.

Supervision

Be receiving supervision from an appropriately qualified supervisor

All PWP Clinical Skills Supervisors must have completed an NHS Talking Therapies (IAPT) supervisor specific training programme
All supervisors must have demonstrable knowledge and experience of delivering low-intensity interventions and be conversant with the service’s CBT-based self-help and online materials and site protocols

Be receiving the minimum required case management and clinical skills supervision:

A minimum of one hour per week of individual clinical case management supervision
At least one hour per fortnight of clinical skills supervision
Regular live assessment of practice (based on NHS Talking Therapies Manual)

Eligibility for PWP provisional accreditation with BABCP

Registering as a PWP with the BPS provides eligibility for BABCP’s Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (KSA) condensed portfolio for provisional accreditation.

Further information about PWP Registration

NHS England, BPS and BABCP, held an open webinar in April 2022 to provide information on PWP registration.

You may read the responses to questions raised during the session which have been provided by NHS England.

The requirements to register as a CWP are:

Training requirements

Pre January 2023: successful completion of a Health Education England Quality Assured CWP training programme
Post January 2023: successful completion of a BPS accredited CWP training programme.

If your programme isn’t currently showing on the course search it may be that your training provider is currently in the process of applying for BPS accreditation. Please contact your training provider for more information on the progress of their application.

Practice requirements

Be in current employment in CWP specified system of care

In order to meet the requirements for individual registration, CWPs will operate within a clearly identified stepped-care pathway normally employed within a Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYPMH) service under appropriate supervision.

This means that the service within which they work will allow seamless stepping-up and stepping-down to the rest of CYPMH and through appropriate triaging of more complex cases.

CWPs may be employed and supervised within other agencies that contribute to children’s mental health. CWP registrants will facilitate access to and provide support from and to community services. They will be offering evidence-based help and delivering brief, focused interventions to children and young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties.

CWP registrants will primarily support children and young people from aged 5-18 with some CWPs, with appropriate governance and supervision supporting young people under the age of 26. They must be receiving case management and clinical skills supervision for their work. They will also use routine outcome measures.

For more information on the CWP system of care please visit the NHS Future Collaboration Platform.

Please note: you will need an NHS login to access this information. You can register for the Future NHS Platform if you have an NHS email address. If you do not have an NHS email address and wish to register please contact [email protected] to request access.

Confirmation of current employment in the specified system of care will be evidenced through the provision of a supervisor confirmation.

Meet the minimum clinical practice requirements:

In order to ensure that all CWPs practice to the high standard we expect to maintain versatile competence, a minimum of two hours clinical practice of children and young people (CYP) interventions per week is required to meet registration criteria.

This clinical practice must include both assessment and treatment at Step 2 and delivery must be via live interventions e.g. telephone, video or face to face. Computerised CBT (cCBT) can be undertaken but can’t be included in these two hours.

This clinical practice must be primarily supporting children and young people aged 5-18 and 100% of your caseload should be with children and young people under age 26. Any work undertaken with adults in the system must be focus on their role as a parent, carer or guardian of the child or young person who is primarily being supported.

Read and agree to abide by the Wider Psychological Workforce Register Fitness to Practise Framework

Supervision requirements

Be receiving supervision from an appropriately qualified supervisor

All CWP supervisors should have:

attended or currently undertaking CWP supervisor training (PG Cert or CPD)
or attended or currently undertaking a Senior Wellbeing Practitioner training programme (G Dip or PG Dip)
or have been providing supervision to CWPs or EMHPs for at least two years

All supervisors should have experience in delivering low-intensity interventions/CBT-informed interventions with a thorough understanding of the CWP role.

If your supervisor doesn’t meet these requirements, please contact us before you submit the supervisor confirmation form.

Be receiving the minimum required case management and clinical skills supervision

A minimum of one hour per fortnight of individual case management supervision
A minimum of one hour per fortnight of clinical skills supervision (first six months) and one hour per month of clinical skills supervision (after six months post qualification experience) should be received either in individual or group format
If clinical skills supervision is delivered in a group format, this should include a maximum of 4 supervisees for a minimum of 30 minutes per supervisee

Find out more

For more information please consult our Frequently Asked Questions document.

The requirements to register as an EMHP are:

Training requirements

Pre January 2023: successful completion of a Health Education England Quality Assured EMHP training programme.Or
For those that trained and qualified from January 2023 onwards, successful completion of a BPS accredited EMHP training programme. If your programme isn’t currently showing on the course search it may be that your training provider is currently in the process of applying for BPS accreditation. Please contact your training provider for more information on the progress of their application.

Practice requirements

Be in current employment in EMHP specified system of care

In order to meet the requirements for individual registration, EMHPs will operate within a Mental Health Support Team (MHST) under appropriate supervision.

MHSTs are based across education settings as an additional resource within a whole-system approach to promote resilience and wellbeing, support early intervention, enable appropriate signposting and deliver evidence-based support, care and interventions.

EMHP registrants will be delivering evidence-based interventions for children and young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties. They will be supporting the senior mental health lead in each education setting to introduce or develop their whole school/college approach, giving timely advice to school and college staff and liaising with external specialist services to help children and young people get the right support and stay in education.

EMHP registrants will primarily support children and young people from aged 5-18 with some EMHPs, with appropriate governance and supervision supporting young people under the age of 26. They must be receiving case management and clinical skills supervision for their work. They will also use routine outcome measures.

For more information on the EMHP specified system of care please visit the NHS Future Collaboration Platform.

Please note: you will need an NHS login to access this information. You can register for the Future NHS Platform if you have an NHS email address. If you do not have an NHS email address and wish to register please contact [email protected] to request access.

