How to apply

Please note that all applications for this course must be made through the Clearing House for Postgraduate Courses in Clinical Psychology (www.leeds.ac.uk/chpccp).

Selection procedures

Screening

All applications are anonymised in line with the policy of our employing NHS Trust H.R department. This removes all personal details including age and disability status.

Shortlisting

Applications are rated by members of the selection committee according to a set of criteria covering academic, clinical and personal requirements, based on the trainee job description and person specification (see downloads to the right of the page).

Our shortlisting criteria can also be downloaded from the right of this page.

We review the academic and experience references as part of our short-listing process.

Clinical experience and learning

Applicants should demonstrate that they have significant experience in working with client groups relevant to the practice of Clinical Psychology. This should involve therapeutic or change oriented work, and include some supervision and reflection. You should demonstrate some understanding of the application of psychological theories and models to this work. Applicants should demonstrate a good understanding of the role of clinical psychologists in the current NHS. Stronger applications will provide evidence of direct experience of working with and supervision by a Clinical Psychologist. Applicants should demonstrate that they are able to reflect on their own personal and professional development and learning in relation to their experience.

Academic and research

Direct experience of conducting a research project at undergraduate level work is required. Stronger applications will have further post-graduate experience of research, either in a clinical or an academic setting. Your academic referee should be chosen carefully to ensure that they are able to comment meaningfully on your academic aptitude and research competence.

Invitation to interview

The Selection Committee draws up a shortlist of those applicants who score above the threshold on our shortlisting criteria. We interview up to 64 candidates.

We rank all our applications against their shortlisting scores. Interview offers are to the highest ranked candidates in the first instance. The next ranked 25 candidates with scores above the threshold will form our reserve list for interview. If you score below threshold you will be informed of this and will not be interviewed this year.

Double tick candidates

In line with implementation of the Equality Act 2010 and our achievement of Double Tick status we welcome and encourage candidates to declare whether they have a disability on the application form. Applicants who have a disability and who score above threshold on our short-listing criteria will be offered an interview.

Interviewing

After successful short-listing, candidates are invited to attend the University for an interview day. The day includes an interview process, a group process and an academic task.

We are interested in selecting candidates who have the personal resilience and reflective capacity to be effective trainee clinicians; and the academic capacity to work effectively at a postgraduate level, and integrate theory and practice in their work.

The interview

The interview panel will normally be comprised of; an academic and a clinical course tutor; a service user and a local NHS Clinical Psychologist. The panel is interested in your knowledge, but also your ability to think on your feet, and use your knowledge and learning flexibly to address the questions asked. There may not be much time for you to share your experiences with the panel, rather the questions are designed to help the panel develop a sense of your, academic knowledge and competence, clinical knowledge and the personal qualities relevant to clinical practice. Be prepared to let go of pre-prepared answers and to think on your feet.

The academic task

There is a formal written task, this is in two parts, each of which has equal weighting. The numeracy task will include questions to assess your skills in the basic numeracy and statistical knowledge necessary to engage in the work on the course. The written task aims to assess your ability to understand and synthesise material and present this understanding in a written format. Normal University adjustments for disability will be available to candidates who request this, and provide appropriate supporting evidence of need.

The Group task

You will be asked to take part in a group task. This will be observed by a panel, which includes course team staff, an NHS Supervisor and a third year trainee. We are interested in personal and interpersonal skills relevant to the practice of clinical psychology in terms of how candidates engage with the task as individuals and as a group.

Support

We aim to make the day as comfortable and informative for you as possible. To this end we have current trainees who are not part of the assessment process on hand to answer your questions and help you to be in the right places at the right times. We provide quiet rooms should you need some private space. We also provide refreshments and lunch, which is separate from the lunch provided for the interview and group task panel members. This gives you an opportunity to talk to our current trainees, and ask questions to find out about the course as part of your time with us on the day. We are keen for you to get a feel for our course and decide whether if offered a place, we will be a good fit for your own personal skills and learning needs.
You will also meet with some of the course team in an introduction to the day and have a chance to ask questions both then and during your interview. We are keen to foster an environment on the day, which encourages you to choose to come to us if we offer you a place.

Feedback from you

We will ask you to complete feedback forms on the day. These are important to us and have lead to us making changes to our selection processes in the past. You can submit these anonymously and your feedback is not seen by the interviewing panels and forms no part of our assessment of you.

Process updates and changes

In line with clinical psychology as a reflective profession we engage in ongoing review of our procedures and potential candidates should therefore check for updates relating to the 2014 process for both shortlisting and interviewing on this website before the deadline for applications in December 2013.

Feedback Policy

Due to the large numbers of applicants to the course, the anonymisation of application forms, and the administrative load of the selection process, we are unable to offer feedback on the short-listing process. However, if you attend for interview we provide a number of telephone feedback sessions for unsuccessful candidates following the end of the interviews.