The academic component of the programme actively engages you in the learning process.  This is helped greatly by the relatively small size of each year group, allowing plenty of scope for discussion and development of ideas and skills.  You are expected to take an active role in teaching by bringing your own clinical material and experiences to discussions, and by taking part in role plays to develop skills. The academic curriculum emphasises a life span perspective. This means that topic areas can be taught by clinicians from a range of specialisms, thus ensuring that you gain a developmental view and appreciates how the same theoretical models and approaches are applied with different client groups. 

Following the programmme’s competence-based model, the majority of our teaching, matches the focus of the core placements, until you begin elective placements in year three. At the start of year one, you are provided with foundation teaching relevant to the general work of clinical psychologists across all settings. This includes core engagement, assessment and therapeutic skills, as well as professional codes of ethics and conduct and relevant legal frameworks. During placement time, one of the aims of the teaching is to equip you with both the theoretical knowledge and skills to complete robust psychological assessments and formulations. Half way through this placement you also engage in an 8-week mindfulness course as part of your teaching, to set the foundations for learning more about third wave approaches and to use yourselves to help manage the demands of training. During the second and third placements, teaching has a greater focus on therapeutic models and skills development, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy. Other therapeutic models are also introduced as training progresses including Schema Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy. During the final core placement there is a stronger focus on systemic working and leadership theories and practice.

We are working steadily to develop our teaching so that it contributes to accreditation requirements for other professional qualifications, such as British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) CBT therapist accreditation, Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (AFT) foundation level training and The British Psychological Society’s qualification in clinical neuropsychology. Our DBT teaching (and related clinical experience) has been expanded, so that you can have acquired all the knowledge-based competencies and most of the practice-based competencies you require for accreditation as a DBT therapist by the Society for DBT in the UK and Ireland, that implements the International DBT Accreditation standards.

Each placement is preceded by a block of teaching spanning between two and five weeks. Once you are on placement, weekly teaching days continue for most of the year, which enables ongoing contact with the programme and fellow members of your year group. There are also two teaching days each academic year, when all three cohorts come together, where specialist and current topics are presented and discussed. Titles for recent all cohort teaching days have been “Working with people who misuse substances” and “Clinical psychology – power and disadvantage”

Teaching is delivered in our dedicated teaching rooms in Bangor University, close to the staff team offices with a roomy shared kitchen and dining area. You also have access to a spacious trainee resource room to undertake academic work on several on the University and Health Board computers.

While clinical and academic psychologists within North Wales deliver the majority of the teaching, psychologists from outside the area and other professionals are also invited to contribute where appropriate. Members of our People Panel and other service users and carers are actively involved in a number of teaching sessions throughout the three years. Trainees greatly appreciate and value their perspective and feedback is consistently high. You give feedback on all academic sessions, thus enabling the programme to keep improving the standards of its teaching.

There are four academic assignments to be completed across the three years, including one reflective assignment. While the format for the assignments is set, you choose your own clinically relevant topics for these. Welsh speakers can submit their work in Welsh.

Learning continues as you apply theories introduced in the classroom and through independent study to working with your clients on placement. Clinical experience starts toward the end of October of year one and extends over the three years of the programme.  Placements will aid you in developing skills in assessment and formulation (Foundation placement) before moving on to develop skills in therapeutic interventions and specific psychological therapies (Intervention I and II). Later placements will focus on developing your competencies in systemic and leadership competencies and you will end your training with a supplementary or elective placement.

You will complete a report of clinical activity (RCA) relating to your Foundation placement and Intervention I placement and two RCAs from your longer Intervention II placement. One of your RCAs will be a CBT-RCA. A professional issues presentation will be assessed from your systemic and leadership placement.

All clinical placements will be undertaken within the large geographical area of North Wales, which extends from Wrexham to Pwllheli, Holyhead to Newtown and Dolgellau and cover post-industrial towns and cities as well as rural communities. Placements currently available include: adult mental health, including secondary care mental health services, a stepped care service and working in inpatient settings, older adults including working in inpatient settings and memory clinics, child and adolescent services, including an inpatient adolescent service, neuro-developmental services, adult and child intellectual disabilities, forensic services, adult and child brain injury services, eating disorders, peri-natal mental health, substance misuse, health clinical psychology including renal care, pain management, diabetes, chronic fatigue services, oncology and palliative care, and paediatric services. In addition, you can gain further clinical experience in using particular therapeutic approaches such as CBT for psychosis, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy , Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Schema Therapy and Compassion Focussed Therapy. Each placement is evaluated by the clinical supervisor, assessing a full range of clinical and professional competencies.

Placement agreements are negotiated at the beginning of each placement by the supervisor and you, in conjunction with programme staff.  These agreements are reviewed mid-way through the placement.  You provide feedback on all placements as part of our endeavour to ensure that the high quality of clinical experience is maintained and improved.

Welsh speaking trainees are often allocated placements where you can work using the Welsh language in yourclinical practice and where possible with your supervisor.

The aim of the research curriculum is to ensure that you gain experience in using a range of research approaches and obtain a sophisticated understanding of the evidence base underlying clinical practice. Training in research skills occurs throughout the three years.

There are three research projects to be completed over the three years. You start with a data analysis project, using large publicly available data sets to answer set questions.  The service related research project is a highly applied piece of research, such as an audit or service evaluation, completed during the second year of the programme. Finally, there is the large scale research project which forms your doctoral thesis, which you work on throughout the programme.The thesis comprises of a literature review or meta-analysis; an empirical study; and a paper on the clinical and research implications of your work. This work is expected to be of a publishable standard and in the last five years alone over 30 trainee papers have been published in academic journals. In your final year you have a viva, where you defend your thesis.

The research team endeavour to support you to do projects in your areas of interest, rather than being assigned projects from a list. Recent theses include research on: An exploration of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming identity in the UK; Psychological Wellbeing and Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis; The experience of mental health problems in later life; Eating Disorder Recovery; Exploring the Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy in University Students and Overcoming the barriers to men's mental health.   (For a full list of thesis titles, please look at http://www.nwcpp.bangor.ac.uk/topics.php).

Research supervision is provided by the programme team, local clinical psychologists and colleagues in the university. Research in clinical and clinical health psychology is one of the strengths of the School of Psychology. The programme supports research projects from across the scientist practitioner tradition, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. 

We hold an annual research conference where the trainees present their research projects through presentations or posters. We invite new entry trainees to this conference before they start on the programme. 

The programme holds an annual research fair, where local Clinical Psychologists present and share their research ideas. Trainees are encouraged to link up with local supervisors (or other colleagues in the UK) to discuss and develop their large scale research project.  The programme supports and supervises qualitative and quantitative research as well as secondary data analysis projects.  Please find below an overview of the research projects undertaken by our trainees ouver recent years.

There are no unseen written examinations on the programme, but you will complete a total of 11 assignments, including a final thesis.  Competencies in theoretical aspects of clinical psychology, clinical skills and professional issues are evaluated by continuous assessment through a range of academic assignments: presentations, evaluations of clinical and professional competencies, reports of clinical activity (including one using CBT), a reflective piece of work, a data base analysis project, a service related research project and a large scale research project (the thesis). Although the format of the assessments is set, you decide on the clinical topic area you want to address.  The assignments are marked by two clinical psychologists.  External examiners with extensive experience of clinical psychology training programmes play an active role in benchmarking our marking system.  At the end of the third year, the thesis is evaluated by viva voce examination.

Welsh speaking trainees have the option of completing your assignments through the medium of Welsh.  The programme organises translation services.

The programme’s Service User and Carer Involvement Group was named by its members the ‘People Panel’. Established in 2008 the panel aims to enhance trainees’ learning from a service user and carer perspective. We have trainee representation from all cohort years on the People Panel, thus providing regular opportunities for trainees and service users and carers to consult with each other on a wide range of clinically relevant topics and areas of development. 

Currently the panel comprises individuals who have had involvement with clinical psychology services in a range of settings such as adult mental health, clinical health psychology, older adult and child and adult intellectual disability services.  The representation on the People Panel changes regularly with new members joining and older members leaving, either when they feel that their involvement has reached its natural end, or following a three year term of involvement. 

The People Panel members are involved in a range of different aspects of the training programme.  They represent that panel on all programme committees and play a key role in our selection procedures for trainees and staff.  People Panel members also co-facilitate CBT workshops where feedback is given directly to trainees on their performance from a service user and carer perspective and are actively involved with a number of teaching sessions on the programme. People Panel members also act as consultants for the Problem Based Learning assignment. Trainees regard this experience as positive and comment that they appreciate their advice, guidance and feedback.  Trainees regularly ask the People Panel to comment on aspects of their research projects, from early design ideas, to participation information sheets and consent forms, and present their projects at various stages of development for advice and feedback.  There are lively discussions at People Panel meetings, discussing and debating areas of shared interest and often trainees report that these exchanges have helped them develop their ideas and thinking further. People Panel members attend the annual research fair, where BCUHB clinical psychologists share ideas for research and academic assignments with the trainees. The People Panel members are keen to become more involved in research and this strand of service user and carer involvement is currently being developed to maximise future collaboration and co-production.  The People Panel has also assisted in the development of client consent guidelines for trainees on placement, and forms for service user feedback to be completed at the end of the trainee’s involvement.

At the BPS and Bangor University accreditation visit in 2019, the programme’s People Panel was commended as follows: the engagement of a diverse, committed and passionate group on the People Panel (Service User group), who positively feed into the programme is an area of good practice.

A significant proportion of the population in North Wales speaks Welsh as their first language.  Our commitment to train Welsh speaking clinical psychologists who can meet present and future clinical needs in Wales, provides unique opportunities to include practical aspects of cultural diversity in our training, which will be attractive to all trainees. Funding is available for those wishing to learn the Welsh language or who would like to have a refresher to increase confidence.  Classes are run by Bangor University as well as Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in various locations across North Wales.  Trainees can also attend an intense week of learning basic Welsh before starting the programme.  Here is information about what the university can offer: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/cio/index.php.en

Welsh speaking candidates can undertake their interview through the medium of Welsh and simultaneous translation will be provided. Welsh speaking trainees have the option to of completing their academic assignments through the medium of Welsh.  The programme organises translation services, of both written work and simultaneous translation in oral presentations.

We are keen to support candidates who are Welsh speaking by offering them six to eight mentoring sessions with either a trainee or qualified clinical psychologist. These aim to offer the person the option to find out about the work of a clinical psychologist, discuss their values and ideas about (clinical) psychology, and explore routes into training. Please contact Carolien Lamers (Recruitment and Selection Director, c.lamers@bangor.ac.uk) for more information about the mentorship scheme.

The programme is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes candidates from all backgrounds and ages. The programme also operates the Disability Confident Scheme.

Please contact Carolien Lamers, Selection and Recruitment Director, (c.lamers@bangor.ac.uk) for further information and to discuss support that can be made available to candidates during the selection process and any reasonable adjustments that might be required during training. You can indicate in the application form (Disability Confident Scheme) that you want your application to be considered under the scheme. The minimum criteria identified under entry requirement with a * will be applied to your application.

You can also contact our Disabled Students Office for further information and support that can be made available to candidates.

There are trainee representatives on all the programme committees and the People Panel. Trainees are also asked to feedback on all teaching sessions and are required to complete a feedback form on all placements they undertake.

Lease cars are available to trainees on the programme and many trainees take advantage of this opportunity.

In addition to the programme library based within the Deiniol library (https://www.bangor.ac.uk/library/about/branches.php.en), trainees have access to the wide range of facilities at the university library and the School of Psychology (e.g. psychology and computer laboratories).  Trainees can also access the NHS libraries in main district hospitals.  There is a dedicated trainee room that contains computers.  We also have a test library with assessments, which trainees are required to pass-out on as part of their core placements. 

All trainees are registered with Bangor University library, which is a participating member of a UK-wide scheme called SCONUL Research Extra.  This allows the opportunity to join and borrow from the libraries of other universities that may be more conveniently located for you.  Trainees have an allocation of 20 inter library loan vouchers per annum, which enables them to obtain journals, books and theses.

Canolfan Brailsford is the university’s sports centre and provides sports and recreation facilities for Bangor University staff and students, and the general public.  There are indoor facilities for a whole range of sports and fitness activities, including weight training, aerobics classes, in-door cricket, squash, trampolining and much more.

Extensive outdoor facilities are available at two sites, Canolfan Brailsford site and the Normal site.  Both are within walking distance of our teaching rooms in Bangor.

There are a number of some of the estate agents and letting agents in the Bangor area who will help you find somewhere to live if you need to relocate temporarily or permanently during your training.

Links:

www.reedsrains.co.uk
www.dafyddhardy.co.uk
www.rightmove.co.uk

Childcare arrangements are available at the university or dependent upon where you live via your local authority.

For example, Tir Na n-Og is a non-profitmaking nursery funded by the university and is open to all sectors of the community with 50 childcare places available, 20 for infants from 3 months of age and 30 for pre-school toddlers.  In addition for 5 – 11 year olds the complex includes an after school centre and a holiday play scheme during school term breaks. University employees can benefit from more affordable childcare via our salary exchange arrangement.

http://www.bangor.ac.uk/hr/bangorbenefits/childcaretnn.php.en

The Anglesey Children and Young People's Information Service is a central, confidential access point, providing free and impartial information on a wide range of quality and affordable childcare for children and young people, as well as other children and young people's services available on Anglesey.

The Job Description and Person Specification of a trainee Clinical Psychologist position for the North Wales Clinical Psychgology Programme is available here.

All of the criteria below are used in the shortlisting process. Required information is obtained from the Clearing House application form and your academic transcript. Criteria identified with an * refer to the minimum criteria that all candidates need to meet. These criteria are assessed by NHS Clinical Psychologists and programme staff. Please note: Due to funding regulations, we are unable to accept applications from candidates who qualify for overseas fees.

Only the information mentioned below is downloaded from your application, we do not know your name, age, address etc,. We download the entire application form once we have decided who to invite for interview, when we review the application using safe recruitment principles. 

• Before applying you should have already obtained a single or joint honours first or upper second-class psychology degree (or a conversion degree)* and you should be eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership* (GBC). We apply similar criteria to a psychology conversion degree, as an undergraduate psychology degree (www.bps.org.uk/membership/eligibility) with the British Psychological Society.
• We require a transcript of your undergraduate degree or other qualifications, which have given you eligibility for GBC.
• We review the marks of your final year modules on your transcript and calculate an average, without applying any weighting. Your average score needs to be 60% or above. For courses using different marking systems, we apply the guidance provided to us by the Clearing House on how to interpret other degree classifications. For a conversion course, all your modules will be used to calculate this average.
• Applicants with 2.2 psychology undergraduate degree will only be considered if they have completed a PhD. We do not award points to non-psychology degrees.
• You need to have completed your undergraduate degree at the time you are applying.
• It is expected that you will have at least one year’s relevant paid clinical/ research experience*. Clinically relevant experience should give you the opportunity for substantial interaction with people with significant health or psychological difficulties, ideally under the supervision of a clinical psychologist. Experience obtained in other paid employment working with a clinical population will also be relevant (e.g. mental health worker, care assistant, advocate). Research experience should involve the investigation of psychological phenomena within a clinical population. We credit a maximum of two years full time equivalent paid relevant experience.
• In addition to the above you are expected to submit a good quality application form*, which will be assessed by two clinical psychologists. They will be looking for grammar and spelling, as well as your psychological mindedness and your value base. In order to demonstrate this, you have to ensure that you fully answer the  open-ended questions.
• Candidates are expected to have good and supportive academic and clinical statement of suitability*, preferably from the employer or supervisor form your most recent post, unless you have only been working with the referee for a relatively short period. In that case you could consider asking the person you worked with before and who has known you for a longer period. Two clinical psychologists assess the statement. If they consider the statement not to be supportive, they will share their concerns with a larger group of assessors, who will need to agree whether or not the statement is considered supportive.
• We also acknowledge your motivation and commitment by awarding points for any presentations at conferences, publications in journals or newsletters and voluntary work that you have undertaken. There are no minimum criteria attached to this section.
• We are committed to increasing the diversity of the profession and we will start using contextual information in our selection process. As this is a new initiative, please keep checking our website (http://nwcpp.bangor.ac.uk/) for more information.

We strongly encourage Welsh speakers to apply for this programme and we award additional points in the shortlisting phase, for your ability to speak Welsh. The legal status of the Welsh language in all areas of life in Wales (including health), and the very significant proportion of the population in North and West Wales who speak Welsh as their first language, means that the programme welcomes the opportunity to train people to fulfil a very real need for delivering the best quality psychological care in the Welsh language. This commitment was recognised during the Bangor University re-validation visit in 2019.  Please indicate on the application form your level of Welsh proficiency.

We can provide a range of facilities to support Welsh speaking trainees to develop their clinical practice skills in the Welsh language, including placements and, where practicable supervision, as well as presenting written and other work in Welsh. We can also support trainees who wish to learn Welsh, wish to refresh their skills, or simply develop more confidence in using their Welsh language skills in practice.

As the number of bilingual Welsh-English speaking applicants remains low (1% of all applicants in the UK, as per 2021 intake Clearing House equal opportunity data),  the majority of trainees in each cohort is English speaking.  We offer mentorship sessions to candidates who are Welsh speaking. For more information, please contact Carolien Lamers (c.lamers@bangor.ac.uk).

Training in a bilingual cohort and community, often rural, provides excellent opportunities for you to enhance your cultural appreciation and skills within clinical practice.

If English is not your first language, you will be required to provide evidence that you possess an adequate level of English competence. You need to have obtained level 8 on the IELTS scheme*, with no elements below 7.5.  This does not apply to Welsh/English bilingual candidates. Having completed an academic psychology programme in the UK through the medium of English, will be considered evidence of your English language competence.

The Programme is an Equal Opportunities Employer and welcomes candidates from all backgrounds and ages. The Programme operates the Disability Confident Scheme (http://www.gov.uk/government/collection/disability-confident-company). The minimum criteria identified above with a * are applied when you have indicated by injection of the application in Section 4 of the application form that you want your application to be rated under this scheme. Please contact Carolien Lamers (Recruitment and Selection Director, c.lamers@bangor.ac.uk) for further information and to discuss support that can be made available to you during the selection process and any reasonable adjustments that might be required during training.

Universities will not usually allow you to enrol onto a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology if you are currently enrolled on any other degree, e.g., a PhD or Masters programme. If you have any outstanding requirements from another programme, you may be required to withdraw from that programme in order to take up a place or to continue your studies on a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Being in the final stages of any such programme, i.e., submission of thesis has occurred or is imminent at the time of applying, your application might be considered.

We will be using the contextual information you were invited to provide on your Clearing House application form. We have been working together with other UK programmes to devise the contextual selection questionnaire that enquires about your earlier life experiences that might have hindered you to reach their full potential. We will include your contextual information once we have completed our shortlisting process, using the criteria described above. Those candidates who meet all our minimum criteria, and who are not invited for interview based on their ranking or for having their application reviewed under the Disability Confident scheme, will then be reviewed in light of the contextual information provided. Those with the highest number of ‘flags’ are then invited for interview. These places are in addition to those invited based on their ranking or Disability Confident scheme. We are continuing to evaluate the impact that this approach has on the make-up of our new cohorts in the future.

During the selection process, we will contact you by e-mail only, so please check your e-mails, as well as e-mails that may have gone into your spam folder and update us with any changes in your contact details.

Local NHS Clinical Psychologists, People Panel members and programme staff are involved in all aspects of the selection process, applying the criteria as set out under Entry Requirements. If you have not been shortlisted for interview, we recommend you check your details against our selection criteria.

The interviews for 2023 are scheduled to take place 20–24 March, and will be held online. You will also be invited to complete a written task the week before. If you are invited to attend for interview, you will also be invited to join us for an evening event (usually the night before your interview), where you have the chance to speak to current trainees and hear a bit more about the training programme. The interview panel members will not attend this event.

If you are invited for interview, we will ask you to provide evidence of your identity or status, for example, providing your passport, photocard driving licence, etc.

Usually, we interview three times the number of funded training places. The interview panels usually comprise of local Clinical Psychologists, People Panel members and programme team members, and involves the assessment of clinical, academic, research and reflective skills as well as suitability for clinical training. Throughout the interview process you will be supported by programme staff, who do their utmost to put you at your ease.

All candidates will be contacted as soon as the interview panels have made their decision. You will also be offered a time to call for further feedback.

Once you have been offered a place, the Programme will assess Fitness to Practise through screening procedures. The offer of a training place is subject to satisfactory checks with local Occupational Health Services and with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). If the DBS disclosure check confirms the presence of convictions, the Head of the Clinical Psychology Service and the Programme Director will assess if the candidate can be accepted onto the programme. In the case of an unsatisfactory occupational health check, the offer might be withdrawn if no reasonable adjustments can be made to enable the candidate to undertake the training.

We send new trainees an information pack regarding the programme and the local area before you commence training in October. At this stage you will also need to verify your qualification by providing your original certificate and other relevant documents.

Fitness to Practise is a requirement of all professions registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).  During training (pre-registration), monitoring of Fitness to Practise is the responsibility of Programmes. Candidates should refer to the HCPC standards for a definition (www.hcpc-uk.org/complaints/fitnesstopractise/).  

Concerns about Fitness to Practise could be raised during the selection process.  This will include the manner and tone of written and verbal communications with the programme at any stage of the selection process, as well as your behaviour during the interview process.

During the selection process, issues that could significantly impair your capacity to practice will be noted in an open and reflective way. These could be for example, whether you are open to feedback about any relevant concerns, shows appropriate self-awareness in relation to difficulties that impact on your capacity to work, and are willing to work collaboratively with relevant staff to address (and hopefully to overcome) these.  

Once you have been offered a place, the Programme will assess Fitness to Practise further through screening procedures.   The offer of a training place is subject to satisfactory checks with local Occupational Health Services and with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).    If the DBS check confirms the presence of convictions, the Programme Director in consultation with the Head of Clinical Psychology Services within Betsi Cadwalader University Health Board will assess if the candidate can be accepted onto the programme.  

In the case concerns are raised in the occupational health check, the offer might be withdrawn if no reasonable adjustments can be made to enable the candidate to undertake the training.

The programme is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes candidates from all backgrounds and ages. The programme also operates the Disability Confident Scheme. Take out Also

Please contact Carolien Lamers, Selection and Recruitment Director, (c.lamers@bangor.ac.uk) for further information and to discuss support that can be made available to candidates during the selection process and any reasonable adjustments that might be required during training. You can indicate in the application form (Disability Confident Scheme) that you want your application to be considered under the scheme. The minimum criteria identified under entry requirement with a * will be applied to your application.

You can also contact our Disabled Students Office for further information and support that can be made available to candidates.

We do not consider your A levels. We are interested in your performance at undergraduate degree level and possibly beyond. We would expect applicants to have achieved at least a 2:1 at degree level. Unfortunately, we are no longer considering applications with a 2.2. or lower, even if you have obtained a further masters degree. Only a PhD could compensate for a low undergraduate degree.

The DCP Pre-Qualification Group represents the interests of assistant psychologists and trainee clinical psychologists. Each year, trainees are asked for their views on various aspects of their course, and the results are compiled to form the alternative handbook. The handbook gives a true flavour of each programmes and offers a consumer's view of each programme, updated each year, that can help guide applicants' decisions on where to apply, and which offer to accept.  Handbooks can be obtained from:

The BPS
DCP Affiliates Alternative Handbook Request
48 Princess Road East
Leicester
LE1 7DR