Confirmation of current employment in the specified system of care will be evidenced through the provision of a supervisor confirmation.

Meet the minimum clinical practice requirements:

In order to ensure that all EMHPs practice to the high standard we expect to maintain versatile competence, a minimum of two hours clinical practice of children and young people (CYP) interventions per week is required to meet registration criteria. This clinical practice must include both assessment and treatment at Step 2 and delivery must be via live interventions e.g. telephone, video or face to face. Computerised CBT (cCBT) can be undertaken but cannot be included in these two hours.

Read and agree to abide by the Wider Psychological Workforce Register Fitness to Practise Framework

Supervision requirements

Be receiving supervision from an appropriately qualified supervisor

All EMHP supervisors should have:

attended or currently undertaking EMHP supervisor training (PG Cert or CPD)
or attended or currently undertaking a Senior Wellbeing Practitioner training programme (G Dip or PG Dip)
or have been providing supervision to EMHPs for at least two years

All supervisors should have experience in delivering low-intensity interventions/CBT-informed interventions with a thorough understanding of the EMHP role.

If your supervisor doesn’t meet these requirements, please contact us before you submit the supervisor confirmation form.

Be receiving the minimum required case management and clinical skills supervision:

A minimum of one hour per fortnight of individual case management supervision
A minimum of one hour per fortnight of clinical skills supervision (first six months) and one hour per month of clinical skills supervision (after six months post qualification experience) should be received either in individual or group format
If clinical skills supervision is delivered in group format, this should include a maximum of 4 supervisees for a minimum of 30 minutes per supervisee

Find out more

For more information please consult our Frequently Asked Questions document.

A registrant will either register as a CAAP-Child (working with children and young people as their specified client group), or a CAAP-Adult (working with adults as their specified client group), depending upon the training they have undertaken.

The requirements to register as a CAAP are:

Training requirements

Completion of a BPS-accredited CAAP training programme.

Practice requirements

Be in current employment as a CAAP working within your scope of practice

In order to meet requirements for individual registration, CAAPs will work with specific or particular client groups delivering psychological assessments, formulations, interventions, evaluation and research within their scope of practice. CAAPs’ work is limited to a defined range and severity of problems experienced by a particular client group and will be carried out with the support and under supervision.

Confirmation of current employment in the scope of practice outlined will be evidenced through the provision of a supervisor confirmation.

You will be required to provide evidence of six months experience working as a CAAP and with the population you’ve trained to work with. These six months can include time spent working as a trainee.

As agreed with NHS Education for Scotland, we aren’t overly prescriptive on how a CAAP provides details of their employer, recognising that CAAPs work in various specialist settings ( e.g. learning disability services, health, eating disorders, chronic pain, oncology, etc) to respond to the needs of services and service users. You’ll meet the requirements for registration as long as you are working with the client group that you’ve been trained to work with (children, young people and their families or adults) working within your scope of practice and meet all eligibility requirements outlined.

Supervision requirements

Be receiving supervision from an appropriately qualified supervisor

Clinical supervision of CAAPs is provided by clinical psychologists or in circumstances judged appropriate by the Health Board Professional Lead for Psychology, may be delegated to other applied psychologists or CAAPS with two years post qualification experience and the relevant supervision training (NES Training in Generic Supervision Competences for Psychological Therapies NES:GSC is required).

Be receiving the minimum required supervision

Fortnightly clinical supervision pro rata for a full-time member of staff.

You will need to register either as a CAP-Child (if you work with children and young people as your specified client group), or a CAP-Adult (if you work with adults as your specified client group), depending upon the training you have undertaken.

What should I do if my CAP programme is not showing on the accredited course search?

If you are a qualified CAP and your programme is not yet listed as accredited, it is likely that your higher education institution is in the process of applying for programme accreditation. We have contacted all current CAP programmes to ensure that they apply for accreditation as soon as possible. We will be accrediting programmes that meet our standards from the date that the programme first started. This is to make sure that all CAP graduates have completed a BPS-accredited and quality assured programme.

Please contact your higher education institution for further information about the status of their application for accreditation.

Once your CAP programme receives accreditation and is listed on our accredited course search you can apply to join the register. We look forward to welcoming all qualified and eligible CAPs to our Wider Psychological Workforce register soon.

The requirements to register as a CAP are:

Training requirements

Successful completion of a BPS-accredited CAP training programme

Practice requirements

Be in current employment as a CAP working with your scope of practice

In order to meet requirements for individual registration, CAPs will work with specific populations delivering psychological assessments, formulations, interventions, evaluation and research within their scope of practice. CAPs operate as a semi-autonomous practitioner and provide specific clinical activities with the support of, and under clinical supervision from an HCPC registered practitioner psychologist.

You must evidence your current employment in the scope of practice outlined by providing confirmation from your supervisor.

You will also be required to give evidence of six months experience working as a CAP and with the population you’ve trained to work with. This six months can include time spent working as a trainee.

Supervision requirements

Be receiving supervision from an appropriately qualified supervisor

Clinical supervision of CAPs must be provided by a HCPC registered practitioner psychologist with sufficient experience, competence and expertise in providing supervision within the clinical area that the CAP operates and is employed in.

Be receiving the minimum required supervision

You must receive fortnightly clinical supervision pro rata if you are a full-time member of staff

How to apply

Applying for registration is a simple application process outlined below.

The application process is via BPS portal.

You’ll need to provide all relevant information such as your personal details, place of work and qualifications.

Before you apply you'll need to join the society as either an associate member or graduate member.

Completing the application form

Before you get started please make sure that you meet the eligibility criteria and have read the Fitness to Practise Framework.

Please note: your application will require you to upload your academic transcript, apprenticeship certificate (if applicable) and supervisor confirmation form.

Submit an application online here

Supervisor Confirmation Forms

Application fees

Pay the one-off £27 application fee on submission of your application.

This is a non-refundable application fee.

Registration fees

If you meet all the requirements for registration and your application is successful, you will then be asked to pay the required registration fee.

Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP, CWP and EMHP): £50
Associate Psychologist (CAAP and CAP): £62

To remain on the register you will need to pay your registration fee annually. You will be invoiced at the same time each year, or you can choose to set up a Direct Debit with us.

If, for any reason, you choose not to renew your registration, your member benefits will remain unchanged and you will continue to be charged the relevant annual amount based on your member grade.

What information is displayed to the public?

Once your application is approved and you’ve paid your registration fee you’ll appear on the register so that members of the public or employers can search to see if you are listed.

The register will display your name, membership post nominal, unique register ID, registered role and location of your employing organisation.

If there are exceptional circumstances such that you do not wish your name to appear on the register, for example safety concerns, then you can contact us to request that your details are not included in the public listing.

We will consider your request in line with our policy on register listings.

If there’s a complaint raised against you and it’s considered serious enough to suspend you from the register whilst an investigation takes place, or if the complaint is upheld after investigation, the society will, in accordance with the process outlined in the Complaints Procedure, change your entry on the register to denote the existence or outcome of a complaint and publish a short description of the complaint, and any sanction applied, on our website. This is to ensure that we fulfil our duty of public protection.

Declarations for registration

There are a number of declarations that you will need to confirm and agree to as part of joining the register.

As part of the registration process, applicants are required to read and agree to abide by the Fitness to Practise Framework.

You should inform us of any disciplinary proceedings or complaints made against you or any changes in employment circumstance that potentially relate to an impairment of fitness to practise as outlined in the Fitness to Practise Framework.

You should declare this as part of your application process and any time throughout your registration.

If you are unable to sign the declarations to join the register because of any disciplinary proceedings or complaints made against you, please contact our membership team at [email protected].

Once you have contacted our membership team, your details will be passed to the Register Fitness to Practise Team and we will be in touch to ask for further information as your application will be considered taking into account the circumstances you have raised. A panel, drawn from the Standing Panel who consider complaints, will investigate concerns about the safety or effectiveness of registrants’ work (their fitness to practise). We will investigate whether there is or may be, a risk to people who are receiving psychological treatment or services provided by you as a registrant. We look at every case individually and keep you informed of progress, and follow out our process as outlined in the Complaints Procedure to make a decision about your admittance on to the register.

Registration and membership expectations

You will need to be a member of the society to join the register.

As a member of the society you will sign up to our Member Conduct Rules and act in accordance with our Code of Ethics and Conduct. The Code of Ethics and Conduct is the overarching guidance document for all members, which you should familiarise yourself with.

As a registrant you will be required to operate in accordance with the Fitness to Practise Framework. This sets out the required conduct and ethical expectations of all registrants and is based on the Society’s Code of Ethics and Conduct.

In addition, registrants will be expected to comply with the requirements for maintaining their registration (see our information on 'Maintaining your registration').

The society publishes a range of guidance documents, including the Practice Guidelines, which will have useful information for registrants to consider for informing their decision-making. Registrants should be aware that these guidance documents may have been written for a wider or different audience and not specifically intended to support the scope of practice of WPW registrants. Whilst this guidance should be helpful in parts, the expectations of registrants are clearly set out in the Member Conduct Rules, the Code of Ethics and Practice, and the Fitness to Practise Framework.

Registrants

Maintaining your registration

Your registration is valid for a period of one year to remain on the register you’ll need to pay the registration fee annually.

You’ll be invoiced for each year around the anniversary of when you first joined. You’ll also make a declaration by renewing your registration that you are:

In current employment and working within the scope of practice (specified system of care) for the role you are registered with
Fulfilling the required continuing professional development (CPD) activities for your role
Continuing to receive the minimum supervision from an appropriately qualified supervisor
Continuing to abide by and operate within the Fitness to Practise Framework .

The registration fee is £50 for Wellbeing Practitioner roles (PWP, CWP and EMHP) and £62 for Associate Psychology roles (CAAP and CAP).

You’ll receive a reminder three months before your registration is due for renewal and will have 60 days to make the payment to continue your registration. If we don’t receive your renewal payment your registration will lapse and you’ll no longer appear on the register.

We operate a no refund policy. Once registration is paid for the period of one year it’s non-refundable.

Ongoing registration requirements

By paying your registration fee when renewing your registration each year you confirm that you continue to meet the requirements to be registered on the Wider Psychological Workforce Register and that you’ve fulfilled the required standards of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and supervision.

To maintain to your registration please see the ongoing registration requirements for your role outlined below.

Supervision requirements

A minimum of one hour per week of individual clinical case management supervision
At least one hour per fortnight of clinical skills supervision
Regular live assessment of practice (based on NHS Talking Therapies Manual)

CPD requirements

Five CPD activities and reflective statements
At least three of the five activities must directly relate to relevant CBT informed approached or CBT principles relating to core aspects of clinical activity
One activity and reflection on the clinical supervision you received

Supervision requirements

A minimum of one hour per fortnight of individual case management supervision
A minimum of one hour per fortnight of clinical skills supervision (first six months) and one hour per month of clinical skills supervision (after six months post qualification experience) should be received either in individual or group format
If clinical skills supervision is delivered in group format, this should include a maximum of 4 supervisees for a minimum of 30 minutes per supervisee

CPD requirements

Five CPD activities and reflective statements
Relevant approaches underpinned by CBT, social learning theory
One activity and reflection on the clinical supervision you received

