Applying to the Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology Programme at UCL
Entry Requirements and Information for European Union (EU) and Overseas Candidates
The following webpage gives information about applying to the DECPsy Programme as an international student. It offers guidance on our shortlisting requirements as well as specifics on our placement arrangements, fees and how to apply. Please read it carefully - further information about the programme can be found on the DECPsy homepage.
- Essential Shortlisting Requirements
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- Good honours degree in Psychology that confers Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society.
- Experience of work with children in education, child care or community settings.
- A good command of written and spoken English
A first degree in psychology at 2:1 (or equivalent) or above is required to demonstrate that applicants possess the academic competencies required for doctoral level study.
For undergraduate degrees give the class (first, upper second etc.) and the year awarded. If this information is missing your application will not be considered.
For postgraduate qualifications give information about awards with merit or distinction where applicable and the year awarded, or tbc where not yet complete.
The title of the qualification that confers Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership must be accurately entered in the first part of this section, as applications will be rejected if there is no exact match with approved programmes listed on the BPS website.
If you have an overseas qualification that has been approved by the BPS as conferring Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership please provide supporting details (e.g. BPS membership number) as evidence.A minimum of one year's full-time equivalent (35 hours per week) work experience is required, 9 months of which must have been completed by the closing date for applications. You need to give the month and year in which any period of work started and finished and state how many full week equivalents were completed in the period, e.g. full time for 3 months would be 12 weeks, half-time for 3 months would be 6 weeks. You should give a clear description of what the work entailed and what your responsibilities were. See our work experience section for further, detailed, guidance on work experience.
This is essential and is assessed both at initial application and (in detail) through activities undertaken in the interview process. Applicants whose first language is not English must submit with their application recent evidence that their spoken and written command of English is of the required standard. The only acceptable English qualification for this programme is the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Academic Version. An overall grade of at least 8.0, with a minimum of 8.0 in each of the sub tests, is required. This is equivalent to Level 5 proficiency within UCL’s English language requirements for graduate study: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/english-language-requirements
- Desirable Shortlisting Criteria
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Different applicants may be more or less successful in learning from similar work opportunities and in communicating the relevance of their experience in a convincing manner. It is important that ALL applicants present clear arguments in their personal statement for the appropriateness and relevance of their experience. We suggest that you specifically address each of the following points so they directly link to our shortlisting criteria:
- Knowledge of psychological theory and research on children's development and learning and the ability to apply it to school and other practice contexts. It is better to focus on one or two clear and reflective examples where you have information from a specific recent research article and can describe convincingly how you applied it in your work, than to make vague references, e.g. to 'using behaviourist principles' or 'drawing on Piaget's work'.
- Detailed understanding of the role of educational psychologists, the different levels at which they work and changing contexts of practice. You need to show that you have detailed knowledge about the range of work educational psychologists do, obtained from a variety of credible sources, and that your commitment to the profession is sufficiently strong that you can be relied upon to invest the effort needed to complete a challenging and intensive 3 year training programme.
In addition to reading relevant publications from the BPS and other sources, applicants often contact Educational Psychology Services in the area in which they live to seek opportunities to talk to an educational psychologist. - Ability to identify skills/ knowledge especially relevant to training as an educational psychologist, and to explain their relevance. These may have been developed through professional, voluntary or personal experience but you need to able to provide a clear description of the skills involved and a logical explanation of their relevance to training as an educational psychologist. These may include multi-agency/team working skills in working with peers and colleagues, ability to speak a community language, knowledge of communities under-represented in the profession, and so on.
- Clear, concise and coherent written communication skills. This will be judged from your personal statement and will include consideration of spelling, grammar and punctuation as well as clarity of expression and coherence of argument.
- Placements and Fees
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Placements
For all trainees, the first year of training is primarily based within the University, with placements provided in linked Local Authorities and supervised by UCL Practice Tutors. These Educational Psychology Services are located in inner and outer London, both north and south. A small group of trainees will be placed in each service, with placements allocated in order to minimise travel time as far as possible.In years 2 and 3 the majority of overseas or EU trainee undertake an unpaid placement in a UK Educational Psychology Service, supervised by one of the UCL course tutors.*
Fees
Fees for the 2022-2025 intake will be:
Overseas Students
The fee for overseas students in year 1 is £27,056.
In years 2 and 3 the fee will be:
- £23,186 per annum *Please note: overseas fees are subject to an increase of 3-5% each year
*In exceptional circumstances, overseas trainees organise a placement of 260 days (approximately 3 days per week) for years 2 and 3 in their home country. The placement will need to be arranged with a supervisor who is eligible for Chartered Educational Psychology status with the British Psychological Society (or equivalent with the Psychological Society of your home country).
- Application Process
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Please note that September 2023 entry is now closed and we are no longer accepting applications.
Please email your completed application and supporting documentation to edadmin@ucl.ac.uk
Please note that interviews can be arranged in person or via Zoom for overseas applicants. All references should be received directly from the referee themselves, by email to the above address.
Student Experience
Hear a recent overseas graduate speak about her experiences on the programme: