Clinical Associate in Psychology Level 7 Apprenticeship MSc
About this course
This degree apprenticeship will allow psychology graduates to gain the core skills required to pursue a career as a Clinical Associate in Psychology. Applicants can choose one of the following pathways to specialise in a specific clinical area.
The pathways available (see below) will vary annually, depending on employer demand.
- Adult Mental Health
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- Older Adults
- Physical Health
- Intellectual Disabilities
This programme provides the formal apprenticeship training required as part of the student’s employment within healthcare.
Students will undertake training in the fundamentals of applied psychology, including the assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation, according to the British Psychological Society (BPS) principles. Upon successful completion of the course, apprentices will be equipped to provide evidence-based psychological interventions tailored to service users’ individual needs.
Apprentices will also undertake training in research and evaluation as applied to local contexts, in order to enable meaningful local service development.
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What you’ll study
You will learn the core skills required to pursue a career as a Clinical Associate in Psychology in your chosen clinical area. Throughout all elements of the course, there will be an emphasis on developing abilities to provide inclusive and antiracist practices, in order to meet the diverse needs of services and service users.
Psychological Assessment and Formulation (60 credits)
In this module, apprentices will develop the skills, knowledge (theories) and behaviours to tailor psychological assessment, formulation and practice relevant to their clinical specialism (e.g. adult mental health, child and adolescent mental health).
Ethics and Professional Practice (20 credits)
This module aims to develop your skills, knowledge and behaviours required to be an accountable professional acting in the best interests of service users. This will include learning about effective communication, maintaining effective clinical records and conducting risk management assessments.
Research and Evidence-Based Practice (20 credits)
In this module, you will develop the skills, knowledge and behaviours required to undertake service development activities that can inform change and improvements in your specialist clinical area of work.
Psychological Intervention (40 credits)
This module develops your abilities to provide a range of evidence-based psychological interventions, based on the assessment and formulation, to individuals and groups, appropriate to the needs of service users in your clinical specialism. You will also be able to develop skills, when working with multiple and chronic needs, in selecting and implementing clinically appropriate interventions where an established evidence-base is absent.
Research and Evidence-Based Practice (20 credits)
In this module, you will develop the skills, knowledge and behaviours required to undertake service development activities that can inform change and improvements in your specialist clinical area of work.
Clinical Leadership (20 credits)
This module develops your abilities to provide support, supervision, training and guidance as part of multidisciplinary teams, demonstrating an understanding of leadership and influence through collaboration with a range of colleagues on psychological practice.
Clinical Application
This is a work-based learning module in which you will compile a portfolio of your experience and learning.
End Point Assessment (20 credits)
Year Two is mainly work-based. You will have three teaching days in preparation for the EPA. If you pass your portfolio from the Clinical Application module, you will enter a gateway for the End Point Assessment, which will assess your academic and work-based knowledge, skills and behaviour as described in the Institute of Apprenticeship standards and the British Psychological Society Standard for Clinical Associate Psychologists.
Completing your Apprenticeship
To achieve the apprenticeship, all apprentices must complete an End-Point Assessment (EPA). The EPA is an independent assessment that ascertains whether an apprentice is competent in their occupation.
Gateway
Gateway is the period of time between the end of the off-the-job training (practical period) and the beginning of the assessment period when EPA will take place.
At Gateway, the apprentice, employer and training provider will review the apprentice’s knowledge, skills and behaviours to determine whether they are ready to take their EPA. This is normally done at a Gateway review meeting which takes place near the end of the apprenticeship. At this meeting, all three parties will check that the mandatory aspects of the apprenticeship have been completed and that the apprentice is ready to take their final assessment(s).
Apprentices must meet the Gateway requirement set out in the assessment plan before taking their EPA.
End-Point Assessment
This apprenticeship is integrated. This means that the end-point assessment is administered by Nottingham Trent University and is usually linked to the academic award that apprentices study whilst in their off-the-job training period. The assessments are conducted by Independent End-Point Assessors who have been selected to assess apprentices against industry-specific competences.
Details of the assessment elements can be found in the assessment plan.
There are two elements to this end-point assessment:
- Demonstration of Practice.
- Professional Discussion.
Achievement of the EPA enables apprentices to be professionally recognised as: Graduate Membership of the British Psychological Society.
We regularly review and update our course content based on student and employer feedback, ensuring that all of our courses remain current and relevant. This may result in changes to module content or module availability in future years.
How you're taught
The overall aim of this apprenticeship is to develop Clinical Associates in Psychology who will be able to provide high quality, evidence-based psychological assessments and interventions for a specific population from different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs.
You will be engaged in studying relevant psychological theory and practice through lectures, seminars, clinical skills workshops, presentations, reflective practice groups, and self-directed study, which will amount to at least 20% of the apprenticeship.
Through your employment, you will be engaged in work-based learning for the remaining working week. You will be allocated an Academic Supervisor for your studies and be supervised by a HCPC-registered practitioner psychologist in your workplace. You will have access to online course materials, the PebblePad e-portfolio tool, library resources and student support services.
You will attend teaching one day a week (Wednesday) during term time on our City Campus, with an additional two teaching blocks across the year.
Block one will be at the beginning of the course and will consist of three weeks. In each of those weeks you will be taught three days on campus. The second block consists of one week where you will be taught three days on campus.
In addition, you will have one study morning per week, which will be facilitated remotely by the course team on a Friday morning. Teaching will be provided by clinical psychologists who are experts in their area of clinical practice, as well as by the course team (all of whom are also experienced clinical psychologists in different areas of clinical practice).
How you're assessed
You will be assessed throughout the course using both formative and summative assessments through a range of methods, including written academic essay, role plays, presentations, and case studies. You will also be required to submit a Portfolio describing your application of your learning across the academic course to your practice in your clinical specialism.
Following successful completion of the taught program of the course, Apprentices will go on to complete the End Point Assessment (EPA), which is assessed by two elements: a demonstration of your clinical skills across four different scenarios (Governance and Practice; Assessment and Risk; Formulation; and Evidence-Based Psychological Intervention) as assessed via role-play exercises; and a Professional Discussion, focusing on your knowledge, skills and behaviour competencies. The EPA is carried out by two external (to the course) assessors.
Campus and facilities
You’ll mainly be studying in the Chaucer and Newton buildings, at the centre of our vibrant City Campus. As well as a range of classrooms and lecture theatres, the facilities including a mock prison cell, banks of open-access PCs, social spaces for either quiet study or busy group work.
NTU’s City Campus has everything you’ll need to stay busy between lectures. As well as the Boots Library and its beautiful roof garden, there’s our stylish Students’ Union building and two-storey, 100-station gym; a whole host of cafés, bars, restaurants and food outlets for every taste; our much-loved Global Lounge; performance and rehearsal spaces for musicians; and much, much more!
Take a few steps off campus and you’ll find yourself in the heart of Nottingham — one of Britain’s top 10 student cities, and one of Europe’s top 25. It’s stuffed with history, culture, and well-kept secrets to discover at your leisure. Enjoy lush green spaces, galleries, hidden cinemas and vintage shopping by day, and an acclaimed food, drink and social scene by night.
Take our virtual tour to get a real feel for the campus.
Entry requirements
To apply for this apprenticeship at NTU, you must be in full-time employment in a healthcare setting or hold a job offer from an employer where you will be starting employment by the time the course starts. You must have approval from your employer to undertake an apprenticeship.
Individual employers will have selection criteria for their apprentices, however you will also require:
- A Bachelor Degree in psychology eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a minimum 2.2 award.
- GCSE English and Maths at grade C/4 or above (or equivalent) by the end of the first year of study
Getting in touch
If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form
We will review your identity documents / immigration status to verify your residency eligibility in line with the apprenticeship funding rules, at the application stage.
Fees and funding
To undertake an apprenticeship you must be employed - as such, your employer will pay your tuition fees.
If you or your employer have any questions regarding the fees and funding available for this apprenticeship, please see our Apprenticeships pages, contact our Apprenticeships team at apprenticeships@ntu.ac.uk, or call +44 (0)115 848 2589.
Unfortunately English apprenticeships are not available for EU or international students.
How to apply
If you’re currently employed and have an agreement with your employer to study an apprenticeship at NTU – apply today! Apply through our Applicant Portal and follow the instructions for applying. Make sure you check the entry requirements above carefully before you do.
If you are not currently employed but would like to undertake an apprenticeship at NTU, you can browse current opportunities available with employers on our Apprenticeship Vacancies page as well as sign up for notifications of new vacancies once released.
For more information on apprenticeships at NTU, contact our Apprenticeships team at apprenticeships@ntu.ac.uk or call +44 (0)115 848 2589.
We will review your identity documents / immigration status to verify your residency eligibility in line with the apprenticeship funding rules, at the application stage.
If you’re currently employed and have an agreement with your employer to study an apprenticeship at NTU – apply today! Apply through our Applicant Portal and follow the instructions for applying. Make sure you check the entry requirements above carefully before you do.
If you are not currently employed but would like to undertake an apprenticeship at NTU, you can browse current opportunities available with employers on our Apprenticeship Vacancies page as well as sign up for notifications of new vacancies once released.
For more information on apprenticeships at NTU, contact our Apprenticeships team at apprenticeships@ntu.ac.uk or call +44 (0)115 848 2589.