Supervision requirements

A minimum of one hour per fortnight of individual case management supervision
A minimum of one hour per fortnight of clinical skills supervision (first six months) and one hour per month of clinical skills supervision (after six months post qualification experience) should be received either in individual or group format
If clinical skills supervision is delivered in group format, this should include a maximum of 4 supervisees for a minimum of 30 minutes per supervisee

CPD requirements

Five CPD activities and reflective statements
Relevant approaches underpinned by CBT, social learning theory and whole school approaches
One activity and reflection on the clinical supervision you received

Supervision requirements

Fortnightly clinical supervision pro rata for a full-time member of staff

CPD requirements

Five CPD activities and reflective statements
At least three of the five activities relate to how CPD undertaken has furthered knowledge skills in psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation with either children, young people and families or adults depending on the specific population the CAAP has been trained to work with.
One activity and reflection on the clinical supervision you received

Supervision requirements

During your registration, you are required to undertake a minimum of:

Fortnightly clinical supervision pro rata if you are a full-time member of staff

CPD requirements

You must also carry out a minimum of:

Five CPD activities and reflective statements
At least three of the five activities relate to how CPD undertaken has furthered knowledge skills in psychological assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation with either children, young people and families or adults depending on the specific population the CAP has been trained to work with.
One activity and reflection on the clinical supervision you received

Recording your CPD

As members of the society, you’ll have access to the BPS MyCPD platform to record your CPD.

The MyCPD platform supports you to plan your development and record activities, including the upload of evidence e.g. certificates and reflect on your learning. You can also generate reports on all of the content.

It’s expected that you’ll record all of your required supervision and CPD activities on this platform.

If you’re selected for audit you’ll be required to evidence that you’ve met all the requirements by providing a report of the required content.

Find out more about ongoing registration with the WPW Register and the expectations and process for audit.

This includes acceptable types of CPD learning and development activities and the society’s approach to audit.

If you wish to appeal the outcome of a CPD Audit please consult the CPD Audit for the Wider Psychological Workforce (WPW) Register appeals policy and procedure.

Taking a leave of absence

If you need to take a leave of absence please download and complete the leave of absence Form.

Find out more about the leave of absence and return to practice process.

Change of employer, supervisor or job role (keeping your registration details up to date)

It’s important that you inform us of any changes to your registration record so that the information displayed on the register is correct.

If you change employment but are remaining with your current registered role, you need to update your new employment details via the Personal details tile on your portal page so that this information is updated on the register.

You can also update your job title via your portal page, for example if you become a Senior PWP. Please note that the register does not display job titles, only the role that you are registered under but this helps to keep the information we hold in your record up to date. Always check with any changes to your details that you continue to meet the registration requirements for your role.

If you change supervisor, you’ll need to provide us with the details of your new supervisor so that we can confirm that you are working under appropriate supervision. Please complete the Supervisor Confirmation Form and return it to [email protected].

If you’re no longer employed within the role that you are registered with you’ll need to resign from the Wider Psychological Workforce register because you are no longer working within the scope of practise or specified system of care outlined for your role which is a requirement to appear on the register.

Please contact [email protected] for help with updating your record and the register.

Frequently Asked Questions

Registration on the British Psychological Society (BPS) Wider Psychological Workforce Register refers to five psychological practitioner roles that are not regulated by law.

Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWP)
Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners (CWP)
Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP)
Clinical Associates in Applied Psychology (CAAP) Scotland
Clinical Associates in Psychology (CAP)

The BPS and the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) have been approved by NHS England to provide an individual registration scheme for PWPs, CWPs and EMHPs, having met the requirements for NHS England and NHS Improvement recognition in June 2021.

It has been agreed with NHS England, BABCP and BPS that collectively these three occupations will be referred to as Wellbeing Practitioners within the framework of the twelve core psychological professions as defined by NHS England.

The BPS also register other roles in the psychological professions across the four nations that are not regulated by law and fall outside of NHS England’s registration scheme.

This includes the CAAP role in Scotland and the new CAP role developed in England.

The register is for individual practitioners who commit to maintain high quality standards in clinical practice, supervision and CPD.

It also signifies that the registrant is working in the context of an appropriate system of care, working within their field of competence and working under appropriate supervision.

People on the register will adhere to a fitness to practise framework.

The aim of the register is to protect the public, employers and other agencies to help them find psychological practitioners who meet these standards.

The PWP, CWP and EMHP roles are recognised as important roles to meet the growing needs of those seeking mental health support and expanding access to psychological approaches to healthcare.

These psychological professions are not regulated by law. This means that there is no overarching body or bodies which assure the fitness of these roles to practise.

Registration of these roles will help to provide recognition for this growing workforce and will promote public confidence in the competence of these psychological professionals. Registration also provides additional benefits of belonging to a professional community and having access to appropriate CPD, knowledge exchange and interprofessional networking.

CAAPs are an established role within Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland, Heads of Psychology Scotland and other important stakeholders are supportive of the development of a registration scheme.

Similarly for the new CAP role in England, employers see the importance of registration to recognise these practitioners and provide an extra layer of governance for this role, assuring employers and the public of professional competence.

As with the other roles, registration also provides additional benefits of belonging to a professional community and having access to appropriate CPD, knowledge exchange and inter-professional networking.

Professional registration is a requirement set by the NHS for PWPs. PWPs are expected to maintain continuous registration as set out in the IAPT manual.

Although voluntary and not mandated by law, it is expected that employers will see registration as good practice and it is likely that registration will become a requirement for these roles.

Both schemes have been designed to meet the specification set by NHS England. They require equivalent standards and have equivalent processes for addressing complaints or problems.

They will also share information about disciplinary processes that result in a change in registration status, so that an individual's record travels with them if they leave one register and join the other.

Accreditation and registration are used interchangeably across organisations.

When the BPS talks about accreditation, we are talking about the accreditation of training programmes.

Accreditation Through Partnership is the process by which the BPS works with education and training providers to ensure quality standards in education and training are met by programmes on an ongoing basis.

When these standards are met a programme or course is said to be accredited by the BPS.

Registration refers to the individual practitioner and recognising the individual practitioner in meeting the required standards to be registered in their role.

It is recognised that these occupations are found in public and private sector organisations. If you are employed in one of the registered roles working in the private sector (for example a private hospital, school or clinic), you must be working in the specified system of care for your role, with provisions for stepped care specified for PWP, CWP and EMHP roles.

For all registered roles this includes working within your field of competence and under appropriate supervision which must be evidenced in your application.

PWPs, CWPs, EMHPs, CAAPs and CAPs are not able to use their registration to practise independently due to the requirements that these occupations must operate within a specified system care under appropriate supervision.

You will not be eligible to register if you do not operate within the defined specified system of care.

Inappropriate use of job title is against the terms of your registration and is likely to result in removal from the register.

Registration represents a significant step forward in public protection and in professional recognition of these vital occupations.

It will also provide access to continuing professional development in line with the specific needs of the occupation. It will also give you the benefits of belonging to the body which you are registered with.

For those registering with the BPS that includes The Psychologist magazine, access to conferences and events, reduced fee CPD and the ability to join a wide range of member networks and communities.

We’re at the very beginning of registration and registering psychological practitioner roles.

The five roles on the Wider Psychological Workforce Register are the first roles we’ll be registering as they have a course accreditation route which provides a pathway into individual registration as one of the eligibility requirements to register.

For the wellbeing practitioner roles, we’ve ensured close adherence to the national competence frameworks for the roles, and this was also a requirement for NHS England recognition of the registration scheme.

We recognise that there are many other routes where competencies are developed and also other psychological practitioner roles outside of the NHS and we’ll be exploring the possibility of registering other roles in different employment settings in the future that have similarities to the current registered role in terms of the role, population and the settings in which they work.

The decision for regulation of roles rests with the UK Government and is based on the level of potential for harm or risk to patient safety.

Currently, the Government’s preference is for voluntary registration.

Voluntary registers are not regulated by law but the Professional Standards Authority helps to provide a level of assurance by accrediting registers held by professional bodies.

At present there is not a formal process for transferring from one role to another unless you have undertaken the appropriate training.

Individuals will only be able to register against the role that they have trained for and are currently working in.

There is likely to be further discussions about movement across roles with funding bodies across the four nations and employers in the future.

Registration is only for individuals currently practising in these roles.

As part of the application process you are required to evidence that you are currently working in the role that you are registering with through the provision of a supervisor reference.

Membership of the society is still available and our Membership Team can help to illustrate the options based on your individual circumstances.

Some of the roles on the register are in the workforce across the four nations. For example the PWP role has been established in Northern Ireland and we accredit the training for this role.

Your registration will be recognised in different nations as long as you can evidence that you meet the requirements of working in the specified system of care for the role as described when you join the register and have a supervisor reference as evidence of you working in this specified system of care under supervision.

The CAAP role for example is only established in Scotland and is not a recognised role in the English workforce.

We are hoping that these registration developments will provide recognition for individuals that have trained to work in a particular role and we are working with programme leads to facilitate a way for individuals that have trained in these roles to evidence their competence when applying for roles in a different nation.

Employers will continue to have their own local and national recruitment practices in place and registration is to provide a further layer of governance and assurance for employers that high standards are maintained by individuals in these roles.

For any further questions, please contact [email protected]

Professional standards & education

BPS Accredited Courses

It ensures that they have studied the required curriculum (whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level) in sufficient breadth and depth. It is the means by which the Society engages in dialogue with providers of psychology education and training, and provides a detailed external review of the provision in question.

Search the list of courses accredited by the BPS
Find out more about the accreditation standards which the society uses to accredit psychology training programmes to ensure that quality standards in education and training are met.

The Registration Advisory Panel is a sub-group under the Board of Trustees and has the following role and remit:

Provide assurance that competency, safe practice and high standards are maintained for the Wider Psychological Workforce Register and that the register continues to fulfil its objective of public protection.
Ensure that voluntary register functions are carried out fairly, effectively, proportionately and transparently and in line with the standards set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
Engage with relevant stakeholders and works in partnership with other bodies where appropriate to ensure registrants continue to meet the required standards for entry and maintenance on the WPW Register.

For more information on the work of the Registration Advisory Panel please see the Terms of Reference.

About the Professional Standards Authority Accredited Registers Scheme

The PSA oversee regulators who register health and care professionals working in regulated professions and therefore regulate the Health and Care professions Council (HCPC) who are responsible for regulating practitioner psychologists.

The PSA also independently assess and accredit other organisations who register practitioners whose roles are not regulated by law, working both within and outside the NHS. Those organisations that meet the PSA standards are awarded with a quality mark, demonstrating commitment to the health, wellbeing and safety of the public. The accredited registers scheme covers a number of psychological professions including: Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners, Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners, Education Mental Health Practitioners, Clinical Associated in Applied Psychology (in Scotland) and Clinical Associates in Psychology.

BPS as a professional body

BPS as an accrediting body

The society is an accrediting body, accrediting education and training programmes in psychology. Accreditation is the means by which the society reaches a view on whether psychology courses are suitable to support students’ achievement of learning outcomes, and are supported by an appropriate resource base. It ensures that they have studied the required curriculum (whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level) in sufficient breadth and depth. It is the means by which the Society engages in dialogue with providers of psychology education and training, and provides a detailed external review of the provision in question. The standards for accreditation reflect the requirements necessary for membership of the Society at particular levels and for entry on to the Wider Psychological Workforce Register.

BPS as a registering body

Find out more information about our directories and registers.

The society is an accredited register holder for the Wider Psychological Workforce Register, which is the only society register currently accredited with the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

Registration with the Wider Psychological Workforce Register demonstrates a psychological professional’s commitment to their area of practice and demonstrates that they have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to practice. They are part of a professional community that works to high standards, policies and codes of conduct and practice. For employers, registration gives confidence that competency, high standards and safe practice are maintained through a code of practise and continuing professional development. It also shows that the individual is committed to developing themselves professionally. Some employers such as the NHS require registration as a condition of employment.

For patients and the public it helps them to feel confident that the psychological professional they see is competent, trustworthy and maintaining high standards. It ensures that action is taken to protect them from risk by managing complaints and fitness to practise concerns as part of a government backed scheme to protect the public.

Regulation and Registration

There are a number of psychological professional roles that are not regulated by law, and therefore not regulated by the HCPC, including the roles listed on the society’s Wider Psychological Workforce Register. Voluntary registration with a register that is approved by the PSA is the approach that is taken with many health and care professional roles that are not subject to statutory regulation to ensure oversight of practitioner in those unregulated roles for the protection of the public.

They do this by providing information and using low-intensity, evidence-based interventions. These are mainly informed by cognitive-behavioural principles.

Treatment can be delivered on the phone, online or through face-to-face sessions.

PWPs normally work within a stepped care service delivery model. This is seen in the NHS Talking Therapies, for anxiety and depression .

PWPs offers the least intrusive, most effective treatment in the first instance.

This means that patients can then be ‘stepped up’ to a more intensive treatment if required.

In the NHS Talking Therapies service delivery model, PWPs provide care at ‘step 2’ of the stepped care model supporting low-intensity interventions.

They work alongside high-intensity workers and other clinicians. Here they deliver cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and other evidence-based ‘step 3’ treatments.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance for common mental health disorders and for each of the anxiety disorders and depression sets out the range of different types of low-intensity evidence-based interventions appropriate for delivery by PWPs.

Training requirements for PWPs:

PWP training lasts for 45 days and normally distributed over 9 to 12 months.

Trainees will normally be employed in a trainee PWP role for the duration..

The PWP qualification is at level 6. The award of a Graduate Certificate or at level 7 results in the award of a Postgraduate Certificate.

There’s also a level 6 apprenticeship route for people without a degree but with useful life experience/ It’s also suitable for those who’d like to make a career change to contribute to the local community.

Qualified PWPs

PWPs can work full or part time. In the NHS, trainee PWPs work at Agenda for Change band 4 and after qualifying work at band 5.

The CWP works with children with mild to moderate mental health difficulties. They deliver high-quality, evidence-based interventions.

A CWP:

Facilitates access to support from community services
Reduces waiting lists to wider Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS)
Offers evidence-based interventions (both face-to-face and remotely) to children and young people and their parents/carers with mild to moderate difficulties (anxiety, low mood and behavioural difficulties),
Optimises the referral mix to the rest of CYPMHS through stepping up or down
Appropriate triaging of more complex cases

CWPs aid clinical improvement. They do this by giving information and support for evidence-based low-intensity psychological treatments.

The treatments place a greater emphasis on self-management. They’re designed to be easier for children and young people than traditional psychological treatments.

Behaviour change models and strategies inform the delivery of the interventions.

Examples of interventions include:

Providing support for a range of low-intensity self-help interventions (often with the use of written self-help materials) informed by cognitive behavioural and social learning principles
Behavioural activation
Exposure
Cognitive change methods (such as identifying and working with automatic thoughts and suggesting behaviour experiments),
Problem solving
CBT-informed sleep management
Parent training
Computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) packages
Supporting physical exercise

Support is specifically designed to help children and young people to improve their self-management skills.

It may be delivered individually to children and young people.

Support can also be given to their parents/carers through face-to-face work, phone, email or other contact methods.

CWPs must also be able to assess and manage any change in risk status.

This includes support/consultation, and they should signpost as needed.

CWPs are trained in NICE approved and best evidenced therapies.

They use person-centred assessment which is a crucial part of the CWP offer. It helps to identify the presenting problems and make an informed clinical decision about whether a service is right for a child or young person.

The assessment finds the appropriate NICE/Evidence Based recommended treatment.

Working with the child or young person and their parents/carers, they identify the correct outcome to assess change in the problems.

Further information on the approach and importance of a person-centred assessment can be found in CYP IAPT Principles in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services Values and Standards: ‘Delivering with and Delivering Well’ (December 2014).

This outlines the criteria of interactions with young people, families/carers and delivering the services. It also suggests the evidence required to show compliance with the standards.

Training requirements for CWPs

From January 2023, CWP training duration will last 64 days and be distributed over 12 months.

Trainees will normally be employed in a trainee CWP role for the duration.

The CWP qualification is at level 6, resulting in the award of a Graduate Diploma or at level 7. After this a Postgraduate Diploma is awarded.

Before January 2023, CWP training duration was 30-35 days normally distributed over 9-12 months. The CWP qualification at level 6 resulted in the award of a Graduate Certificate. Those at level 7 were awarded a Postgraduate Certificate.

Find out more about the developments of children and young people’s mental health services.

Qualified CWPs

CWPs can work full or part time. Working in the NHS, trainee CWPs work at Agenda for Change band 4. After qualifying, they work at band 5.

EMHPs help children and young people manage common mental health problems. These include mild to moderate symptoms of anxiety and depression and behaviour problems. They deliver high-quality, evidence-based interventions.

Working across education settings, they support Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs). EMHPs introduce or develop whole school approaches to mental health.

EMHPs aid clinical improvement. They do this by giving information and support for evidence-based low-intensity psychological treatments.

The treatments place a greater emphasis on self-management. They’re designed to be easier children and young people than traditional psychological treatments.

Behaviour change models and strategies inform the delivery of interventions.

Examples of interventions include:

Providing support for a range of low-intensity self-help interventions (often with the use of written self-help materials) informed by cognitive behavioural and social learning principles
Behavioural activation
Exposure
Cognitive change methods (such as identifying and working with automatic thoughts and suggesting behaviour experiments)
Problem solving
CBT-informed sleep management
Parent training
Computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) packagesSupporting physical exercise Support is specifically designed to help children and young people improve their self-management skills.

It may be delivered individually to children and young people. Support can also be given to their parents/carers through face-to-face work, telephone, email or other contact methods.

EMHPs must also be able to assess and manage any change in risk status.

This includes support/consultation, and they should signpost as needed.

EMHPs are fully aware of the educational system and mental health practice within schools and colleges.

EMHPs are trained in NICE approved and best evidenced therapies.

They use person-centred assessment which is a crucial part of the EMHP offer.

It helps to identify the presenting problems and make an informed clinical decision about whether a service is right for a child or young person.

The assessment finds the appropriate NICE/Evidence Based recommended treatment.

Working with the child or young person and their parents/carers, they identify the correct outcome measure to assess change in the problems.

This outlines the criteria of interactions with young people, families/carers and delivering the services.

It also suggests evidence required to demonstrate compliance with the standards.

Training requirements for EMHPs

EMHP training will last 64 days and normally distributed over 12 months.

Trainees will normally be employed in a trainee EMHP role for the duration.

The EMHP qualification is at level 6. The award of a Graduate Diploma or at level 7 results in the award of a Postgraduate Diploma.

Find out more about the developments of children and young people’s mental health services.

Qualified EMHPs

EMHPs can work full or part time. Working in the NHS trainee EMHPs work at Agenda for Change band 4. After qualifying, they work at band 5.

They work as a member of a team delivering psychological services with clients within specified ranges of conditions and age. This includes primary care/adult mental health settings or areas involving children, young people, and their families.

CAAPs work as independent clinicians in a circumscribed way.

They work with a defined range and severity of problems experienced by a particular client group.

Knowing when to consult with senior colleagues under whose support and supervision they practise, they make appropriate referrals to a chartered clinical psychologist.

The level of clinical responsibility a CAAP has is decided by the employing Health Board. This takes in to account the nature of the service and the local arrangements.

CAAPs work under the supervision of a clinical psychologist. They can also work in in circumstances judged appropriate by the Health Board Professional Lead for Psychology. They may be delegated to other applied psychologists or CAAPs. However, they need two years’ post qualification experience and the relevant supervision training.

The CAAP role is specific to Scotland. It was established in 2006 to address significant challenges in improving access to mental health services.

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) sets out the evidence base used by psychological professionals, including CAAPs. SIGN's guidelines recognise that there's strong evidence for psychological interventions achieving positive health outcomes.

Training requirements of CAAPs

To train as a CAAP individuals must have completed a BPS accredited undergraduate degree (or conversion course) in psychology.

They must then complete a year of training at Masters level (level 7 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales; level 11 in Scotland) in either Psychological Therapies in Primary Care or Applied Psychology for Children and Young People.

Qualified CAAPs

Qualified CAAPs are specialist mental health professionals.

NHS Education for Scotland has a Framework of four types of psychological practice. CAAPs are at the top level of this framework, offering specialist psychological practice.

This means that CAAPs deliver specialist psychological therapies based on case formulation.

CAAPs enhance the clinical skill mix available in psychological services. They work alongside other professionals delivering specialist psychological practice (e.g. Clinical Psychologists and Cognitive Behavioural Therapists).

Working in the NHS trainee CAAPs work at Agenda for Change band 6 and after qualifying work at band 7.

The Scottish subject benchmark statement for applied psychology (clinical associate) Scotland, provides further information about the core skills of a CAAP which are:

Assessment
Formulation
Intervention
Evaluation and research
Communication
Self-management

The scope of practise of CAAPs is circumscribed to working with specific client groups within pre-established protocols. The training provides qualified CAAPs with secure foundation for the range of skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the activities outlined above.

Further skills and knowledge should be developed thorough continuing professional development appropriate to the specific employment pathways.

Their duties include delivering evidence-based psychological assessments, formulations, interventions and research. They work under the supervision of a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered practitioner psychologist.

CAPs support people who have long-standing and complex difficulties.

CAPs practice autonomously with appropriate support.

They worki with populations across the lifespan from different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs.

CAPs work in:

Community mental health teams
Hospitals or inpatient settings
Secure of medium secure mental health settings
Specialist mental health settings

They’re trained to work with specific populations. This means that they provide a more circumscribed range of activities than HCPC registered practitioner psychologists.

To ensure the best care, CAPs assess limits of professional boundaries. They also seek appropriate advice on practice and whom to refer to so to ensure the best care.

The level of clinical responsibility a CAP has is decided by the employing NHS Trust. The Trust takes in to account the nature of the service and the local arrangements.

The CAP role was developed in England. It’s a new occupation, introduced as part of a programme of work to provide greater access to psychologically informed mental health services. The role was created via an apprenticeship framework.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) sets out the evidence base used by psychological professionals.

CAPs work is informed, but not wholly determined, by problem-specific treatment protocols.

CAPs work can involve working with populations where the evidence base is not fully established.

This means that they use psychological theory to share and evaluate novel interventions.

