Background

The Programme is a three-year practitioner doctorate which seeks to provide high calibre professional clinical psychology training based on a coherent synthesis of psychological theory, research and clinical practice. Successful completion of this training will enable you to be eligible to register as a Clinical Psychologist with the Health Professions Council (HPC) and to be eligible for Chartered Membership with the British Psychological Society (BPS). The Programme is grounded in critical psychology and promotes reflective practice within a scientist-practitioner framework. We aim to facilitate the personal and professional development of trainees so that they are qualified to work as chartered clinical psychologists in an evolving NHS. The training is developed actively with regional psychologists, trainees, purchasers and service users and carers to ensure that training is at the cutting edge and responsive to the NHS and client needs.

The Programme believes that the experience of training is enhanced when trainees are from diverse cultural and employment backgrounds. We encourage applications from minority groups.

We seek to promote the development of trainees who will contribute to the health service through:

• a commitment to the maintenance and delivery of high quality clinical practice grounded in respect for clients from differing ethnic, religious and social backgrounds;
• the application of reflective, rigorous and flexible thinking to all aspects of clinical psychology practice;
• an ability to utilise and evaluate psychological theories, knowledge and practice from a wide ranging clinical, scientific and research base;
• competence in selecting psychological theory, research and practice appropriate to the context and client groups to which they are applied;
• the ability to function effectively in a range of social, cultural and organisational environments;
• self-awareness of their personal and professional development, and the implications for clinical practice.
• active engagement with service users’ and carers’ views and priorities
• a commitment to working within multidisciplinary settings and with colleagues from other disciplines

A core philosophy of the programme is the importance of the application of academic and research rigour to health and social care contexts. Additionally, the programme stresses the need for clinical psychologists to be responsive to changes within the health and social care sectors. As such, the course emphasises the development of leadership skills so that clinical psychologists are able to integrate, operationalise and initiate applied clinical psychology theoretical knowledge bases within community and public, voluntary and organisational systems.

Regional psychologists associated with the Programme provide training and supervision in the core and advanced competencies, skills and expertise within all specialist areas of clinical psychology. This allows trainees access to a variety of excellent placements. These include: rehabilitation; forensic; neuropsychology; health psychology; addictive behaviours; challenging behaviours and paediatrics. Therapeutic placements with a focus in cognitive/behavioural, systemic and psychodynamic approaches to intervention are also available. Opportunities are provided to gain experience of working with clients from a diverse range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, across the lifespan.

The Programme is sited in the South West Thames region, an area of great geographical and cultural diversity, including metropolitan districts of London, nearby towns to Guildford, the South Coast, and rural areas of Surrey and Sussex. The teaching and administrative base for the Programme is at the University of Surrey in Guildford, and trainees are required to live within a reasonable travel time/distance from the Programme base. The clinical placements are based in South West London, Surrey and West Sussex. Trainees are expected to travel to placements (extending from South West London in the north, to the south coast at Worthing, and east/west from Chichester through Guildford to Redhill and Warlingham). Trainees need to be aware that in applying for the programme they have accepted that they will have to travel required distances from their homes to the locations specified above. Travel within placements will also be expected. Trainees are required to hold a current, valid UK driving licence and have access to a car for work purposes. Travel expenses to and within placements are paid.

The University of Surrey has a strong professional and vocational bias. The Psychology Department has significant expertise in applied and professional psychology including Clinical, Health, Environmental, Social, Occupational, Forensic, and Psychotherapeutic and Counselling Psychology. This provides a vibrant and supportive postgraduate research context. The research facilities and expertise are of the highest standard.

The Programme team and the wider department are actively involved in research related to the clinical domain, with particular interests in:
anxiety disorders including phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorders;
health psychology including reproductive and sexual health, eating disorders and sleep;
intervention research including CBT, mindfulness, therapeutic communities and process research in experiential dynamic therapies;
the effects of trauma, violence and offending including PTSD, domestic violence and youth offending;
child and family research including recovery in children, shame, anger and distress in young people, and foster care;
theory and treatment of personality disorders;
autism spectrum disorders including identity issues;
service provision for adults with learning disabilities;
psychosis including the meaning of psychotic experiences, recovery from psychosis and cognitive processes in psychosis;
brain injury and neuro-rehabilitation;
user involvement in research and training;
and, organisational issues such as leadership, workplace bullying and stress.
It is an expectation that trainees will do research in one of these interest areas. Programme team members have expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Close research and teaching links exist between the Programme and the wider Psychology Department.