Training requirements of CAPs

To train as a CAP individuals must have completed a BPS accredited undergraduate degree (or conversion course) in psychology giving them “Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership”.

Training then involves a level 7 degree apprenticeship hosted by an employer, such as an NHS trust.

Alongside this, individuals must train on a university validated degree programme.

The CAP apprenticeship is an eighteen-month full-time training programme. It’s divided between work-based experience (up to 4 days per week) and academic teaching and study.

This leads to a Masters qualification level (level 7 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales; level 11 in Scotland).

Qualified CAPs

Qualified CAPs are skilled professional applied psychologists.

They’re accountable professionals, responsible for managing their own caseload. The supervising HCPC registered practitioner psychologists retains overall clinical responsibility for their work.

Working in the NHS, trainee CAPs work at Agenda for Change band 5 and after qualifying work at band 6.

The apprenticeship standard provides further information about the knowledge, skills and behaviours of a CAP.

It also explains the duties that they carry out in their role.

A CAP works within the specific populations they're trained to work with.

The training provides qualified CAPs with a secure foundation for the range of skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the duties of their role

Further skills and knowledge should be developed through continuing professional development. The development should be appropriate to the specific employment pathways.

CAPs can complete additional training if they wish to work with different populations to which they were originally trained.

Concerns and complaints

If the person you are looking for is not listed on the WPW Register, then this usually means that they have not met the criteria for being on the register.

If the individual you are searching for is a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP), Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) or Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) it could be that they are registered with The British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) who are also a registering body for these professionals.

Visit BABCP’s website to search their register.

It may be the case that the person concerned is a student or in the process of applying to the register, but their training or application is not yet complete.

If a serious complaint has been raised against a registrant they may be suspended from the register whilst an investigation takes place. If any complaint is upheld after investigation, the registrant may be removed from the register or their register entry may be changed to denote the existence or outcome of a complaint. The society publishes a list of sanctioned registrants with a short summary description of complaints, and any sanctions applied, on the website for public information.

There are rare instances where a registrant’s details may not be published on the WPW Register. This will be in exceptional circumstances related to the registrant’s safety, when publishing their name may put them at risk.

If you have a complaint about someone who you think is, or should be, on the register, then please contact us and we can check if they are, or should be, registered with us.

The Wider Psychological Workforce (WPW) Register is a register of individuals in psychological practitioner roles that are not regulated by law.

It is a voluntary register which means that psychological practitioners on the register have chosen to join the register, in order to show their commitment to their area of practice and to giving good and safe care. Registrants have agreed to co-operate with investigations when concerns are raised about their practice.

For the Wider Psychological Workforce Register, the society will investigate issues relating to the fitness to practise of registrants in line with its objective of maintaining public protection.

Informal resolution

Where possible we encourage informal resolution of concerns. We ask that if you have a complaint about a registrant that you tell the registrant first, or their employer. This will give them the chance to put things right and is usually the quickest way to resolve the matter. If you think the matter is too serious for this, or if you do not feel comfortable taking that route, or if you have tried that but your complaint is still not resolved, then you should make your complaint to the Society.

Making a complaint

If you wish to make a complaint against someone who is on the Wider Psychological Workforce Register, please complete Wider Psychological Workforce (WPW) Register Concerns Form.

Anonymous complaints

We can consider an anonymous complaint where we can independently verify that the issue you raise is true – for example the existence of a criminal conviction or outcome from another professional body or regulator, or where the matter that you are complaining about is in the public domain.”

We would not normally pursue a complaint against a registrant where the complainant does not disclose their identity to us. This is because the registrant has to be able to respond the complaint, and needs to know who is complaining to be able to do that.

If we decide that it is in the public interest to proceed with an anonymous complaint, then we will do so, but these occasions will be rare. If we do decide to consider your complaint anonymously, you need to know that giving the registrant the detail of the case may mean that they are able to identify who is complaining.

Group complaints

You can submit a complaint as a group of people who are all affected by the same issue. If this is the case, please choose someone from the group to act as a representative for the group, so that we have one consistent person to communicate with during the process, and you should tell us that you are acting on behalf of a group.

Your confidentiality

We will only use this information to investigate your concerns, and we will anonymise it where possible. Depending on the issue, it might not be possible to investigate effectively and maintain confidentiality, or it may not be in your best interests or those of the Society. If this is the case, we will explain the situation to you and tell you who we think we should share the information with.

Your personal data will be protected within the requirements of the current Data Protection laws and regulations and the Society’s compliance policy.

Please find further information about our procedures in the WPW Register Complaints Procedure.

Where the matter is not about fitness to practise, we may still consider a complaint about a registrant under our Member Conduct Rules

If you can’t find what you need, please contact the Fitness to Practise Team by emailing us at [email protected] or phoning us on 0116 252 9919

We understand that it can be upsetting and stressful for everyone when a concern is raised and we want to do what we can to reduce this where possible whilst remaining in line with our objective of maintaining public protection.

We will support complainants and registrants by being clear about what will happen at each stage of our investigation process. We do not take the side of the complainant or of the registrant in handling complaints. We are impartial and we work to find out what has happened and to find a fair resolution that ensures pubic protection.

If you would like to speak to someone in our Complaints Team who can explain how the process works and answer any further questions you have please emails us at [email protected] or phone us on 0116 252 9919.

Advice and support from other organisations

There are a number of organisations who may be able to advise you about your concern

Citizens Advice Bureau

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

Advice and support for your wellbeing:

You can email us at [email protected]

Alternatively, you can write to us at:

The British Psychological Society St Andrews House 48 Princess Road East Leicester LE1 7DR

Or if these methods don’t suit you, you can call us and talk to someone who will be happy to discuss your individual needs. Please use our dedicated complaints line: 0116 252 9919.