Selection Procedures

The Programme particularly welcomes applications from candidates from groups that are under-represented amongst clinical psychologists, and from candidates who have followed non-traditional career paths. It is Programme policy that no applicant will be discriminated against on grounds of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

All application forms are screened for minimum eligibility criteria; these are:

• Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the BPS;
• A first or upper second class (2:1) undergraduate psychology degree/approved psychology conversion course*;
• A minimum nine months of full-time equivalent relevant experience; and,
• Work permit not required.

*Applicants who do not have a first or upper second class degree will be eligible if they have a completed Masters by Research degree at 65% average attainment or higher.  Current undergraduates in their final year of study who have relevant experience and who are expected to attain a first or upper second class degree that confers GBC are welcome to apply.

• IELTS level 7 is required for applicants whose first language is not English or whose University qualifications were not taught and examined in English.

All eligible applicants will be invited to sit a written test which will take place on Saturday 16th February 2013 at the University of Surrey. The test lasts 45 minutes.  Applicants with disabilities will be given appropriate support/extra time to sit the test.

Please note: All applicants must possess a full valid driving license by the date of the written test (subject to reasonable adjustments for disability).  All applicants are required to bring this with them on the day of the written test (photocard AND paper counterpart).  This will also be used to document photographic proof of identity.  Candidates without a photocard license must bring their paper driving license and current passport.  If applicants cannot bring the required documents they will not be eligible to sit the written test.  No other forms of identification will be accepted.

Following the written test, candidates are shortlisted for interview.  This procedure is based primarily on written test scores but also takes account of information supplied on the application forms.

Short-listed candidates are invited to attend a day selection procedure in May 2013 that includes interviews assessing clinical ability/potential and suitability for training. Interview panels consist of Programme team members, regional clinical psychologists, service users and carers.

The Programme currently offers 28 places, and interviews 108 candidates for each intake (although the number of places offered in subsequent years is expected to be lower due to financial constraints in the public sector).

Enquiries regarding the Programme should be made to Carol Speight, Senior Faculty Administrator (Recruitment and Admissions) by email to: C.Speight@surrey.ac.uk.

Why We Use a Written Test

At Surrey, since 2009, we have decided to use a written test to select candidates for interview. Each year, like other clinical programmes, we receive many more applications than we have places. In the last two years, we have received four applications for every one interview place we have available. We want to shortlist candidates in an equitable and valid way and also attempt to increase the diversity of our interviewees and, ultimately, our training cohort. We know that applicants share tips on completing the application form and we also know that they are helped by clinical supervisors. We feel this disadvantages those candidates who are not in the networks or who do not have an assistant psychologist post. We also know that the assistant psychologist role is less attractive to those applicants from minority ethnic backgrounds. For these reasons, we introduced a written test because, after initial screening for minimum criteria, every applicant competes with each other on their ability in exactly the same conditions. We realise that testing makes people anxious and we think we try to manage this as best as possible with clear information and expectations regarding the test and also publishing past tests on-line (see link below). We also give extra time and support to those applicants with documented disabilities, including dyslexia.

There is another important reason for using a written test – applicants need to be able to work at doctoral level and they need to be able to integrate theory, research and practice. This is an essential part of clinical skill as it requires the ability to formulate ideas and reflect on how they might work in practice. Another essential aptitude is the ability to understand information and communicate ideas effectively in pressurised environments. This is why we use a written test that assesses applicants’ abilities to think about theory, research and practice and how these fit together, how well they communicate ideas, and their ability to do all this under pressure. We don’t have a specific pass mark for our written test which means that applicants are all competing against each other rather than trying to attain some arbitrary standard. By using a written test before interview this also means that the interview day can focus purely on you demonstrating to us what sort of person you are and how you have made sense of and used your experiences to date.

The written tests used since 2009 can be found below: